A?Barbadian businessman is claiming that a company has given title of lands that he owns at Sunset Crest, St James, to the Sunset Crest Property Owners Association (SCPO) without his consent.
Joseph Jordan, who owns 20 lots at Flamboyant Avenue, Sunset Crest, explained that his purchase of the land from Golden Anchorage Ltd, the owners of Sunset Crest Estate, back in 1986 for $85 000, also gave him ownership of all of the common lands – rights of way, easements and quasi easements at Sunset Crest.
He explained that Sunset Crest was one of the first condominium developments in Barbados and also contained several commercial businesses.
He charged that in January last year he discovered a document showing that a local company had given title?to a parcel of land at Sunset Crest to the Property Owners Association, when he was the rightful owner of the land.
“I?have written several letters to the Property Owners Association and the attorneys for the company, letting them know that the land does not belong to them; that it was conveyed to me Joseph Jordan and I am the owner,” he said, adding that he should be collecting the $19 000 monthly rent that the SCPO was now receiving.
Jordan, a member of the Jordan family that operates a chain of supermarkets, explained that as owner of the common lands, he was also responsible for all of the land at Sunset Crest surrounding the properties including the easements, quasi easements, rights of way and car parks. However, he charged that over the years he had been constantly ignored by the SCPO.
He produced a letter that he wrote to the Town and Country Planning Department informing that any further development of the land should be undertaken only if approval was sought from him in writing.
Earlier this week, Jordan attempted to put a stop to the resurfacing of the car park at Sunset Crest by C.O. Williams Construction Ltd, which was hired by the SCPO.
“This is my land. Nobody asked me permission to do this,” he said after contacting the police at the nearby Holetown Police Station.
However, a supervisor on the job informed Jordan that he had spoken with his bosses and was told to continue the work since there was a legal matter pending between Jordan and the SCPO.
But Jordan insisted that even if there was a legal matter, which he claimed he knew nothing about, the work should not continue, because he held the title deed.
He said that earlier this year he had physically removed an iron gate which a business place at Sunset Crest had erected, because the covenant made it clear that no area at Sunset Crest should be blocked.
He said the company had brought legal action against him and had since replaced the gate, but was keeping it open during the day.
Explaining the development of the Sunset Crest condominiums, Jordan said that they were built initially as vacation homes for visitors to Barbados.
“When the company ran into financial difficulty, they decided to sell the land but they could not sell it to any of the owners of the condominiums because they were not Barbadian. I?was the first local buyer and as a result I?got possession of all of the common lands. But it seems to me that because I am black and wear my hair plaited that people do not respect me as the owner. They think that I am just a madman,” said Jordan, who operates a real estate company.
He stated that he had also failed in his attempt to collect rent from the property owners because the majority of them lived overseas.
“My title deed gives me ownership of all the easements, quasi easements, right o’ way and car parks. All that land means everything that isn’t titled – that has not been surveyed. It was sold to the lot, so it does not have any specific landmarks,” he said.
When contacted, an official of the Sunset Crest Property Owners pointed out that there was an ongoing legal matter between them and Jordan and referred us to their attorney Gale Prescod. However, up to press time we were unable to reach Prescod.
