AG happy Hinds breaks silence on four-storey palace

Attorney General Anand Ramlogan says he’s happy that Opposition Senator Fitzgerald Hinds has stopped running from the media and has broken his silence “on his magnificent four-storey palace in Maraval.” However, Ramlogan said Hinds has still refused to answers the questions posed to him in the Senate last Monday. The AG said in the Monday sitting he was reliably informed Hinds’ house was worth around $15 million.

But Hinds, in his response on Friday said he’s authorised First Citizens, Park Street branch to make available to any authorised officials all his bank details and records regarding the obtaining, payment and balance of his mortgage facility. In a statement yesterday, Ramlogan referred to a 2010 Trinidad Guardian article in which Hinds was sued by his next-door neighbour.

Marlon McPherson had filed a civil claim in the Port-of-Spain High Court asking for damages for trespass and seeking an injunction to order Hinds to restore his land to its original condition. Hinds’ million-dollar house is located at 11 Barry Avenue, Hillsboro, Maraval. McPherson had accused Hinds of constructing a “very impressive four-storey house, together with a swimming pool, upon lands which the claimant estimates to be in the value of at least $7,000,000.”

McPherson said both his land and the property belonging to Hinds were residential properties located in an exclusive Port-of-Spain suburb where the average home sells for $4 million. But yesterday, Ramlogan said, “There was no denial of this story. “Three years later, Hinds is now asking us to believe that his neighbour lied on him as he has no swimming pool.” The AG added that Hinds’ statement about giving the bank authorisation was “silly, sly, self-serving and superfluous.”

He said if there was an investigation, the law gave the police the power to access such information. Ramlogan said, “Unlike Senator Hinds, my properties have been the subject of much scrutiny and inspection and I am not afraid of any investigation, be it into my e-mails or properties.” He said Hinds constantly portrays himself as a humble man who identified with the suffering and plight of the people in Laventille and other socially vulnerable areas.

GUARDIAN