Senior Multimedia Journalist
joshua.seemungal@guardian.co.tt
Dozens of families who purchased land in three developments from Policy Consultants Limited are now in limbo because the company failed to obtain the requisite approvals for the sites.
The families paid up to $300,000 for individual parcels of land at the developments, located in Santa Cruz, Rousillac and Claxton Bay.
Guardian Media’s Investigations Desk understands, however, that there may be at least another two developments under the same company, whose landowners are experiencing similar issues.
Before and after purchase, the company gave guarantees to the families that they would obtain utility and regional corporation approvals at the sites within six months to a year, allowing the clients to eventually build their dream homes. However, approvals have not been granted for the developments in question for as many as 20 years after payment.
The director of the company is former NAR works and transport minister, former NIDCO president and recent UNC temporary senator Dr Carson Charles.
Over the last three weeks, Guardian Media reviewed documents of agreements of sale and visited the developments in question.
Rousillac
Last Thursday, a group of nine landowners at the Grant’s Park, Rousillac Development took the day off from work to share their experiences as a community.
The vast expanse of dry, bushy land at the site extends from the top of a steep hill down to a flat area that seems ideal for planting crops. The site is less than a three-minute drive from Rousillac’s famed barbecue stretch.
There were no street lights on the property. The community road needs repaving. Across the sizeable development, there are ten homes—most still under construction—being built piece by piece. All of the homes have PVC pipes running from their gutterings into tanks.
Nkosi (name changed on request) has been living there since December 2018. The development does not have a WASA connection so he, like the others, pay between $400 to $600 for a truckload of water to fill up tanks.
“The company did not pay the interconnection fee to WASA, so we were advised by the MP to go and find out the cost, and when we went there, it was upwards of $45,000. I think it is unfair that after spending all this money, all these residents now have to come and fork out extra money to pay for a connection for WASA. I think Dr Charles is taking advantage of us, and it doesn’t seem like he’s doing it to us alone, but to a lot of people throughout the country,” Nkosi said.
“I had a young family. We were given a lot of positive talk that we know now was a lot of gas-up talk from Policy Consultants. There are people here who bought land over 17 years ago and are still struggling without water. Mr Charles, for the last five years, hasn’t answered his phone. When you visit his office, it is always locked up.”
Each client, after purchase, was asked by Policy Consultants to put $5,000 towards installing WASA water meters. An elderly resident named Randall said he refused to pay because WASA informed inquiring residents that it was the developer’s responsibility.
“If there are let’s say 50 landowners across five developments, that’s $250,000 they would make from water meters. The developers, according to WASA, just had to pay $45,000 to open the water, so where is the rest of the money going?
“It doesn’t feel good and it brings forth the point, the reality of the whole thing—don’t trust those in authority, whether it’s politicians or whoever, don’t trust them. Things happening in the country that we don’t know about. I’m not political. I don’t argue for no party but don’t trust them just cause they in a big position or a respectable position to run the country or the run things or to have a seat and stand up and do things for people,” he said.
Residents also paid $64,000 to get electricity to their homes.
T&TEC, however, told residents the developer had seemingly abandoned the project.
Another Grant’s Park Development resident, Sharmilla (whose name has also been changed), was one of the residents who put up the money. For nine years, her property had no electricity.
“December 2023 was when T&TEC came and put the three poles in and they put the infrastructure in and we went ahead and got our connections. It was very challenging because you know I have young children. We needed a place to live. All of our life savings and everything was invested in this. We had to do what we could to make it work.
“We are very disappointed with Mr Charles. When we met him and when we bought this property, he was in government office, so we thought this was a man of integrity. At this point, what we would want, in addition to proper roads, drainage, water, standpipes, street lights, we would want Mr Charles to reimburse us for the monies paid to T&TEC because that was his responsibility,” Sharmilla said.
She is of the view that the T&T Police Service (TTPS) should open an investigation into Policy Consultants Ltd’s dealings.
Nkosi called on UNC leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar to hold the former UNC temporary senator to account.
“What he is doing here to people throughout the country is
representing people at the highest level as a senator, then a lot of people in the country will be very scared and sceptical to go in that direction or even support that party. We are demanding that he never sits in the senate again,” Nkosi said.
Santa Cruz
Throughout the last 20 years, a first viewing from atop the hills of Sam Boucaud Extension, Santa Cruz, was, more often than not, wondrous enough to convince property-hunting families to purchase lots of land at a 3.4-hectare development.
The 8,000 square feet parcels of land, bought for $300,000 each from Policy Consultants Limited, seemed the perfect place to build their dream homes.
They were all promised that within a year, all necessary approvals would be obtained. However, instead, a nightmare continues.
The promised completion timeline has turned into more than ten to 20 years.
Despite paying off loans with interest or the full amount in cash, they remain unable to build their homes.
The company says it is awaiting final approval from the regional corporation, but some clients are starting to wonder if they have been duped.
In some instances, the young children they imagined learning to ride bikes in the area, now have their driver’s licenses or are off studying in university—some of their parents are still unable to build a home to call their own.
Randy (whose name was changed) paid for his lot of land in cash in 2004.
“I did ask him when I signed the agreement how long it was going to take, and he said he needed to get the water and sewerage, and electricity parts of it done, and also Town and Country. I told him I was starting a family. I had two little kids and that’s where my funds were going—to a mortgage.
“Since then, I’ve been constantly given a runaround, asking for information and only been told that it is being finalised; it is almost there,” he said.
Randy said his finances, even more than his hope, have dwindled over the years because of rent. He wants to, at least, sell off the land because his two daughters are at university—which, of course, is not easy to pay for.
“I know I have a lovely piece of land but I cannot do anything with it. I can’t see why it is taking so long. I was conned,” he complained.
Helen, whose name was changed, paid in full for her 9,000-square-foot lot in 2008 after accessing a bridging loan.
“I would not have purchased cat in bag from anybody, but because of his name and him being a politician at the time, I thought that we would not get a run-around. I was pregnant at the time, so I thought I would see my son riding in the area and everything like that.
“I got my deed because I paid off for my land. However, I can’t do anything with it. I can’t sell. I can’t build because as, you know, all the approvals are not in hand. I have been trying to sell but it has to be a cash purchaser. They can’t go to the bank for financing because yes, I have a deed that we can sign over, but the bank asks for approvals,” she lamented.
Helen said she has been going back and forth with the company since 2012, only receiving excuses. Last year, she met with the company demanding a resolution. Helen claimed company officials told her that if things weren’t completed by January 2024, it would buy the land back.
“So I wrote to them and told them, yes, I will take that offer, however, it will be at this price because I paid interest to the bank after all those years. They told me no, they are giving me back cash price. I said they had to be crazy.
“At this stage, everybody is fed up. We are not seeing an end. I know someone whose brother died while waiting for his land. His wife got it sold in cash because she just wanted out of the country. We are stuck in limbo,” she said.
Angela, whose name was changed to hide her identity, paid approximately $300,000 for her land at the Sam Boucaud development. She paid a downpayment ten years ago.
“We don’t want the money back really because it’s good property at a good deal. We want the land, but it is just ridiculous now. Over the years, they just keep blaming it on approvals, but I think it has a lot to do with them taking money and investing it into other developments,” she claimed, adding that she was also recently asked to pay for water meters.
When Guardian Media visited the site, there were long, well-paved roads that wove their way up and down the hills of phases I and II of the development. WASA connections and aged drainage systems were visible, while there appeared to be electricity available to the whole site, as T&TEC poles were found throughout. Some of the land was cleared, with tractor-fork marks left behind in the stone and sand. Other pieces of land were full of overgrown brush.
The view from atop the highest point was astonishing. The panoramic view offered a second-to-none range of vision of the Santa Cruz Valley. The residential potential of the area is clear for anyone to see, but it is a potential heading into more than two decades of unfulfilment.
Claxton Bay
Landowners at Policy Consultant Limited’s Claxton Bay, Ocean View Development also contacted Guardian Media. Those living there, around seven families, have been there for more than 15 years. Like the other two developments, the site has no approvals.
“When we built our houses, we had no electricity. We had to fight and go to T&TEC and make a case. They sent their engineers and they told us they had already worked out an estimate and given it to the developer who just had to pay money to put in electricity. But he’s not doing it, so I have to come out now and fork out money to pay towards electricity,” Azim, whose name was changed, said.
As each year passes, Azim’s worries increase. He is deeply concerned that if something happens to him, his family may encounter problems in the absence of a deed.
“I don’t know if this place will ever get sorted out. Do you know how many contractors had to work here and just leave and lose money? I met a guy recently and I asked him about his father. He said my father died and he never got paid for the work he did at the development - months upon months. Big excavator and tractors. It cost him $1,500 or $2,000 a day to rent, and months he didn’t get paid, and then they eventually just pulled out.”
“It seems like a Ponzi scheme. The company seems to be taking money from one development and putting it into the next development,” he said.
Charles: Approval
process mind-blowing
Contacted for comment, Charles denied that his company has gone silent on clients. He also denied suggestions that the company is running a Ponzi scheme of any sort.
He said his company is always ready and willing to answer any questions about the developments.
Apologizing, he said he understood the frustrations of his clients. However, he claimed it is the ‘tedious’ approval processes that are the cause of the lengthy delays.
“I understand that they have had frustrations with us because we have had to wait for approvals, but it’s not their fault. It’s our responsibility. We are not trying to duck responsibility. We take responsibility for that. We are sorry it is taking so long, but we haven’t gone AWOL,” he said.
According to Dr Charles, the time it has taken for his company to get the requisite approvals is ‘mind-blowing,’ suggesting that Guardian Media should investigate the approval process.
“They can’t say they don’t have anything. They have their title documents, but yes, it’s correct that approvals are a very slow and tedious process. I’ve had cause to write long letters explaining and complaining about the slow process of approvals…I know people must be frustrated.
“Everyone who has ever asked for a refund has been able to get it…The land was sold at a very good price. I challenge anybody to get 8,000 square feet of land for $300,000 in Santa Cruz. I challenge anybody to try and get that, and tell me where they got that. The land was sold for about half price because it was undeveloped land, and we had to go through the whole development process…If it was land that was already developed, with approvals, then it would have been sold at price value. That is not an excuse why it took so long, it’s an explanation as to why the majority of people chose to stay because they had the opportunity to get something they could hardly get elsewhere, certainly not in Santa Cruz,” he said.
“If I were in their shoes - I would think - as frustrated as I would be, I would not want to give up the land when it is so close to the end, and when you will not get anything this good close to that price. So I think people will quarrel and complain and be vexed - rightly so - but I don’t think they will want to give it up because they will be throwing away an opportunity they will not get elsewhere - especially after choosing to wait so long,” he stated.