Ueta of Belize Ltd v Belize Airports Authority

• Jurisdiction: Belize
• Judge: Shanks, J.
• Judgment Date: 07 April 2000
• Court: High Court (Belize)
• Docket Number: 140 of 1999
• Date: 07 April 2000

High Court

Shanks, J.

140 of 1999

Ueta of Belize Limited

and

Belize Airports Authority

Appearances

Mr. Dean Barrow, S.C. for the plaintiff.

Mr. Fred Lumor for the defendant.

Damages - Landlord and tenant — Lease agreement — Termination of lease — Lessor ejected lessee from premises in breach of lease agreement — Whether lease agreement was void on the ground that the parties who participated in the execution of the lease purportedly had no authority to do so — Finding that the parties were fully authorised by the Board of Directors to enter into the lease on behalf of the defendants — Damages awarded for lost profit and damage to stock — Award of $971, 397.

Shanks, J.

1 This is a claim for damages arising out of the premature termination of a lease dated 18 August, 1998. Under the lease the plaintiff company was given the right to use an area of 2,189 square feet of the Philip Goldson International Airport Building Arrivals hall to sell “duty free” goods. The lease was to run until 12 August 2003 and there was an option for the plaintiff to extend it for another ten years. The rent was $6,250 a month or 15% of the plaintiffs gross receipts, whichever was greater. Although the lease was dated 18 August, 1998 it was clear there had been discussions about it for over a year before and the plaintiffs predecessor company (Lauren International Duty Free) had been operating duty free stores at the airport for many years. The lease was entered into at the time that a new extended Arrivals hall and duty free store had been constructed which was officially opened on 25 August, 1998.

2 I am told that after the August 1998 election the entire Board of the Belize Airports Authority was changed. On 23 November, 1998 the BAA wrote a letter to the plaintiff which stated that the Board “have noted the construction of a large duty free concession in the arrival hall …. It continued “The Board wishes to inform you that it did not authorize, approve, or grant lease of any arrival concession…to UETA … The Board has directed that the structure erected in the Arrival Hall should be removed to another location… before 11 December, 1998. If it is the intention of the company to lease concessions in the Arrival Hall of the Airport you are required to approach the Authority in order to do so within the period stated above. The Authority reminds you that it is an offence to carry on any trade or business at the Airport without the approval of the Belize Airports Authority.” Mrs. Sylvestre, the vice president of plaintiff company, told me (and I accept) that she had had dealings with the new Board in the period up to 23 November, 1998 and that rent had been paid and accepted by the BAA in accordance with the lease of 18 August, 1998. It will be apparent therefore that the BAA's letter was rather disingenuous.

3 There were negotiation between the parties which came to nothing so the plaintiff started this Action on 31 March, 1999. An application was made for an interlocutory injunction to stop the BAA seeking to resile from the terms of the lease. That application failed and on the same day (30 April, 1999) the BAA simply removed all the plaintiff's fixtures and fittings anti inventory of goods and put them in two 40 foot containers without any kind of warning, damaging them severely in the process. Notwithstanding that the application for an injunction had failed this was, in my view, oppressive and unacceptable behaviour on the part of those responsible for running a public authority.

4 Although the defendant saw fit to plead fraud against Mrs. Sylvestre, Mr. Godoy (the former chairman of the BAA) and Mrs. Tillett (a former director and acting secretary) (an allegation for which I could see not a scrap of evidence) and a number of other defences, the only defence persisted in at the end of the trial was that the lease was void or of no effect because Mr. Godoy and Mrs. Tillett who participated in the...