CHIEF JUSTICE Lensley Wolfe has ordered that the shares held by the Shipping Association of Jamaica, (SAJ), in Kingston Wharves Ltd., should not be voted at the scheduled extraordinary general meeting to determine who controls the board.
The ruling has further pushed back the extraordinary general meeting which had been set for next Tuesday, because the ruling will be appealed.
The Chief Justice has granted a 14-day interim injunction to Grace, Kennedy & Company (Shipping) Ltd. and other Grace maritime interests, barring Shipping Association of Jamaica Property Ltd. from exercising any voting rights in the 15 per cent shares the SAJ holds in Kingston Wharves. But, he has granted permission for the Shipping Association of Jamaica Property to appeal his ruling.
Grace, which has 44 per cent shares in Kingston Wharves, had also sought an injunction to bar the Kingston Port Workers' Superannuation Fund from voting, but the Chief Justice dismissed the motion, paving the way for the trustees of the Port Workers' Superannuation Fund to vote. KPSF has 15.8 per cent shares in Kingston Wharves.
Following the ruling yesterday, the parties agreed in court that the extraordinary general meeting should be further postponed until the completion of the proceedings between Grace and the Shipping Association of Jamaica Property.
Grace, Kennedy had also sought to bar Jamaica Fruit & Shipping Company, which has seven per cent shares in Kingston Wharves, from voting, but withdrew the motion when the case came before the court on Monday. The Chief Justice then dismissed the motion.
Grace, Kennedy was represented by John Vassell, Q.C., and attorneys-at-law Conrad George and Shena Stubbs, instructed by Hart, Muirhead, Fatta. The complaining trustees were represented by Lord Anthony Gifford, Q.C. and Conrad George, instructed by Hart, Muirhead, Fatta.
The respondent trustees of the Port Workers Superannuation Fund were represented by Hilary Phillips, Q.C., and Charles Piper, instructed by Piper and Samuda. The SAJ was represented by Pamela Benka Coker, Q.C., instructed by Myers, Fletcher and Gordon. Jamaica Fruit & Shipping Company was represented by the law firm Livingston, Alexander and Levy.
