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The Chaguaramas Development Authority (CDA) defended its decision to serve a Notice to Quit to the Chaguaramas Military History and Aerospace Museum, saying it had exhausted all efforts to formalise the museum’s tenancy. The Authority said it spent more than 30 years attempting to regularise the museum’s occupation, but “all such efforts have been rejected by the management of the Museum.” It argued that it had no choice but to act in the public interest to ensure “equitable and lawful use of state resources.”
Museum Director Linda Kelshall, in an interview on Thursday said there's been little communication receiving the latest eviction notice. “Up to now, I haven’t heard anything about it, nothing at all,” she said. Despite a letter dated October 1, 2024, in which the CDA withdrew a 30-year lease offer, Kelshall and her team said they had not received a substantive response to their legal attempts to engage the Authority. The CDA maintained that in the last four years, Kelshall failed to respond meaningfully and continued operating on state land without paying rent.
Public Relations Officer Kathy-Ann Edwards urged the CDA to meet with museum representatives to find a compromise before enforcement action is taken. Both she and Kelshall said they hoped their attorneys would have more success in making contact.
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