The Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU) president general, Ancel Roget, said former prime minister Dr Keith Rowley was served with a legal notice at the High Court on November 22 for alleged defamation against his character.

The notice concerns comments Rowley allegedly made about the Solomon Hochoy Highway blockage by scrap-iron dealers in August 2022, when the export of scrap iron was banned for six months. Truckloads of dirt were dumped on the highway near Claxton Bay, causing gridlock traffic for hours. Scrap-iron dealers had complained that the ban would affect their livelihoods.

"And who stood in the defence of those people? The OWTU stood in defence of them and called for the reopening of the industry," Roget said.