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PHILIPSBURG: --- Attorney at law Roland Duncan legal representative of Taliesin Construction that is owned by Carl Critchlow has placed a "Mechanic's Lien" on the Central Bank in order for the bank to pay off the construction company whom they awarded a contract to remodel and renovate the Central Bank building on St. Maarten.Attorney at Law Duncan told members of the media on Tuesday afternoon that the lien was placed on Monday June 13th 2014 and the police on St. Maarten have been notified. He said the reason the lien was placed on the property of the Central Bank was for the bank to pay off his client Taliesin Construction some Naf 3.7M. Duncan said on March 13th the owner of Taliesin Construction was invited to Curacao by the Central Bank where they informed him that they are terminating the contractual agreement they had with him for alleged integrity issues. Duncan read a letter that was given to Critchlow which stated that the Central Bank is not accusing Critchlow of any wrong doing but since they received signals that he has some sort of integrity issues that is linked to former director of St. Maarten Housing Development Foundation (SHDF).Duncan said that the construction agreement Taliesin Construction has with the Central Bank amounts to Naf.5.6M he said so far the bank owed his client for two invoices which amounts to over Naf.100.000.00. Duncan further stated that since the Central Bank have decided to terminate the agreement effective April 17th 2014 they must pay out the contractor who had some 21 employees working on the site since December 2014. Besides that Taliesin Construction also subcontracted three other companies that has to be paid.Duncan said that Central Bank wants to agree to a mutual termination and they proposed to pay Taliesin Construction Naf.520, 000. 00 which Duncan said his client has refused based on the calculations they have made.He said that right now the employees of the Central Bank have been removing everything they placed to block the Central Bank's operation but very soon they will block the Central Bank completely if they do not comply with the payout given by the contractor. Taliesin and his attorneys have given the Central Bank the same deadline they gave to Taliesin Construction which is April 17th 2015.Besides the financial loss the company has suffered, both Duncan and Critchlow said that Taliesin Construction has been tainted and they have been losing work with the integrity allegation or the signals that the Central Bank referred to. Critchlow said that the entire situation has caused him to feel ill, while he has not been able to work. Critchlow said prior to him obtaining the contract from the Central Bank he as well all the employees that worked at the bank had to be screened and each one of them passed the screening. Therefore he does not know what kind of integrity signals the Central Bank is referring to and furthermore they made clear to him that they are not accusing him of anything while they did not have any complaints with the work he has been doing since December 2014.Furthermore, he said he believes that the entire situation is political since the Central Bank is a government owned company.Asked by SMN News what connection did Taliesin Construction had or have with the St. Maarten Housing Development Foundation (SMHDF) Critchlow said that his company was subcontracted by the two companies that won the bid at SMHDF. Asked if he is connected in any way to the companies that won the bid, Critchlow said whether not he is connected or linked to these companies they are three separate companies that are doing business legally on St. Maarten. He further stated that he did audits, yet people are showing up at his place to say they are there to conduct audits but he does not know who sent them.While Critchlow and Duncan did not name the person who is involved in this entire affair he did say that the attorney representing SMHDF held a press conference and made some statements. Further to that, the same attorney established the company Seancom. N.V and he was also a member of the board of the Central Bank. Critchlow said the same attorney even represented him and another client until they signed a contract. "This attorney acted unethically and his actions can get him disbarred because he represented Carl Critchlow and another client, on the same case," attorney at law Roland Duncan clarified.Critchlow further explained that when he attended the meeting on March 13th 2014 with the Central Bank the former Governor of Curacao Jaime Saleh was present and based on information he received Saleh is related to someone that was involved with the SMHDF.Duncan said that he is busy preparing all the necessary documents to take the matter to court because his client suffered immense loss, besides that the Central Bank will have to compensate his client and furthermore inform the court where they got the signals they referred to about integrity.Asked if the Central Bank has suddenly decided to give the job he legally obtained to any other contractor Critchlow said that the Central Bank did not mention any names to him but he heard rumors. Duncan said that the Central Bank will definitely need another contractor to finish off the work that Taliesin Construction started and what they are doing right now is spending tax payer's monies very badly.
