THE Privy Council will in October hear the appeal of a group of Portmore residents seeking exemption for all members of the community from paying a fee to use the causeway leg of Highway 2000.

Oswald James, lead attorney for the residents, told the Observer that the Privy Council has reserved a date in early October to hear the matter and that he will now confirm a convenient date with Solicitor General B St Michael Hylton, QC, who is representing the government.

Last month the Court of Appeal granted final leave to the residents to take their grouse against the Portmore toll to the Privy Council, the island's final court of appeal.

"We are ready now. If we can get an early date from the Privy Council that would be good.," James told the Observer then.
The residents, mainly councillors of the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party, had taken the government to court after the administration went ahead and converted the old causeway, linking the capital city of Kingston to the municipality of Portmore, into a six-lane, tolled expressway.

They are contending that being required to pay to use the causeway, the shortest route to their homes, is a breach of their constitutional rights.
Currently, residents pay $60 for motor cars, $100 for SUVs and $200 for buses and trucks to use the toll road.

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