AN ELDERLY couple is suing Y.P. Seaton and Associates to recover damages for wrongful demolition of their $12 million, five-bedroom house at Sevens Plantation in Clarendon in May. Y.P Seaton is insisting however, that the crew which carried out the demolition was not employed to the company.

Mr. Authur Dingwall and his wife Linnette had started work on the house in April 1998 with the hope of finishing the building sometime this year. The house was near completion when the couple got a shock from which they are still to recover.

On May 25, a friend called them at their rented residence in May Pen, Clarendon, and informed them that the house was being torn down by a demolition crew, allegedly employed to Y.P. Seaton and Associates.

Hoping to have the matter addressed, the couple brought the matter to the attention of the police and Mr. Julius Powell, former owner of the Dingwall's property and present owner of a part of Sevens Plantation.

A meeting was subsequently held on May 27 involving the Dingwalls; Mickey Seaton, managing director of Y.P. Seaton and Associates; Mr. Powell; and Member of Parliament, Mike Henry to discuss the matter. The minutes of the meeting show Mr. Seaton accepting responsibility for wrongful demolition of the Dingwall's property. He also committed payment in full for the reconstruction of the couple's house, pending an assessment of damages.

But since the meeting, the Dingwalls claim that they have not heard anything from Mr. Seaton. They said that they have made numerous calls to his office without getting a response.

In a brief interview with The Gleaner on Tuesday, Mr. Seaton admitted that he had taken responsibility for exercise initially. However, he said further checks by the company showed that the demolition crew was not acting on its behalf. "Our subsequent investigations have proven that these were not our people," he emphasised.

When pressed on whether the company's investigations had shown who carried out the demolition, Mr. Seaton said that he could not go on with the discussion because he had an engagement for which he was already late. He said that he would make himself available for full discussion on the subject later in the day. However, since that time The Gleaner has not been able to contact him. Five messages were left at his office between Tuesday and Thursday. But up to press time he had not responded.

Inspector Lascelles Taylor of the May Pen Police Station told The Gleaner on Tuesday that the demolition crew was in fact acting on Y.P. Seaton's behalf. Inspector Taylor said the crew had shown him a court order obtained by Y.P. Seaton to demolish illegal dwellings on lands owned by the company in the area. Checks by The Glea-ner showed that the lands belonging to Y.P Seaton is situated in front of the property on which the Dingwall's house was built.

The couple claimed that the destruction of their house was a case of mistaken identity as the crew apparently wanted to remove squatter settlements on adjacent lands owned by Y.P. Seaton. Meanwhile, the couple's lawyer is in the process of filing suit against Y.P. Seaton to recover damages for the house which is said to have cost over $12 million to construct.