Cartel founder Leroy Bean hasn’t ruled out the possibility of a legal challenge to last week’s Supreme Court ruling that effectively stripped the gang mediation group of its lease of White’s Island.

Pastor Bean wouldn’t comment on whether he would take further action — or attempt to contest the ruling by Chief Justice Ian Kawaley that Cartel foot the bill for the case, launched by Government nearly a year ago.

However, he said the loss of White’s Island wouldn’t hamper the ability of the Cartel to continue its efforts.

“For the last two years, we haven’t been doing anything on the island — there was uncertainty with the case still pending,” Pastor Bean told The Royal Gazette.

“We’ve rented it out to a couple of religious groups who have done memorial services there, but we haven’t done any camps there.”

He added: “It doesn’t have any major bearing on Cartel; we’re still doing our activities and interventions, still going into schools and other institutions. I personally don’t believe there is any organisation on the Island that does what we do with gangs.”

Pastor Bean expressed disappointment that no one in Government had sought to involve the organisation in tackling the Island’s gang problem.

“To be honest, I just thought a government that claims they’re for the people would at least sit down and talk with me to find out my intentions and how we fit into the overall plan in Bermuda,” he said.

“None of them have reached out to me in any way.”

It has been nearly four years since Cartel was leased the island for a period of 21 years minus one day — an agreement made under the former Progressive Labour Party administration, and deemed null and void under last week’s decision by Mr Justice Kawaley.

“They left in a clause of the optional renewal, and by leaving that clause in, it took the lease beyond 21 years, according to law,” Pastor Bean said. “In that regard, it was no longer 21 years, and therefore it would have had to go before Parliament to be passed.”

Although the court heard from former Public Works Minister Derrick Burgess that the renewal options were routinely included in Government leases at that time, and that his instructions were misunderstood by the Estates Department when they drafted the lease, Mr Justice Kawaley said that it was “impossible to believe that any reasonable Estates Department would draft a lease with a potential term of over 40 years without receiving written instructions or recording oral instructions in writing”.

He ascribed the inclusion of the option to “a mistaken view of the law”.

Although costs were awarded to the winning side, the Chief Justice “encouraged” the Ministry to consider Cartel’s charitable status before requiring the organisation to pay up. Pastor Bean said he had no idea how high the costs could run, with lawyers’ fees for both sides included.

Asked if Public Works would consider offering Cartel any reprieve from legal costs, a Ministry spokeswoman said: “As the decision has just been handed down, it is still being digested, and a comment will be made in due course.”

Meanwhile, Cartel remains active, with Pastor Bean most recently meeting with the family of gun murder victim Erin Richardson.

“I don’t think the problem has simmered down,” he said. “We need to tighten up our positive reinforcement, especially in the schools and with the families that have lost people. The moment we slacken off, we’ll find ourselves experiencing more of what we experienced just recently.”