Editorial | Awakened parish councils?

Jamaica’s local government councils are notorious for their periodic declarations of intent to improve the efficiency of the services they provide and the transparency with which they do so. It usually comes to naught.

So, few people will be excited by a ream of statements and promises that have emanated from a number of municipal corporations recently, announcing improved outcomes in the way they do business, or of their intention to do better. The Gleaner understands Jamaicans’ collective yawn.

However, this newspaper still clings to the hope that there is an inching by the corporations to the better, in keeping with the pledges the leadership of most made after the February, 2024 municipal elections.

The award of building permits, and policing of construction activities, has long been an extremely contentious issue with respect to the performance of the corporations, which are the primarily regulatory agency for construction in their parishes.

For some inexplicable reason, across administrations, building plans that don’t meet the regulatory standards seem to leech through the system. Or more prevalently, the approved plans are breached during construction, unnoticed by inspectors, until some offended community member(s) sue the developers and regulatory agencies, or a whistleblower causes a public stink.

CHASTISED

Indeed, the courts have in recent times chastised especially the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation (KSAMC) for its dereliction with respect to building permits and construction oversight. So, too, has the Integrity Commission (IC) in investigative reports on construction projects to which public officials have had direct or indirect connections.

It is understandable that the KSAMC bears the brunt of the scrutiny. The twin-parish region is home to Jamaica’s capital, its key commercial and economic centre and home to a quarter of the island’s population.

Against that backdrop, The Gleaner welcomes this week’s reiteration by Andrew Swaby, chairman of the KSAMC council and the mayor of Kingston, of his intention to order an independent review of the corporation’s building approval and oversight regime.

Said Mayor Swaby: “As we work to strengthen our building approval process, in keeping with the recommendations made by the Integrity Commission, we will be naming a three-member panel to conduct an administrative review of the process.

“This panel will consist of individuals who have worked in the built environment and who have the skills, knowledge, and experience required to provide proper oversight of the building and planning department.”

As we recalled when Mr Swaby first announced his intention in December, this is not the first time the KSAMC has announced such a review. There have been several over the years, including, most recently, under Mr Swaby predecessor as chairman of the council, Delroy Williams.

We therefore welcome Mr Swaby’s pledge that “the recommendations of this panel will be made public” and his promise to organise a series of stakeholders’ workshops of the regulatory process for construction.

The Gleaner notes and welcomes, too, the recent statement by the chairman of the Hanover Municipal Corporation, Sheridan Samuels, that stepped up regulatory enforcement in this parish was bearing fruit, with increased building applications to the corporations.

“For some time now we have been having problems with persons across the parish just building structures without the necessary permits,” Mayor Samuels told a council meeting a week ago. “This robust enforcement drive is aimed at protecting those persons from any eventuality.”

Hopefully, the efforts in Hanover, in the island’s north-west won’t, like too many things, soon peter out.

SEEKING TO CATCH-UP

While we are surprised that some commercial buildings in the city of Montego Bay, St James, may have been constructed without grease traps, we are heartened by the announcement of the city’s mayor and St James Municipal Corporation council chairman, Richard Vernon, that the regulatory regime is seeking to catch up.

Applications for all commercial buildings going forward must include grease traps, the absence of which sometimes cause the build-up of massive ‘fatburgers’ in sewer systems.

Mayor Vernon’s plan for a public education campaign in his parish on the value and virtues of waste separation, with the aim of lessening the amount of plastic waste in the public environment, is also a good first step, which, hopefully, will help to accelerate work towards a national waste separation policy.

Mayor Vernon, given his association with a United Nations Environment Programme project to lessen plastic waste, should make himself a national advocate on this issue.

Similarly, we note the complaint of Hanover corporation’s member, Wynter McIntosh, of the large number of derelict vehicles that litter roads of his Chester Castle division. Mr McIntosh appealed for help from the corporation and the National Solid Waste Management Authority to have them removed.

The problem noted by the councillor is unique neither to Hanover nor the Chester Castle division. It is common across Jamaica, and more so in Kingston and St Andrew.

Roadside garages function with apparent impunity in many communities. They impede traffic, impact public safety and negatively affect real estate values of homes where they exist.

While they operate in plain view, the authorities fail to act, or do so only sporadically – few and far between. So residents have to live cheek and jowl with greasy verges and the rusty carcasses of abandoned vehicles, or with the short-term presence of new, shiny ones, whose owners ship in and out, without having to endure the problem of their own doorsteps.

Mr McIntosh might join forces with other councillors nationally in insisting on action.