Bogue lands saga will end soon – Vernon

WESTERN BUREAU:

Montego Bay Mayor Richard Vernon is confident that the long-standing Bogue lands saga will soon end, with the timeline for that resolution now dependent on how swiftly the current Public Investment Appraisal Branch [PIAB] process for the sale of the lands can be completed.

Vernon spoke to the pending sale of the Bogue Industrial Estates land space in a media interview following last Thursday’s monthly meeting of the St James Municipal Corporation (StJMC). The sale of the land space has been a perpetual issue over several administrations, dating as far back as 2003.

“As it relates to the Bogue lands, under the previous administration (during the tenure of former Mayor Leeroy Williams) we made significant strides. We are now at a place where we have to conduct infrastructural installation and to get the subdivision orders through; and to do that, we are now in the process of getting the funding needed to put in the necessary infrastructure,” said Vernon.

“I cannot speak to the specific timeline, but what I know is that we have started the process. These days we have to go through what is called the PIAB, which is a public appraisal board that deals with government investments, and we have started the application process for that,” Vernon explained. “Once we have completed the application process for that, the money will come from the Consolidated Fund for us to invest in the property in that area for the development of infrastructure.”

The sale of the Bogue property, which houses 26 commercial lots adjacent to the Fairview commercial complex in southeastern Montego Bay, has been a long-standing issue spanning four previous mayoral administrations of the StJMC.

During his mayoral appointment in 2016, when the Jamaica Labour Party took control of the StJMC, then Mayor Homer Davis pledged to complete the sale of the property within his tenure as chairman of the StJMC, which past mayors Noel Donaldson, Charles Sinclair and Glendon Harris failed to do.

FINANCE OTHER PROJECTS

The land, which was valued at $700 million in 2015, has also been at the centre of political infighting, including a period in 2003 when the Ministry of Local Government blocked an attempt by the StJMC, then led by Noel Donaldson, to subdivide and sell the property.

Up to July 2020, the StJMC projected to collect over $130 million between the sale of the 26 com mercial lots and an outstanding portion of over J$123 million in back rent, for the purpose of building a state-of-the-art shopping arcade at the Old Shoes Market site.

In March 2023, the occupiers of the land, who were said to be People’s National Party supporters, contended that they were being unfairly treated by the current administration despite having valid lease and sale agreements dating back to May 22, 2003. The lease/sale arrangement was established during the tenure of Hugh Solomon, the mayor of Montego Bay at that time.

In the meantime, Vernon stated that the StJMC aims to collect $1 billion from the sale of the Bogue property to finance other projects in Montego Bay, including the construction of a new facility at the site of the downtown district’s Old Shoe Market which was razed by fire in October 2023.

“We want to complete that section )Bogue lands sale) and raise some funds where there is possibly $1 billion to be collected from the sale of properties in that section, which we intend to use on other developments, to include the new Shoes Market that we have designed. And we have met with the vendors there who were affected by the fire last year; and we are going to sort that out in terms of the development. There are several other areas where we are looking at multi-storey car parks and other infrastructural developments within the city of Montego Bay, but the money that we will raise from the sale of properties in that section will offset several of our development ambitions here,” said Vernon.