EDITORIAL - An aimlessly staggering KSAC

Every so often, Mr Desmond McKenzie works up a head of steam in an effort, it seems, to assert the relevance of his job as mayor of Kingston and chairman of the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation (KSAC), the local government authority of which Jamaica's capital city is part.

But that soon blows off and Mr McKenzie, apparently exhausted by the effort, retreats to hibernation, or to a state of almost do-nothingness.

Little, in the process, is accomplished, except an old recitation of why only so little has been achieved and why more can't be done.

The city last week had its latest show of the mayor's gurgling boilers and hissing pressure-release valves when Mr McKenzie again addressed the problem of illegal construction in the capital and lamented how constrained he and his local government authority are from fixing it.

At a monthly meeting of his council, he talked robustly of demolishing buildings that were constructed without appropriate permits and placed the multi-storey Baron's Plaza on Constant Spring Road squarely in his sight. Another building of concern is one at Caledonia Avenue in Cross Roads that covered part of a public drain and has high-voltage public electricity wires running across an upstairs veranda.

"Not because building fees represent a significant portion of the council's revenue," Mr McKenzie said, would the KSAC "close our eyes to the reality that the city is in danger because of the number of buildings that are being constructed in areas where no approval was granted".

At the same time, he complained about the inadequacy of existing zoning and construction laws and regulations, providing loopholes to unscrupulous builders.

NO CLEAR VISION

We concede that some of the difficulties claimed by Mr McKenzie do exist, but insist that the greater ones are the lack of serious thinking and strategic planning on the part of the KSAC and its leadership. The KSAC, as far as we know, has articulated no clear vision for the capital, or the wider region that it governs, while Mr McKenzie blames everyone else for the shortcomings.

For instance, Mr McKenzie blamed permissive politicians - a species of which we presume he is not a member - for the free-for-all building practices in Jamaica and for many of the difficulties faced in rectifying the problem. But consider Mr McKenzie's own action on the Caledonia Road Avenue building.

Three years ago, a hissing Mr McKenzie, with bulldozers and wrecking crews behind him, turned up to demolish the building. Business operators cried and complained and the politician, Mr McKenzie, retreated to give the complainers time to find new accom-modations.

The building still stands, the safety and public-health concerns remain. As we have discovered, Mr McKenzie's 2008 retreat seemed to have bought the owners just enough time to pursue further court action.

It would have been bad enough if illegally constructed buildings were the city's only problem to be ineptly managed by the KSAC. The Corporation, for instance, has offered no initiative for investment or job creation in the capital and the rest of the Corporate Area.

The KSAC, unfortunately, is a small-bore council, absent in leadership, vision or direction.