Patricia Green | Land regularisation is social justice

There is a wise depiction of three monkeys, one covering the eyes – “see no evil”, another the ears – “hear no evil,” and another the mouth – “speak no evil”. This is reputed to have originated in Japan in the 16th century, to teach prudence and purity.

So, which monkeys should all Jamaica be posturing over development news from the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC)? On January 10, The Gleaner reported on building permit breaches by Estatebridge and JACDEN Group regularised by KSAMC.’ What does this mean?

The Oxford Dictionary defines regularisation as, “… make a situation that already exists legal …”, or giving illegal immigrants, “… the opportunity to regularise their position …”.

Regularisation globally commenced within the migration framework where the International Organization for Migration provides policy guidance for regularisation measures to enable non-nationals in an irregular situation to remain lawfully in the country. This later extended into the land development arena, specifically as a tool to handle squatting and informal communities. Regularisation is praised internationally as social justice, being a major tool to correct and make right injustices that have been meted out to peoples across the globe, especially to persons of formerly colonised nations.

Lionel Cliffe highlighted in his article ‘The ‘Struggle for Land in Africa’ that, in the redistribution after the 1963 independence of Kenya, over one million of the nine million acres of African lands reserved for whites were returned to Kenyans. Land regularisation as defined by the University of Tanzania, emerged as an urban planning tool, directly linked to community development, particularly to acquire title deeds in what was called unplanned settlements in cities of Sub-Saharan Africa. The African Development Bank documented Rwanda as good practice to benefit persons displaced through such colonial actions of land displacement by white settlers.

In India, such displacement settlements are called ‘unauthorised colonies’ and the Government approved proposals to grant ownership rights to residents of some unauthorised colonies in Delhi, for proper urban planning to prevent the creation of urban sprawl.

DIRECTLY TIED

Land disenfranchisement in Latin America and the Caribbean is directly tied to colonial plantation enslavement where millions were emancipated, many without provisions to acquire land and homes. The Sugar Company of Jamaica Holdings Limited implemented in 2020 a ‘Community regularisation and development programme’ on properties occupied mostly by current or past employees, their relatives or descendants, to redress historical development of informal communities around the various sugar plantations.

The Inter-American Development Bank has been advocating Land Administration Systems (LAS) as tools for the regularisation process of land tenure security for such resultant ‘informal’ communities stemming from Emancipation. It noted that the English-speaking Caribbean countries are an exception where all or most LAS for regularisation are concentrated in a single government entity.

In September 2024, the Jamaica Information Service reported that Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness announced plans by the Government to spend billions on the regularisation of informal settlements in Jamaica. Interestingly, the University of the West Indies Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CAPRI) report, based on data analysed over 11 years, concluded that land tenure and infrastructure regularisation should become instead the primary crime-fighting focus tool. CAPRI found that the greater part of armed violence is concentrated around informal settlements, and that Jamaica has more than 700 such communities.

Is it likely that, now, Europe may adopt this colonial tool of land regularisation following the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) 12th session of the World Urban Forum (WUF12), in Cairo, Egypt in November 2024? Delegates grappled with the toll of conflict-driven devastation in Gaza, Lebanon and Ukraine. Bloomberg CityLab suggested that these urban ruinations played a prominent role at WUF12 to foster the reconstruction of homes where 38 million have been forcibly displaced, “… local governments play a key role in driving solutions and integrating the forcibly displaced into urban development strategies …”.

Pertaining to Jamaica and its local government authority, the January 15 Jamaica Observer reported ‘New panel to oversee KSAMC building approval process’, elaborating on failures to ensure compliance with the terms and conditions of building permit construction. It cited two developments. The first was mentioned by the Integrity Commission about a development undertaken by Estatebridge Holdings Limited building more rooms than permitted at Kingston 6. The other was a three-storey development being completed by JACDEN Group at Kingston 5 without having been granted any building approval. Yet, the KSAMC Building and Town Planning Committee met on January 8 and recommended these developers pay building fees, and receive approval for regularisation.

LEGAL BASIS

What is the legal basis for these two projects receiving ‘regularisation’? How did the KSAMC follow operational procedures in the 2016 Local Government Act, the 2018 Building Act, and/or the pre-Independence 1958 Town and Country Planning Act administered by the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA)? Are these projects receiving ‘regularisation’ by the KSAMC going to provide any social justice and/or community upliftment benefits to the nation of Jamaica?

On January 29, The Gleaner headlined, ‘KSAMC announces panel to review building approval process’. This panel comprises two urban planners and one sustainable development consultant.

My article on February 26, 2024 mentioned that new apartment buildings advertised as safe were ravaged, resulting in thousands of deaths, with the destruction of thousands of buildings and economic losses. The experts reported then that development breaches were largely ignored because addressing them would have been “… expensive, unpopular and restrain a key engine of the country’s economic growth ...”.

With the January 14, 1907 Jamaica earthquake anniversary recalling more lives lost as a result of the fires that followed, Richard Thompson, director general, Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management, cautioned that earthquakes can trigger secondary events like fires. We have been watching fires raging uncontrollably in Los Angeles, California, destroying ultra-expensive developments, with many suggesting the judgement of God in this.

Has the law changed from the NEPA being the only regulatory agency to approve density and/or development planning for such projects as at Kingston 6 and Kingston 5? Has NEPA relegated its legislative authority to the local government municipal corporations? Has the KSAMC been legally bestowed with powers to grant regularisation of these two developments and/or other similar developments? There is another monkey expression that was used in Jamaica in the 18th century, then migrated to the USA in the 1920s and the UK in the 1950s, “monkey see - monkey do”.

Patricia Green, PhD, a registered architect and conservationist, is an independent scholar and advocate for the built and natural environment. Send feedback to patgreen2008@gmail.com and columns@gleanerjm.com