Council launches probe of Topez development, warns investors
Published:Wednesday | August 25, 2010 | 12:00 AM
The St Catherine Parish Council is warning prospective homebuyers not to make any deposits on a residential development being promoted by a company called Topez Construction, until it has established the legitimacy of the project, which it says has not been approved by the local authority.
Christopher Powell, secretary/manager at the council, told Wednesday Business that the development was brought to his attention by several persons who have been calling the council for information on the scheme.
"Persons have reported that they have been sent text messages from the company asking them to make deposits to the company" to secure units in the scheme that Topez says it is developing in the vicinity of Caymanas Estate, he said.
One such text message was also sent to this reporter. It advised that the reporter was selected for home site lot number 14 and that home sites started at J$900,000 and contact should be made with the company immediately.
Powell said he has not received any reports of persons making any deposits.
He also said when he checked the site where the project was supposedly under development, he found that the development did not exist.
"We have been advising persons that we do not have an application for a subdivision; we are not aware of the development," Powell said.
Wednesday Business began to make checks into the project after a man who identified himself as Ian Coke called The Gleaner requesting that a story be done on what he said was an 88-unit housing scheme, comprising two-bedroom homes, on six acres of land at Caymanas.
Coke also identified himself as the manager of Topez.
He said the company was also offering free lots to senior citizens over 55 years and civil servants who were expected, in turn, to have Topez build their homes.
Coke also told Wednesday Business that two model units were constructed on the site and even sent pictures of the model units. But the St Catherine Parish Council said its own checks indicated that there was nothing on the site.
Coke was evasive when pressed about financing for the development - first alluding to National Housing Trust as the backer, but later backtracking. He also told Wednesday Business that the company has been in operation for the last 20 years, but a company search at the Companies Office of Jamaica turned up no business called Topez Construction.
Coke also claimed that his project had been approved by the Portmore Municipality, which Mayor Keith Hinds denies, saying Caymanas is outside the municipality's jurisdiction.
Hinds referred queries to St Catherine, where Powell said he had already launched an investigation.
When Wednesday Business related what the Parish Council said to Coke, he said he was in the process of making the application.
The Real Estate Board also told Wednesday Business that the company was not registered with the Board, nor was the development registered with them.
Meanwhile, Powell is advising prospective homebuyers to be vigilant in their checks when purchasing homes.
"Anybody who contacts you about any development, check with the parish councils to find out if the development is approved. Do not run and pay anything and do not take anything at face value," he said.