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MAYOR’S
SPEECH
JAMAICA MORTGAGE BANK HOUSING DEVELOPMENT SEMINAR - DECEMBER
2004 It is an honour to be sharing in
your discussions today on such a very important aspect of our
development.
Ladies and gentlemen, you are no doubt aware of the limited role
that the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (c) plays in
housing development in the corporate.
Our role is limited, basically, to the approval of plans for
construction and other forms of physical and infrastructural
development.
But, while it may be a limited role, it is a very basic and
important one in the corporate area’s physical development.
Our problem is the continued defiance of our role by persons in
the city who are doing development.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are all aware that while many of our
citizens want to own their own homes, it is not a simple
achievement.
There is not much land available for legal housing, and this has
forced many of our citizens to settle in tenement yards, with
little space for development and little privacy.
The result has been increased squatting, which is probably the
major obstacle to re-ordering this city.
One of the main problems associated with squatting has been the
failure of squatters to conform with the law.
Therefore, one of the issues basic to the proper development of
the corporate area, must be resolving how will we deal with
squatting.
as these communities are allowed to grow, without any formal
planning, squatters fail to comply with the law. This creates
serious dangers in terms of homes built in flood-prone areas or
in areas without basic infrastructural necessities, such as
water and sewage disposal facilities.
This creates an additional threat to the safety and health of
the entire municipality.
But, squatters are not our only problem in terms of physical
development.
There are many developed communities, including upscale
communities, in which residents and developers blatantly refuse
to comply with the requirements of the town and country planning
act, the building act and the development orders.
Central government, itself, has breached these requirements by
going ahead with developments with which we do not agree, for
example the Long Mountain development.
As the recent hurricane disaster showed, there is a large number
of people out there who are also able to obtain access to
utilities, like water and light, on illegal projects without the
required instruments from the KSAC.
The fact is that no development is allowed in this municipality
without the approval of the ksac, whether under the zoning
requirements of the development orders, or the building plans
under the town and country planning act or the building act.
The ksac does believe that it should just sit and watch these
flagrant breaches continue without taking action.
At the moment we are restricted in our efforts by a shortage of
inspectors, which has not been helped by the freeze on
employment in the public sector, imposed on us by central
government. But, even with these limitations, we intend to see
that the law is obeyed.
I urge you to look at these issues that i have raised today, as
you discuss the various opportunities in housing development,
and that you will be able to make recommendations, in the end,
which will assist us in overcoming, at least, some of the
problems.
Thank you
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