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Squatting shows failure of local authority - Chang
Published: Tuesday | October 19, 2010
Gary Spaulding, Senior Gleaner Writer
Local authorities are being blamed for the fragile squatter settlements that dot the landscape across the island and which crumble in the face of any force of nature.
Squatter settlements perched precariously beside gullies and riverbanks are usually the hardest hit.
Parish councils are the bodies which have been empowered to issue cease and desist orders and demolish illegal buildings.
But there are growing concerns that the country will continue to suffer tragedies such as what happened late last month in Sandy Park, St Andrew, where six persons died after their house collapsed into the Sandy Gully.
This was one of three buildings on the gully bank to collapse after a section of the retaining wall broke away.
Several other buildings are now precariously perched on the gully bank, but Water and Housing Minister, Dr Horace Chang is making it clear that the central Government is not to blame for persons building in these areas.
Speaking at a recent Gleaner Editors' Forum, Chang stressed that it was the parish councils which have the power to deal with these informal settlements.
"It is a failing. The local authority has failed in that way and we have ended with 754 large settlements accommodating near a third of our population," Chang said
According to Chang, the absence of enforcement mechanisms to cauterise the growth of informal settlements is the root of the problem.
Authorities being impeded
He said local authorities have failed to carry out their mandate to enforce the building code.
Long-time member of the local authority mechanism, Desmond McKenzie agrees.
However, McKenzie, the mayor of Kingston, who has served in the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation (KSAC), for many years, argues that local authorities are being prevented from doing their jobs.
"It is true that we have not been able to do some of the things that we need to do, but we have been impeded in executing our task," declared McKenzie.
"The fact (is that) local authorities have the responsibility but not the capacity to maintain all these areas."
Declaring that the enforcement regulations have not been available, McKenzie said: "I agree that a lot more needs to be done compared to the magnitude of the problem ... it is something that has been with us for more than 50 years."
Anforcement regulations
The mayor asserted that local authorities need to be bolstered by enforcement regulations.
"We have to serve notice, but when we move we are confronted with a lot of hindrances like people applying and receiving injunctions and stays."
The mayor of Kingston was responding to questions from The Gleaner after Chang had revealed that the Corporate Area and St Thomas are burdened with informal settlements dangerously perched beside waterways.
"We are well aware of the situation in the Hope Valley, which is one of the major areas of informal settlements along the waterway," Chang said.
He agreed with arguments that the enforcement of construction restrictions must be a shared responsibility and called for more inspection and monitoring of these informal communities.
Ineffective system
"Because, in fairness, the constructions are illegal and are still there because we have no system of effectively monitoring them," Chang said.
"The result (is that) we end up with structures multiplying illegally on vacant lands for many years."
Chang said with the absence of enforcement, the population density on gully banks and waterways increases even when work is being carried out to improve the area.
"In time you experience major damage and undermining of waterways ... the result is what you had in Sandy Park," he stressed.
"So there is public and private responsibility and we ought to have been more vigilant and effective in monitoring it.
"It is a local authority issue but the reality is that they have responsibility that they have never effectively carried out and that is part of the reason why we have to move to re-examine how we implement these regulations."
gary.spaulding@gleanerjm.com
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