IN just over a week’s time, the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) and New Era Homes are to take the first steps towards regularising a multi-billion dollar housing development started without the requisite approval from the environmental regulatory authorities.

The development — comprised of a reported 850 units and which is being constructed on 131 acres of land at Caymanas Estate — is at the centre of the dispute between the environmental authorities and the UDC.

The quarrel started after the agency sought legal advice from the solicitor general on whether — based on a certain section of the UDC Act — it could proceed with the development, unimpeded by the Natural Resources Conservation Authority Act. The advice given to the agency was that it could.

But the Ministry of Environment, led at the time by Dr Horace Chang, took issue with that initial opinion and in tandem with the National Environment and Planning Agency — which acted on the advice of the NRCA Board and the Town and Country Planning Authority — opted to seek a second opinion from the Attorney General’s Department.

The ministry’s decision to get that second opinion was based, according to Chang — now the Opposition spokesman on housing, water and environment — on three critical points:

• that the later act, in this instance the NRCA Act, supersedes the earlier act (the UDC Act);

• that the NRCA Act binds the Crown and therefore binds all acts; and

• that no development is exempt from environmental considerations unless so specified in law.

The new opinion from the AG’s Department — delivered on December 21 but the precise details of which have not yet been revealed — now requires that the development obtain the necessary approval from the environmental authorities, according to NEPA’s chief executive officer Peter Knight.

The environmental authorities have since held meetings with the UDC and New Era and are awaiting a number of technical reports on the development. “We have done what is necessary; I don’t want to comment too much on the details now. Suffice it to say that we have briefed all the principals on this matter. We have had discussions with UDC and New Era jointly and we have also had discussions with UDC, New Era and the critical regulatory agencies and we are now working through a process and trying to resolve the issues,” Knight told Environment Watch.

“They now clearly understand what is required… There are a number of technical reports that are required. We await the submissions and a process will follow… We expect that the required documentation will be here, submitted to all the agencies by February 3,” he added.

It remains unclear why the UDC would have wanted to avoid going through the environmental authorities. Yesterday, when Environment Watch sought a response from UDC head Desmond Young he was unable give a detailed response as he was in a meeting.

However, he did concede that “any prerequisites that need to be satisfied, the UDC will satisfy them”.

Knight, meanwhile, could offer no theory as to why the UDC had sought the initial legal opinion. He noted only that the UDC had proceeded with the project on the basis of that opinion.

“The UDC is a government entity and has a business interest. The documentation that we have seen is that the UDC had consultations with the AG and other stakeholders and it is the opinion given by the Attorney General’s Chambers that led to what is now on the ground. That’s it; the UDC, as far as we know, has been in communication with the AG’s Chambers and were guided throughout with the opinion,” he said.

Attempts to get a response from New Era Homes proved futile. Up to press time, a list of e-mailed queries sent to the company — receipt of which was acknowledged via telephone — were unanswered.

The new minister responsible for the environment, Robert Pickersgill, has been briefed on the matter. He has since indicated his expectation that the matter can be resolved.

“That was one of the first matters brought to my attention; I had the parties into my office. We went through it thoroughly and we have embarked on a process to allow the matter to proceed, but not without the necessary measures being taken,” Pickersgill, who also holds the land, water and climate change portfolios, told Environment Watch.

“I don’t want to go any further with it at this time… But I have every reason to believe that it will be successfully concluded. The ministry is treating it as a priority matter,” he added.

The Caymanas housing development, which is costing $9.2 billion, forms a part of the planned Caymanas Industrial Park, which is to see the development of 500 acres of the lands at Caymanas. Dubbed the Caymanas Economic Zone, the plan is to have the lands — owned mainly by the UDC — also house a variety of businesses drawn principally from economic growth sectors, including Jamaica’s creative industries, information, communication technology and agro processing.