MONTEGO BAY, St James — Mayor of Montego Bay, Noel Donaldson, has called for an audit of the St James Parish Council. His call was spurred by his concern over apparent irregularities in the renewal of the lease for the city’s Transport Centre.

Meanwhile, Auditor General Adrian Strachan has advised the council to consult its lawyer on the issue.

Strachan’s advice came after Donaldson raised the issue of the renewal of the Transport Centre’s lease a full three years before it had expired.

According to the mayor, there was a 1996 agreement for a 10-year lease of the facility at a monthly rental of $50,000. The original lease was later renewed for an additional 10 years but again renewed earlier this year, even before it had expired.

“It is curious and noteworthy that the secretary/manager (Christopher Powell) who had a duty to notify the council of the required procedures, failed to do so, and chose instead to affix his signature to the addendum while ignoring the guidelines, which were established by Cabinet in 1996,” Donaldson said.

He added that the rental had only been increased by just under $4,000, while the facility generates an estimated $40,000 daily.

“By no stretch of the imagination can it be reasonably argued that this transaction, which in effect amounted to the execution of a new lease, and represented a virtual giveaway of taxpayers property, did not require ministerial approval,” Donaldson argued.

The mayor has now called for an audit of the St James Parish Council’s previous administration. His call comes in the wake of a recent Jamaica Labour Party probe that concluded that the previous council had engaged in questionable conduct in relation to the leasing of the Bogue Lands.

The council-owned lands were leased without the approval of the local government ministry, a contravention of section 112 of the Parish Councils act.