The Kingston and St Andrew Corporation (KSAC) has shut down construction of a new police station in Grants Pen because the project does not have approval from the local government body.

The police station, which will be used as a model for inner-city communities, is being built by the American Chamber of Commerce of Jamaica (AmCham).

“It is true that work has been halted at the site, and it is my understanding that it is so because all the necessary processes were not completed before construction started,” Delroy Chuck, the member of parliament for North East St Andrew, told the Observer.

The construction was stopped approximately three weeks ago.

Chuck said that when the matter came to his attention, work at the site had already ceased.

According to Chuck, AmCham had believed that its response to inquiries from the National Environmental and Planning Agency, the National Works Agency and the Ministry of Health were sufficient to proceed with construction.

He said he had already met with AmCham and KSAC officials to sort out the matter.

AmCham head Becky Stockhausen could not be contacted for comment. However, a source told the Observer that KSAC officials had warned the developers after the ground-breaking ceremony that no construction should begin until approval was granted.

Since the site was shut down, the developers have responded to the necessary queries from the three agencies, and are now awaiting responses.

The matter is scheduled to come before the KSAC building committee.

More than $100 million has been secured for the construction.

Last year, Kingston Mayor Desmond McKenzie shut down construction of the new United States Embassy in Liguanea, St Andrew after US officials failed to secure the necessary building approval.

Work on that building has since resumed.