The Kingston and St Andrew Corporation (KSAC) has placed on hold its campaign to take down illegal signs in the capital, saying that two private sector umbrella groups have agreed to have their members comply with the law by paying the local government authority the required fees for signage.

At the same time, Kingston Mayor Desmond McKenzie has said that three night clubs in the municipality, which have breached the Amusement Act and have refused to co-operate with the KSAC will likely be shut down by next week.

The city council was yesterday scheduled to meet with three government agencies to finalise plans to close the Graduate Night Club in Papine; Doctor Bird Night Club in Clock Tower Plaza, Half-Way-Tree; and Chaser’s Cafe at 39 Barbican Road if they did not comply with the regulations so that they could be licensed.

The agencies listed by the mayor were the Fire Prevention Department, Public Health Department and the police.

He said that apart from the licence, the Amusement Act required night clubs to be certified by the Fire Services and to also have a certificate of insurance. He said that the poor state of the fire service required the KSAC to be “extra vigilant”.

“I’m saying, they have time to come in,” McKenzie said Tuesday. “The KSAC will not relent. We will continue to take the fight to persons who do not comply.”

In relation to the illegal billboards campaign, McKenzie said that the KSAC had taken the decision, in good faith, to put a freeze on the campaign after a meeting with the Jamaica Manufacturers’ Association (JMA), the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce and representatives of eight firms that were in arrears.

At a February press briefing, the mayor disclosed that the eight companies owed the KSAC arrears of $38.7 million in signage fees. However, he has since revised the arrears to $60 million. The companies are Red Stripe, J Wray and Nephew, MoneyGram, McDonald’s, Burger King, Texaco Caribbean, Esso Corporation and the Shell Company.

McKenzie said that four of the companies have now paid up their arrears and the KSAC was holding discussions with the other companies.

“The eight companies so far have made contact with the KSAC,” the mayor said. “The Jamaica Chamber of Commerce intervened on their behalf and a meeting was held between ourselves, the Chamber and the eight companies.”

He said that the companies were shown the section of the law which gave the KSAC the right to collect signage fees.

“We have given them packages with the application forms and all the things that are necessary for them to correct the situation,” McKenzie said. “Out of those discussions, therefore, we have taken a decision to suspend the billboard removal exercise and we are showing some good faith here, because we have gotten commitments from the JMA that they will now encourage their membership to comply.”

The mayor, however, made it clear that businesses that were not members of the JMA and Chamber still needed to comply.

“There are other entities that fall outside of the umbrella of the JMA and the Chamber of Commerce that are still in a non-compliant situation, and those mavericks as I call them, we will be going at those persons as we have already compiled that list and will be working towards that. In the meantime, and despite all of that, we will be putting the exercise on hold,” he said.