MONTEGO BAY, St James – The St James Parish Council will this week begin a clampdown on unregistered motor mechanic garages that are operating in the parish – a move aimed at enforcing zoning laws and enhancing public health.

“This operation is aimed at sending a very clear signal to the operators that the agencies of the state are resolute in taking action and to use the power and authorities afforded by law to stop this practice,” Ian Reid, the local authority’s secretary/manager, told the Observer yesterday.

“Various agencies have been serving notices, for example, the Public Health Department has served several nuisance prevention notices, the parish council has also served several nuisance prevention notices but the operators have just ignored them,” Reid said.

At the same time, the local authority has warned motorists not to leave their vehicles at illegally operated garages, as they would be removed and impounded.

Sidewalk garages are common across the parish, and in many residential areas, particularly in Montego Bay, home owners often complain about the unsightly mess of vehicles being repaired next to their properties, and of junk parked on open lots and on roadways.

Such encroachments, they said, have brought down property values and often create the environment for the breeding of mosquitoes, which endanger public health.

Reid said yesterday that many of the garages exist in communities that are zoned for residential areas while others, he said, are operating on sidewalks and large sections of public roadways.

“Often times these operators function in open defiance of the law and our various state agencies,” the secretary/manager said.

According to Reid, the local authority had been receiving complaints concerning the illegal garage operators in the parish.

“Residents across the parish have complained about garage operators abandoning vehicles that have come to the end of its life on roadways,” These vehicles, he said, were in some cases occupied by insane persons or individuals with criminal intent,” he said.

The secretary/manager said, too, that residents have also complained that the constant noise from the garages has become a nuisance.

In addition, he said that there were also several environmental problems associated with the operating of illegal garages, including the improper disposal of motor oil, lubricants, used batteries and vehicle parts.

“The structures erected for the garages are often times very unsightly and take away from the aesthetic of the community,” he added.

The crackdown on the illegal garages will be the latest in a number of initiatives that have been undertaken by the St James Parish Council over the last two years, aimed at enforcing the various rules and regulations under the council’s jurisdiction.

In 2005, the local authority, in collaboration with the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) and the police removed about 50 derelict vehicles from public roads in the parish.

In addition, the local body has also stepped up its drive to remove vehicles that are parked in no-parking zones in the resort city of Montego Bay.