Montego Bay, St James – An error in the design of the proposed six-storey 701-room RIU hotel at Mahoe Bay in the northcoast city of Montego Bay, would put it in the flight path of the Sangster International Airport, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has warned.

The warning was among the burning issues ventilated Friday at a public presentation of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the proposed development of the 61.6-acre property, situated in Ironshore between the Caribbean Beach Park and Sandals Royal Caribbean.

Spanish hotel chain RIU came under heated accusations of inadequate consultation with the community and regulatory agencies and unresolved issues over the true ownership of the property on which the hotel is to be sited.

A representative of the CAA alleged that RIU’s designers did not consult with the authority and had erred when they designed a six-storey structure as one of the seven buildings on the property.

According to the CAA, hotels in that area were mandated to conform to a three-storey building design, due to the close proximity of the Sangster International Airport (SIA).

“You are here to tell us what you are going to do, not to consult with us,” head of the Jamaica Environment Trust (JET), Diana McCaulay accused the developers.

According to McCaulay, the point of a public presentation of the EIA in pursuant of a licence to construct the hotel was futile, as the developers had already begun to clear the site and had been granted a beach licence to dredge the property.

She further pointed to the explanation by a representative of the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) that a beach licence is customarily granted separately to the construction permit, because of inefficiencies in the relevant legislation.

However, the forum held at the Rose Hall Golf Club in Ironshore grew more animated when the Rose Hall Community Development Committee alleged that the land was set aside as community property and accused the developers of acquiring it suspiciously.

“This hotel is being built on private property. The land does not belong to the person you bought it from,” charged the committee’s president, Neville Thomas.

“We as a community will not stand by and see our property taken away,” Thomas vowed, suggesting that illegal means would have to be used to secure the property.

However, in their defence, attorney for RIU, Ena Chin assured the audience that the hotel group had acquired the registered title for the property, which was duly registered at the Registrar of Titles.

But in support of the community, Member of Parliament (MP) for North West St James Dr Horace Chang insisted that there were discrepancies with the transfer of the property and noted that the matter should be seriously investigated.

“If appropriate research is done, you will find that you have a genuine problem,” he told the RIU representatives. “Appropriate research needs to be done.”

Ralph Mairs, one of the purported owners of the remaining Mahoe Bay property, said he and his partners welcomed the investment on their idle property.

Representatives from Sandals Resorts International (SRI) expressed concern about the possible effects that dredging at the RIU property would have on their properties and other properties in the area.

“Do not rush to give approval for this hotel to be built,” warned Sandals Montego Bay general manager Horace Peterkin, who is also president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA).

Peterkin called for due process to ensure the sustainability of the tourism product.

The hotel is slated to employ 450 people during construction and up to 1,200 when completed.

wrightk@jamaicaobserver.com