MONTEGO BAY, St James – Arguing that there is an attempt by government to undermine the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) – dominated local authorities, Kingston mayor Desmond McKenzie has warned the National Works Agency (NWA) that it will not be allowed to dig up corporate area roads without permission from the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation (KSAC).

“I am warning the National Works Agency because for years they have been doing a lot [of] things and getting away with it,” McKenzie said. “They go on to parish council roads and they do whatever they want to, and nobody stopped them because the councils were all PNP (People’s National Party)-controlled, so there was no need to deal with them.”

“Well, I am sending a message tonight to tell them (NWA) that as far as the roads in the Corporate Area are concerned, they have to talk to the KSAC before they can do anything on those roads,” he warned.

Mc Kenzie, who was addressing a fund-raising dinner for the constituency of South St James at the Day O Plantation Restaurant in Montego Bay on Saturday night, was speaking against the background of the controversy surrounding telecommunications company, FLOW, the KSAC and the NWA over the laying of cables in the Corporate Area.

Last week, the KSAC was granted an injunction which blocked FLOW’s cable-laying operations, after the company failed to obey a March 31 stop order. But FLOW maintained that is was granted permission from the NWA to undertake the works.

However, during his address Saturday night, McKenzie stressed that the government was using the NWA and other government agencies to undermine the local authorities.

He argued that apart from the recently constructed highways, the NWA does not own the roads in the island and as such, was not in a position to give permission for them to be dug up.

“Outside of the recently constructed highways, every single road in Jamaica is owned by the KSAC and the parish councils,” the mayor emphasised. “It is our names that are registered on the titles so what it means is that even though the NWA has responsibility for what we call major roads, they don’t have planning authority to dig up one road unless they apply to the KSAC or the parish councils for permission.”

Urging the local authorities to ensure that their “rights” are maintained, Mayor Mc Kenzie, who is also the JLP’s chairman for Area Council One, urged the NWA to “give us the respect that we so richly deserve”.

On Saturday, he told the gathering that as the campaign for state power heightens, party supporters should be mindful that the ruling PNP will do everything in its power to undermine the opposition.

“I am quite certain that the PNP can’t win the election, but you must be mindful because they are not going to go down without a fight. They are going to do everything in their powers to discredit the JLP and its leader because they want to hold onto power,” he said.