THE Ministry of Foreign Affairs is in discussion with the United States Embassy to get permission for the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation (KSAC) to inspect the site on which the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) project is to be constructed in Liguanea.

The request was routed through the ministry after the Embassy denied the KSAC access saying the site was “diplomatic property”.

In an April 5 letter to the US embassy, acting town clerk Lincoln Evans had sought permission for an inspection team comprising members from the KSAC, the National Works Agency (NWA), the Town and Country Planning Authority (TCPA), and the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) to do an inspection of the embassy building project on April 12.

The team was acting on information that work on the USAID building was taking place despite a cease-work order served on the embassy by the Building and Town Planning Committee.

But in a letter dated April 11 the embassy informed the KSAC that such a request would have to be done through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“As you are aware, the site in which the new office annex (USAID) is to be constructed is a diplomatic property belonging to the government of the United States of America. In accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, officials of the host nation who desire access to the site must request access through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), Office of Protocol,” the letter to Evans read.

“The MFA will then forward the request for access to the US embassy which must authorise all official host government visits and inspections. The site security manager will only permit access to the site once proper notification has been received from the US embassy and authorisation has been granted,” it further stated.

The request for access was sent to the ministry that same day.

Last week, a representative at the foreign affairs ministry told the Observer that “the ministry is communicating with the US embassy with a view for the inspection to take place”.

The US embassy has a building application before the Building and Town Planning Committee for the construction of the USAID building. However, Kingston Mayor Desmond McKenzie informed them that the application would not be approved until off-site parking for visitors to the complex is provided. The KSAC had granted approval for the new building on the condition that such a provision was made.

Both parties have been at loggerheads over the new complex, with the KSAC complaining that the relocation had caused traffic problems in the area.