BLACK RIVER, St Elizabeth – The St Elizabeth Parish Council is to investigate allegations that the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) has been importing labourers from Kingston to “sweep, clean and bush” despite high unemployment levels in this south western parish.

Minority People’s National Party (PNP) councillors led by Everton Fisher of the Balaclava Division brought the matter to the council at last Thursday’s monthly meeting, claiming that labourers had been brought in from Kingston to do the same work that locals who were laid off used to do.

“It’s not right for people to come into the parish to do work that (locals) used to do,” he declared.

He received support from a number of others including Mordant Mitchell (PNP – Black River) who said there was also a security concern since “people were coming down on Sundays in trucks and buses and we don’t know who they are”.

While pledging to lead an investigation into the matter and to ask questions of the leadership of the NSWMA, Chairman of the parish council and Mayor of Black River Jeremy Palmer, said he was put off by what he suggested were discrepancies in the allegations brought by the councillors.

“At the risk of people saying I am anti-parish, I am not going to say we should stop Kingston people from coming here. It’s one island,” said Palmer.

“But we can’t go to Kingston,” replied the PNP’s councillor for the Braes River Division.

An angry Palmer suggested that some of his colleagues were guilty of “grandstanding” on the matter.

But an equally irate Fisher denied it, insisting that the matter was serious.

However, it was Palmer who had the last word.

“Matter closed,” he shouted bringing down his gavel to symbolise the end of the discussion.

. targets property tax collection

Black River, St Elizabeth – The St Elizabeth Parish Council will be moving to place property tax notices “in the hands of the municipal police” for distribution to land owners in a bid to improve tax collection, says Mayor of Black River, Jeremy Palmer.

Twinned to that initiative, will be “a more aggressive programme of taking people to court (to collect property taxes) especially the ones with high-value taxable properties”, Palmer told journalists following last week’s monthly council meeting in Black River.

It was suggested at the meeting that property tax compliance was very low at way below 50 per cent, seriously hampering the council’s ability to access revenues to service its responsibilities. Revenue from property taxes is dedicated to financing an array of local authority services, including street lighting, fire services and the maintenance of community roads.

Palmer, who is the Jamaica Labour Party representative for the Pedro Plains Division and chairman of the council, said the system of distributing notices through the post had not worked, hence the move to involve the municipal police to hand over notices in and around their communities. “A lot of notices are packed up here at the council or at the post offices,” explained Palmer. The Municipal Police are uniformed auxiliaries, routinely used to enforce the rules and regulations of the local authorities.

In terms of legal action against noncompliant landowners, the mayor argued that it made more sense to target high-value property owners.

“The information I have is that smaller value properties tend to (be more compliant). I have been saying to council that we need to take some of these higher-value people to court. It doesn’t make a lot a sense to take a man to court for $5,000 or $10,000 when you have some people out there owing $300,000, they are the ones we need to go after,” he said.

Palmer said he had no figures as to the percentage of St Elizabeth property owners who took advantage of last year’s tax amnesty to clear up arrears.