Dear Editor,

Open letter to the Saint Ann Parish Council RE: Oceans on the Ridge, Lot 17, Volume 1164 Folio 580, Shaw Park, Ocho Rios, Jamaica

We are owners of Birdcage Walk #1, Lot 1, Shaw Park Ridge Estate, Ocho Rios, a property directly above Oceans on the Ridge, Lot 17. We have owned this property since 1968 together with an interest in Tranquillity, the property just to the west of Oceans on the Ridge since 1977.

Oceans on The Ridge is operating a bar and entertainment venue on what is and always has been a cow pasture, resulting in extremely loud music, loud verbal communication, and unrestricted noise that causes illegal encroachment on our private property rights so as to make our properties uninhabitable.

Since when does a parish council have the authority to issue permits and licences to individuals or businesses that intentionally and knowingly breach the rights of the adjacent private property owners? We cannot even reside in our own property because of the noise from Oceans on the Ridge, much less rent it or even sell it.

Only in Jamaica are such attempts to breach the private rights of owners so widely accepted. We have now learnt that Four Rivers Development Company and The Ridge Estate Company brought this gross breach of procedure to your attention back in 2012.

Additionally, the Shaw Park Citizens’ Association wrote the council in April 2012 and again in October 2013 citing the failure of the parish council to conduct such matters in an established and legal manner.

How is it that there is no effort made to address the complaints of Four Rivers Development Company, The Ridge Estate, or Shaw Park Citizens’ Association nor the adjacent property owners, even notifying of an application for issuance of a bar permit?

Jamaica once had a vibrant and productive villa and apartment rental businesses that brought hundreds of tourists each year for a unique vacation experience. Look at what you have done to yourselves and to Jamaican tourism.

Roger W Brown

roger.rwbrown@comcast.net