Sagicor yesterday provided building approval numbers for its Millennium Mall in Mineral Heights, Clarendon, as it countered statements made by two politicians implicating the company in the severe flooding in that area over the weekend.

“Sagicor sought and received approval from the National Environment and Planning Agency (Ref: 2012-13017-EP00132) on October 4, 2013; and received parish council approval on September 19, 2014 (Ref: 2014-13013-PB00237). After all approvals were received, infrastructure work on storm water drainage, roads, sewage lines, etc commenced and were completed,” the company said in a news release.The insurance giant issued the statement after Clarendon South Eastern Member of Parliament Ruddy Spencer was seen on

Television Jamaica‘s

Prime Time News Sunday night suggesting that the drainage system at the mall contributed to the flooding.Spencer’s allegation was followed by May Pen Mayor Winston Maragh saying that he would be checking to determine whether the development was conforming with the drainage system submitted to the Clarendon Municipal Corporation.In its statement, Sagicor said “Since the start of the project two years ago, numerous meetings took place with the project managers and members of the parish council, with the most recent being on January 16, 2017.”The company said the parish council was represented at the meeting by the superintendent, department officers, the planning department officer and the councillor for the division.“The site was inspected against the Approved Plans and Conditions and was found to be compliant,” Sagicor insisted.“In January when the project managers met with the parish council and its representatives, it was expressed to them that Sagicor had cleaned the entire drainage system, as we found that it was not cleaned for a number of years,” the news release quotes Sagicor Group Vice-President Group Marketing Ingrid Card.“The drain was cleaned and Sagicor will be upgrading the entire drainage network along the parish council road as a stakeholder in the community and as part of our social response to an existing problem,” Card added.