MONTEGO BAY, St James — Can-Cara Development Limited (CCDL) is under fire from residents of the Meadows of Irwin in St James who foresee traffic gridlock just outside their community gates when the 144-house Union Acres development is complete.

Concerns have also been raised about whether the water and sewerage services provided by CCDL have enough capacity to serve both developments, plus 26 houses in Cashew Grove, and the 158-house Fairmont Estates now being built nearby.

Meadows of Irwin, Union Acres, Cashew Grove and Fairmont Estates are all within walking distance of each other.

Last Tuesday evening, CCDL Project Director Stephan Rampair felt the ire of Meadows of Irwin residents during a Zoom meeting CCDL had called to provide an update on the Union Acres project. The residents’ major concern is the proximity of the new development’s entrance to their exit.

Rampair repeatedly assured them that their concern was being heard but was equally clear that no change would be made. Both Meadows of Irwin and Union Acres developments, he said, had been planned and approved years ago. He promised that efforts would be made to mitigate any negative impact from the proximity of the access areas, saying these would include the installation of speed bumps and signage, as well as ensuring there was adequate lighting.

Residents were unimpressed and made that clear from their written comments in the Zoom chat.

“Speed bumps cannot help the situation. Signage will not,” wrote one resident.

Another asked for permission to share his screen so he could pull up a map of the community and zoom in on the gated Meadows of Irwin entrance, to give Rampair a better idea of the potential danger ahead.

Undeterred, Rampair stuck to his point throughout the meeting, insisting that mitigation was the only option at this point as the Union Acres development had been approved by all the requisite authorities.

Residents questioned the reason for the meeting, asking if it was merely a formality before CCDL went ahead with its plans, even if they objected. There were threats of legal action and taking the issue to social media if their concerns were not taken on board. Rampair promised there would be a follow-up meeting after CCDL explored the issues raised, but he again stressed it was highly unlikely that residents would get what they wanted: a different location for the entrance to Union Acres.

Ground was broken for the development in May 2020, with Prime Minister Andrew Holness promising the handover of homes to civil servants would begin in March 2023. The frame of one house was erected within the last two weeks and the project is clearly behind schedule. As the Jamaica Observer reported in January, the project developer, CCDL, is pumping additional resources into the delayed venture with the hope of getting it back on track.

Union Acres is a joint initiative between the National Housing Trust (NHT), the Jamaica Civil Servants Association, and the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions. Across the road is Cashew Grove, another NHT project. According to written responses NHT provided to the Sunday Observer, “26 units were constructed and handed over to applicants of the Cashew Grove Housing Development”. Expansion is on in earnest on many of the houses there.

Meanwhile, work is being done on 41 two-bedroom houses that will make up phase one of Fairmont Estates. Fairmont’s second phase will include 62 three-bedroom houses and 14 townhouses, while a clubhouse and park will be built in the final phase of the swanky gated community.

During Tuesday’s meeting, residents expressed concern that all these new developments will put a strain on CCDL’s ability to provide adequate water supply and sewerage services. They referenced the inconvenience, in years gone by, of months without water and ongoing issues with the water pressure and sewerage system.

According to Rampair, Cashew Grove receives its water supply from the National Water Commission but it does use the same sewerage system as Meadows of Irwin (where the CCDL says it has 732 customers). The Meadows of Irwin sewerage system and water supply will also be used by the 144 houses in Union Acres and the 158 from Fairmont Estates. However, Rampair confidently told Tuesday’s meeting that CCDL has enough capacity to handle the planned and approved developments.

His assertion is in line with commitments CCDL has consistently given to the Office of Utilities Regulation in its applications for a rate increase. In its November 2022 application to the utilities watchdog CCDL said its well that provides water to Meadows of Irwin has a daily capacity of 1,200 cubic meters. It also said it has the capacity to treat an equal amount of sewage each day, adding that “currently the company’s sewerage plants are operating below full capacity”.