KINGSTON, Jamaica— The chief executive officer (CEO) and the chief engineering officer of the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC) have been mandated to conduct an audit of the new Building Act to ensure that the corporation’s internal processes are in line with the legislative requirements.

The pending audit is part of measures being implemented by the KSAMC in the wake of a damning Integrity Commission (IC) report which listed failures on the part of its building inspectors during the construction of residential buildings at 11 Charlemont Drive, Kingston 6, by the president of the State-run National Water Commission, Mark Barnett and his wife. Barnett was sent on administrative leave in October last year after the IC report was made public.

READ: Barnett facing the boot

Mayor of Kingston, Senator Delroy Williams, on Friday spoke to the steps being taken by the KSAMC to ensure there are no future breaches as he made his contribution to the State of the Nation Debate in the Senate.

He told the Upper House that an “audit of the legislation must take place so that we ensure that the processes are in line with the legislative requirements and that is something that must happen with dispatch”.

The CEO and chief engineering officer have also been instructed to implement and strengthen guidelines regarding the stages of the construction process at which a notice is required from the permit holder.

They have also been instructed to:

• Formalise the notices to be provided by developers
• Review and create standard forms for inspection of construction sites.
• CEO to implement strict, written guidelines for site inspections at each stage of the construction process.
• Conduct training programmes to broaden the inspectors’ education of their role and function under the Building Act.

Williams noted that the IC report sought to review the processes of the KSAMC in respect of the granting of building and planning permits and the monitoring of the post permit construction at Charlemont Drive.

“The review and assessment of the IC’s Director of Investigations’ recommendations, regarding the officers of the KSAMC and the legal opinion of the IC’s Director of Corruption Prosecution, is of significance,” he said, while citing that “the commission found that the KSAMC demonstrated gross negligence in their duties as building officers”.

Williams stressed that while the director of investigations concluded that this amounted to administrative breaches, “she found that the investigations did not reveal any acts of corruption and she found no evidential support to conclude that the administrative breaches were a direct result of disingenuous acts”.

The Government senator said the findings were consistent with the KSAMC’s own assessment.

“The KSAMC is taking steps to rectify any underlying systemic deficiencies at the KSAMC and to ensure that all relevant guidelines and documents are in place and all necessary training is done.

“These steps will be placed, along with an investigation of what the officers did or failed to do, and obtaining detailed statements from them,” he said.