PORT ANTONIO, Portland— Portland Municipal Corporation’s plan to demolish the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) building on Harbour Street in Port Antonio, which it has deemed unsafe, has been further delayed.

Discussions now drag on regarding whether the building will be declared a heritage site.

The Ministry of Health has ordered the building closed and the issue has been raised at the last two monthly meetings of the municipal corporation.

At last Thursday’s meeting, acting CEO of the corporation Megan Bramwell expressed concern that the building should have been boarded up from May 23 but that had not been done and there was no clear reason given by JAS.

She suggested that the president of the Portland arm of JAS, Larry Robertson, may be able to provide additional information.

“JNHT [Jamaica National Heritage Trust] had written to us saying that they want the building to be a heritage site on behalf of the JAS; however, we have not been communicated with and we have nothing to present,” said Bramwell.

Ministry of Culture.

“To secure that area we would have to design a plan to submit to the council, because what we are going to do is strengthen that area that the council reported unsafe for the pedestrian area and not allow the people to walk out in the street. We will strengthen it with either some lumber or some artefact that will not affect the public,” explained Robertson.

“We are just awaiting a response from the ministry to say that the property is designated as a heritage site and we will go full speed ahead to ensure that area is properly secured. We are working with the council 100 per cent,” added Robertson.

But Bramwell stressed the need to ensure that members of the public are not endangered.

“The corporation would have accepted if the JNHT would have written back to the council stating what they are waiting for instead of us sending a letter and they have not responded. The building has been designated unsafe for quite a while, and I realise that the vendors are still there.

“We have also asked that signs be erected there to say that the building is unsafe for vendors to be permitted there. In the interim, I would suggest that we write back to the JNHT and remind them of what they need to do so that not only the area but the pedestrians can be protected. We are going to deal with them strongly; we need the signs to be erected to say that that site is unsafe, and we also need a response from the JAS,” Bramwell insisted.

She was supported by Councillor Orton Manahan (Jamaica Labour Party, Hope Bay Division).

“We had decided on the boarding of the building, especially at the front where persons will not be allowed to walk underneath the veranda to create a safety zone, so why is that not done?” he questioned.

He added: “We can do that while we wait on the JNHT. We can now send a second letter since they have not responded to the first, since this is such a topical and burning issue. In the interim, we need to protect the citizenry who are walking under the landing.”However, Bramwell insisted that the boarding up of the building should be the responsibility of the JAS, and the entity has been so advised in writing.