Residents of Mona Heights, St Andrew have expressed deep concern over what they describe as unauthorised building works in their community.

According to the residents, about two years ago, a notice, claiming to be from the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC), was placed on the gate of a house on Colombo Close stating that if there was no objection, an eight-unit dwelling would be constructed on the premises. The residents said they immediately sent a signed petition to the KSAMC citing their opposition to the proposed construction.

Fast-forward to June 7 this year, the residents said they noticed demolition works at the property.

“We initially saw where trees were being cut down, and then there was a large excavator in the yard. Shortly after that, the excavator started to tear down the structure of the house…In the following days they started to clear the wall, the whole yard,” one resident told the Jamaica Observer.

“About a week to a week-and-a-half later, we saw, at around 8:00 pm, a lot of men came on the compound, and cars came shining their lights for light to be able to work in the night, and we saw them digging. They were digging until 2:30 am or 3 o’clock in the morning,” he said, adding that the noise was a nuisance to residents trying to sleep.

“…no notice to the residents of the community. They just [came] in and [were] doing their own thing. The way we [saw] them moving…were not trusting anything that [was] going on there,” he added.

The outraged residents said they flooded KSAMC officials with calls and e-mail demanding a meeting at which they initially planned to blast them for ignoring their petition. However, during a Zoom meeting with the officials on June 18, they said it was revealed that there was no record showing approval for any construction or demolition at the location in question.

“When they came on, we were waiting to hear how they could give permission, and they haven’t contacted us, but they said no application was made to do anything. We were shocked,” said another resident.

He claimed that the document the residents saw on the gate was an application form that should’ve been sent to the KSAMC. That led the residents to assume that the document was from the KSAMC.

“But the KSAMC said they don’t even have an application, much less to give permission,” she added.

Two officials at the KSAMC confirmed to then Sunday Observer that no approval was granted for any building works at the property; however, they declined to be named or be directly quoted.

On June 21, 2024, when the Sunday Observer visited the site, a stop notice dated June 17, 2024 from the KSAMC was seen posted on a container on the property.

The notice ordered an immediate cessation of all building work pursuant to Section 44(1) of the Building Act 2018. It said the local authority has reasonable grounds to suspect that the work is “unauthorised” and “contravenes the Building Act 2018, its regulations, the National Building Code and/or the conditions of building permit”.

It also pointed out that non-compliance with the order is an offence and is punishable, on conviction in a parish court, to a fine not less than three per cent or more than 10 per cent of the estimated construction cost of the building, but not more than $5 million. Failure to pay will result in imprisonment for a term not exceeding four years.

Additionally, it said, “Failure to comply with a stop notice may be discharged by payment of a fixed penalty of $1.5 million.”

However, residents told the Sunday Observer that on June 25 they saw workmen and equipment on the property.

The residents said they are thankful that the KSAMC took the time to hear their concerns and provide clarity on the matter. However, they insisted that more needs to be done within the municipal corporation to thwart such activities.

“I understand that this is a widespread thing. Other people I’ve spoken to say that it’s happening in their areas. They just come in, lick out, clear, start building, and then they try to seek approval after the fact,” he said.

“I spoke to a friend of mine… he lives in Smokey Vale, and he says that’s what happens; they buy the property, they hit down everything, with no approval, clear the site, start building, then they go and try to get approval afterwards,” he added, stressing that something needs to be done to stop that type of activity.

“If they come here and hit the building down and do all those breaches, they should prosecute them. It shouldn’t be a case where you just say ‘Okay, they did this already’. No, they must pay the price,” he insisted.

Another concerned resident said that over the years she has noticed that matters of a similar nature are taken to court. However, she lamented that the court process is tedious and lengthy, with some developers allegedly being let off the hook because they are too far along in the construction process.

“Those developers shouldn’t even be allowed to develop other properties,” she said. “There should be some sort of restriction on them that they cannot get permission to do anything else for at least a two-year period or something.”

Another resident warned that if strict action is not taken against developers it will set a dangerous precedent, fuelling more unauthorised construction.

“I understand that the KSAMC may not have sufficient resources to go around the whole place, but something has to be done about this thing because there must be someone monitoring in each area
— the councillor, whoever it is, somebody has to be aware of what is going on,” she stressed.

The residents urged people in other communities to be on the lookout, driving home the point that if enough attention is not placed on the issue, things will spiral out of control.

“The main reason that we wanted to expose this is to warn citizens in other areas that if they see a sign go up, it does not mean it is [legitimate]. They must check,” one resident stressed.