ST CATHERINE, Jamaica – A planned exercise by the St Catherine Municipal Corporation to remove illegal billboards and advertising signs in Linstead failed to get off the ground recently when a truck driver employed to the corporation refused to carry out his duties over alleged non-payment.

The revelation was made last week at a parish council meeting.

“We recently did an assessment of the Linstead area where we compiled all the applications that had been paid for and that were in delinquency. We compiled the list, communicated with the commercial services manager in regards to carrying out the enforcement notices, (but) when we were ready to initiate and enact the removing of the signs we had some financial constraints with the truck driver that we use because he had been on an operation prior and had not received payment,” Chad Allen, Director of Planning at the St Catherine Municipal Corporation, told councillors at the meeting.

“When we contacted (the truck driver) to initiate the removal drive he indicated that he would not proceed to remove the billboards until he received his payment,” Allen said.

People’s National Party (PNP) councillor of the Lauriston Division Keisha Lewis described the situation as “backward” and urged the council to quickly move to resolve the situation.

“Mr Chairman, I am going to suggest that this committee send an extract to the finance committee asking that funds be provided to pay the gentleman with immediate effect so we can carry out the work that must be done because it makes no sense as a municipality that we are working backwards, this is a backward step,” Lewis said.

However, Deputy Mayor Ralston Wilson, the PNP councillor for the Ginger Ridge Division, refuted the claim that the truck driver had not been paid for work.

“I sign cheque and I see cheque sign for that same truck man who they ask to carry out certain duties and said he is not going because he is not getting paid. Well I am warning today, send no more bills from him to me. We have a truck, it can be licensed and insured and put on the road,” Wilson said.

“I am not buying what they are selling. I am saying to them, Mr Chairman I see billboard springing up all over the place… Old Harbour, Spanish Town, everwhere you cast your eye revenues are there for us to make and I am hearing from the CEO that revenues are giving trouble in this parish when we have it out there and not collecting it,” Wilson continued.

“Either the supt, building officer or somebody is delinquent, and we want the money and we want it now.”