Government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) are now coming in for special attention from Mayor of Kingston Andrew Swaby over their failure to pay outstanding signage fees.

“The KSAMC [Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation] has formally written to the permanent secretaries of all ministries, departments, and agencies regarding their responsibility for signage on buildings under their administration. To date, only two responses have been received,” Swaby announced during the regular monthly meeting of the KSAMC on Tuesday as he provided an update on the Sign Regularisation Campaign, which it launched in January.

The campaign — which provides a 20 per cent discount on outstanding signage fees — is scheduled to end on March 31 and Swaby encouraged all MDAs to take advantage of the opportunity to settle their arrears.

“Permanent secretaries are being reminded that all signage must be approved, outstanding fees settled within the concession period…Compliance is essential to uphold planning regulations and supporting development. Permanent secretaries are accountable for ensuring their ministries meet these obligations,” said Swaby.

At the launch of the programme in January, Swaby revealed a general lack of compliance by entities to pay signage fees. At that time the mayor noted that of 3,421 signs audited, only 463 business owners were compliant with the payment stipulations.

On Tuesday Swaby pointed out that as of March 5, invoices totalling approximately $34.5 million had been issued under the initiative.

Of that amount, approximately $5 million have been collected.

According to Swaby, while the response shows some level of engagement several agencies still have outstanding obligations that needed to be addressed before the initiative closes.

“As I have stated previously, this initiative was designed to provide a fair and structured opportunity for businesses and other entities with publicly visible signage to regularise their status, settle outstanding arrears, and bring their signage into compliance before enforcement activities intensify,” said Swaby.

He told the meeting that the KSAMC is now in the process of assembling an enforcement team to tackle non-compliance once the regularisation period ends.

“This team will examine and coordinate the enforcement options available to the corporation. We will be engaging the heads of Area 4 and Area 5 police and divisional leadership across Kingston and St Andrew to support a structured enforcement approach where necessary. We are now approaching the end of this campaign, and I want to remind all entities that time is running out,” warned Swaby.

He added that members of the public were encouraged to stay informed through the KSAMC’s social media platforms, the corporation’s website, or by contacting the Compliance Unit for guidance on the regularisation process.

“It is important to emphasise that the end of this campaign does not mark the end of signage regulation. Signage fees remain payable annually, and compliance will continue to be enforced. What this campaign offers is a defined window for regularisation, which closes on March 31.

“We therefore urge all affected entities to act now, settle their outstanding obligations, and avoid enforcement actions later,” declared Swaby.

— Renae Osbourne