LUCEA, Hanover — A recent green light given by the Hanover Municipal Corporation (HMC) for a fast food franchise company to construct a restaurant at a prime section of the Lucea Transportation Centre is not going down well with key stakeholders.

Vice-president of the Lucea Taxi Association Lincoln Croll said the development has impacted the originally assigned parking location for approximately 50 route taxis operators who ply routes such as Lucea to Grange Hill, Esther, and Negril. Croll said operators are now forced to utilise the rear section of the park, which is normally flooded whenever it rains heavily or whenever the sea tide is high.

The transportation centre was built by the HMC following the dumping of a section of the sea over two decades ago.

“The council has no vision or plan for the development of the town because when you think of Burger King as an investor coming to Lucea and taking away the best part of the park — the front part — pushing we down in the back of the park where the sea comes in at times when this tide is high,” said Croll, who emphasised, “This is a municipal park. So I don’t see why you are going to push us away now for development.”

During a recent, regular monthly meeting of the corporation, the mayor of Lucea and chairman of the People’s National Party-led Hanover Municipal Corporation Sheridan Samuels said a Burger King franchise would be coming to Hanover.

“In short order, and I want you to listen keenly, Burger King will be coming to the parish and, of course, we welcome that,” stated Samuels, who also revealed that efforts are being made to have a KFC restaurant in the parish.

Even though the mayor said Hanover has the vision and knows what it wants, he admitted that the task of getting Burger King in the parish was not easy because of opposition.

On the same hand, the mayor argued that letters were written to the taxi operators sensitising them to the plan. He said ground was broken on October 12 without any challenge.

However, Croll has challenged the claims made by the mayor.

“We, as a taxi association, have been using the park for how many years…and we have no knowledge of any development in the park. We just saw people come and marking out and dancing up the park and saying: ‘Burger King ah cum to take ova.’ This is total madness,” stated Croll, who made it clear that no one from the corporation said anything to them.

The corporation is insisting that communications took place.

An unhappy Croll said what has transpired is a form of disrespect to taxi and bus operators who have to pay daily to utilise the park, therefore, “We are calling on Minister [Desmond] McKenzie to step in and look into this matter.”

Croll noted that, upon realising what was taking place, the association was exploring their legal options, but the cost, he said, is a deterrent.

“We were thinking about our options, but it seems as if it is limited because it is a lot of money spending. We check with a lawyer and with the Supreme Court…it is going to cost a whole lot,” said the association’s vice-president.

“We are just hoping that we can get somebody to intervene to bring some decency to the thing because ah wul heap ah disrespectful ting a go on. So we are calling on Minister Desmond McKenzie to step in and look into this matter,” Croll added.

While the taxi operators do not utilise the park at night, the already congested town has become worse as a number of the operators are now utilising the main road in front of the park to pick up and drop off commuters.

For his part, councillor caretaker for the Lucea Division Neville Humphrey (People’s National Party) noted that, while he welcomes any investment in the town, “We need to put the transport people and the business people round the table and have a talk because the bus park needs to be expanded, and with the expansion of the bus park Lucea should be better with roads and everything.”

Efforts to get a response and business plan details for the parish from Restaurant Associates Limited (RAL) — franchise holder of Burger King, Popeyes, Little Caesar, and Dessert Bar — over the past four consecutive days have proven futile.