Dozens of building breaches uncovered in Phoenix Park gated community

 

A widespread crackdown to identify and address building breaches in Portmore, St. Catherine has uncovered 60 such breaches in the gated community of Phoenix Park. 

 

The dragnet comes after a report from the Portmore City Municipality's Physical Planning Environment Development and Climate Change Committee this month, highlighted that there has been a significant increase in building violations within gated communities. 

 

The municipality is working to prosecute 30 property owners for the identified breaches. 

 

An advisory issued to the residents on May 16 outlined that the City Municipality will initiate legal proceedings against property owners who do not comply, and demolitions will be carried out in accordance with the court's determination. 

 

Mayor of Portmore, Leon Thomas, says, in some instances, building plans were not submitted for approval, despite the sharing of information as to the steps to be taken prior to construction.

 

"From phase one of the development, the Portmore City Municipality continued to meet with the Citizens Association, and we outlined the different steps going forward. We also provided them with documentation and the requirements, and also on the council page, it is being posted of the different steps that the homeowners need to take. And also, when you visit like the public places in Portmore, you have seen a list of requirements that anybody who is doing extension or conducting any new development, that they should contact the Portmore City Municipality. And it also states the different type of things that they need to carry to the office for the approval," he outlined.

 

Failure to comply with the notices under the Building Act may, on conviction, result in a fine of $1.5 million under Section 44.7 and $2.5 million under Section 46.5. 

 

Mayor Thomas said, even as the municipality grapples with limited staff who were denied access in some areas, there have been noticeable breaches in other communities, but he said efforts have been made by the residents to have them addressed. 

 

Meanwhile, President of the Phoenix Park Citizens Association, Andre Brown, said he is hoping that the proposed Gated Communities Act will provide for greater compliance across housing developments and give teeth to the associations that oversee gated communities. 

 

"I mean, there are a number of things that plague us: people having their hedging growing out in the sidewalk and impacting persons who walk and run in the morning; little things [like] persons believing that they can paint their homes in any colour of their choice and stuff like that; and other things too, in terms of persons not paying maintenance, you know, because they already be paid for their home," he noted.