Gareth Manning, Sunday Gleaner Reporter

Kerr-Jarrett , Clarke and Reid

Mark Kerr-Jarrett, chairman of the St. James Parish Development Committee (PDC), says the multi-layered project approval process was tiresome on developers and hindered growth in parishes, such as St. James.

"All the developmental approvals that I have ever been involved with have had to go to Kingston for approval and for comments and I would really like to see the local authority empowered," he told Gleaner editors during a recent forum in Montego Bay.

He argued that only a few projects really needed the approval of Central Government, while the others could be approved at the parish level.

"What happens is that when it goes to Kingston, it's anywhere between 18 months to two years before the comments come back to the parish council for approval ... and it's the time factor that is critical, because investors, they can't afford (to wait) 18 months to two years," Kerr-Jarrett said.

Starved of expertise

His views were supported by Mayor of Montego Bay, Noel Donaldson, who disclosed that parish councils in general did not have adequate staff to address the long-term planning and develop-ment issues posed by these projects.

He noted that most of the professionals needed to guide the process were employed at the Central Government level in Kingston, starving the local parish councils of such expertise.

He said his council, in particular, has been in need of building officers, but over the years his requests to the ministry of local government have been to little avail.

"Despite our constant pleas and request for additional staffing, this has fallen on deaf ears, so we took a decision that we would employ persons on contract and pay them out of our funds in order to get around this situation," he said.

But the council was reprimanded by the Services Commission for its actions. Three of six building officers needed were, however eventually assigned to the St. James Parish Council.

Inter-agency conflict

The Westmoreland parish council has been faced with similar challenges.

But Superintendent of Roads and Works for the parish, Ezekiel Clarke, said while the parish council had made some strides in acquiring more specialised personnel, it was often bypassed by major investors seeking approval for projects, who went straight to Central Government for the green light.

"Developers sometimes see the parish council as: 'Oh! I didn't even remember that they exist' and they don't see the importance of the parish council, (although) all development must start and end with the parish council," Mr. Clarke pointed out.

He also reported that there was a conflict of interest between local planning authorities in Westmore-land, particularly in the resort centre of Negril. These include agencies such as the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) and the Green Island Planning Authority.

The inter-agency conflict significantly slows the pace of development in the area, and the competing planning agencies have been marginalising the powers of the local authority, he opines.

Ian Reid, secretary/manager for the St. James Parish Council, agreed with Clarke that the authority of parish councils was generally undermined by major developers, as they are left out of the planning and development processes by Central Government.

"They come (and) have discussions with JAMPRO, the investment arm of the government. That hinders the process and often times makes it very difficult, because an arrangement or agreement was made, which according to what is required at the local level, was a contradiction," Reid stated.

These developmental issues are proliferating in St. Catherine.

Mayor of Portmore, George Lee noted that his council was facing a serious deficiency in technical staff. In addition, the time it took to grant approvals was equally slow and burdensome.

'Lot of disquiet'

He said approval could take anywhere between six weeks and two years, depending on the magnitude of the project.

"I think there is a lot of disquiet right now among many developers and persons who apply for building permit approvals because of the delay," he said.

Mayor Lee pointed out that a significant part of the problem was being created by NEPA, which he said was being burdened by the large inflow of applications for approval. He said there needs to be better coordination between the development and planning agencies so approvals can be granted timely.

"I think what is needed at this time is for the councils to develop the capacity, or given the necessary technical expertise that they could do some approval that now goes on to NEPA and I think that would cut down the time," he stated.

gareth.manning@gleanerjm.com