Gareth Manning, Sunday Gleaner Reporter

While parish councils complain bitterly of being paralysed by red tape, at least two are preparing the process to create their own development orders to ease some of the current delays.

Planners and stakeholders in St. James are charging that the parish, for too long, has been growing without sufficient input from local planning officials, relying instead on technical advice from Central Government.

The St. James interest groups argue that despite sustained growth over the years, development has had a number of negative offshoots, pointing to the mushrooming of informal settlements that threaten further development in the parish.

But after years of trying to successfully put a development order into effect, those plans appear to have fallen apart.

Plan stalled in Mobay

Speaking at a GleanerEditors' Forum last week, O. Dave Allen, chairman of COMAND, a community-based housing organisation in Montego Bay, said a 14-year development plan for the city under the framework of Agenda 21 has stalled.

"We lost a compass. We do not have a compass [now] that guides our development," he charged.

That plan, he explained, was revitalised through the establishment of the Greater Montego Bay Redevelopment Company (GMRC), an entity created through the fusion of public, private and social groups, but again that was prevented from making any meaningful impact.

Mayor of Montego Bay, Noel Donaldson, said attempts have been made to revive the development order for the parish formulated by the GMRC with the help of the National Housing Trust (NHT), but the process was torn apart by politics.

"We got bogged down in some politics because some people took exception to the fact that we (JLP representatives) were the ones who had sought and obtained the funding from NHT, and as a consequence of that roadblocks have been put in the way," he said.

He noted, however, that a qualified urban and rural planner has been identified in the council and that person will be given the mandate of formulating another development order in conjunction with the GMRC and NHT.

Developing st Thomas' plan

A similar move is being made in one of Jamaica's poorest parishes, St. Thomas. According to Mayor of Morant Bay, Joan Spencer, the parish, which is now seeing heavy investment from Spanish hoteliers, is poised for rich development and such a plan, she explained, is needed to guide the process.

"We did not have that [development plan] over the years and we see it fit now to put our parish on a footing (because) persons are building in areas that they are not supposed to build," she noted.

But the council is having some problems finding the funds to dedicate to developing the plan. A total of $38 million is needed, she said, and so far only $12 million has been identified. The NHT has promised to assist and has granted some funds to the project.

"We [recently] set up our first steering csommittee in order to steer us through that process," said Mayor Spencer.