KSAC to Crack Down on Illegal Roadside Garages

Mayor of Kingston Councillor Desmond McKenzie issued a stern warning to operators of illegal roadside garages on Tuesday (April 13), that the Council would within the next two weeks commence operations to shut down such operations. He was speaking at the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation’s (KSAC) monthly press briefing at its Church Street offices.
The Mayor informed that the KSAC would be meeting with the police high command on Wednesday (April 14) and would also be seeking the assistance of the National Solid Waste Management Authority to address the situation.
“Not only are these garages operating illegally in residential areas, but they are also creating major damage to the road network,” the Mayor stated, noting that the Council was currently in the process of carrying out patching and rehabilitation of roads and as such, “We cannot afford to spend the limited resources that the Council has on these roads only for illegal activities such as roadside garages to destroy them and the Council will be taking very strong action against operators of these garages”. He added, “we are proposing to throw the book at them and this is one area where we are not going to accept any excuses whatsoever, because it has been going on now for too long”.
Meanwhile, Deputy Mayor Lee Clarke called for a system to be established for the registration of garages so that they could be easily identified by authorities and thereby assist with eliminating problems such as car theft. In addition, Town Clerk Errol Greene explained that while there was no direct legislation pertaining to roadside garage activities, there were a number of regulations and ordinances, which could be used to stop these operations, including, the Planning Act, and public health laws.
Prevalence of roadside garages have manifested mainly in densely populated areas such as Hagley Park, Waltham Park Road, Richmond Park and Washington Gardens.