KSAC Targets Illegal Garages in Waltham and Hagley Park Areas

As the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC) continues to clamp down on illegal garages in the corporate area, the agency will be zeroing in on the Waltham Park and Hagley Park Road communities, where the largest concentration of illegal operations have been identified.
“The roads we have chosen are Gilmore Drive, Margaret Villa Road, Cheltenham Drive, Keesing Avenue, Strafford Avenue, Bloomsbury Road, and Auckland Drive,” informed Mayor of Kingston Desmond McKenzie, as he addressed the KSAC’s monthly press conference on Tuesday.
He said that a survey done in the corporate area had revealed in excess of 185 garages operating illegally in the Patrick City, Pembroke Hall, Bay Farm Villa, Duhaney Park, Cassia Park, Richmond Park and Waltham Park Gardens communities.
The Mayor noted that while attention would be focussed on Waltham Park and Hagley Park Road, the KSAC would soon be serving notices and summons to operators of garages in the other areas.
In addition, he said that the KSAC was in the process of taking legal action to wind up the operations of those garages in Patrick City, which were identified during last year’s clamp down operation. “At least six of those we targeted have finally closed their doors, and you have seven remaining that we have served notices on, and these are still operating, so we are going to be moving through the courts, to have them closed down,” the Mayor told journalists.
Meanwhile, nine persons are before the courts for erecting buildings without the requisite approvals.The Mayor disclosed that of the 862 building applications that were made to the Council last year, only 583 were given the go-ahead to proceed with construction.
He said that despite the refusal of several applications, numerous persons had continued to construct residential and commercial buildings, and in so doing, were acting in contravention of the law.
The KSAC, he said, “will continue to pursue and protect the integrity of the building regulations within the corporate area. All that we are asking persons to do is to conform”.
The Mayor pointed to the Northern Caribbean University branch located on Half Way Tree Road, and the KIA motor dealership, also located along Half Way Tree Road, as two examples of buildings that have already been constructed without receiving building approval.
He noted that although the Corporation faced limitations in terms of staff, building plans were being approved more quickly than in previous years. “We have had an increase of over 300 per cent in terms of approval for the January to December 2004 period than we did for the year before,” Mayor McKenzie stated.