KSAMC to Discuss Use of New Kingston Parking Lots with Party Promoters

Representatives from the Kingston and St. Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC) will be meeting with party promoters on Tuesday (April 9) regarding the decision to ban the staging of entertainment events at parking lots in New Kingston.

Addressing the setting of the Council earlier in the day, Mayor of Kingston, Senator Councillor Delroy Williams, said the prohibition is a temporary measure and is being implemented to regulate the use of the areas.

He noted that in some instances, persons use the parking lots without the requisite amusement approvals or authorisation from the municipality.

“We will continue to support the creative industries but must do so with order. We have to ensure that there is a standard and protocols established for dealing with the use and clean-up. We have to establish conditions, and the promoters have to agree to that… and abide by what they agree to (or) we just can’t do it,” he said.

Senator Williams said that the objective of the municipality is to bring order to the process and ensure effective monitoring of the parking lots, especially on weekends.

“There is no 24-hour security at the parking lots, so people just turn up like a Saturday night or Sunday night and they use the parking lot for an event and we wake Monday morning to hear that an event was held,” he pointed out.

“It’s generally an order issue, so it is (the) clean-up issue. It’s also the time when you do it, and that you are adhering to said times… . It is an issue of structure and order. We have to do these things but do it in a particular way that takes into consideration all the different factors,” he added.

Senator Williams said after the meeting, “I’m very sure that we will have a structure to move forward; a structure that is agreed to by all.”

The temporary prohibition was announced recently by the municipality.