By Roy Sanford, Staff Reporter
This massive structure is one of the many buildings under construction on the controversial Bogue property in Montego Bay, St. James. - Patrick Campbell/Freelance Photographer
WESTERN BUREAU:
COUNCILLOR CHARLES Sinclair, the man who was charged by the St. James Parish Council to probe the facts surrounding the controversial Bogue Land in Montego Bay, is contending that he is encountering "more and more surprises" as the probe intensifies.
Following a tour of the property last week, Councillor Sinclair said he met one squatter who claimed that he had paid a known political activist 'a tidy sum' of money to be allowed to occupy a piece of property, which is reportedly worth about $40 million.
PROMINENT PEOPLE
He referred to the persons now occupying the property as either "prominent persons or persons connected to prominent people".
According to him, a former councillor and a former Jamaica Public Service (JPSCo) employee are numbered among the occupants.
In outlining some of the surprises he encountered on his recent visit to the Bogue property, Councillor Sinclair said he saw some very expensive buildings which he valued at several million dollars.
He estimated that one of the buildings he saw would value over $20 million.
"It should be noted that the building is not even completed as yet," he said
Another matter that Mr. Sinclair found surprising was information he gathered from some squatters, who told him that they had received no notice to refrain from constructing buildings on the property. "There is a big conflict right there," said Councillor Sinclair. "Somebody (at the Parish Council) will have to give us an explanation to satisfy our query as to why there is this conflict."
In speaking to the overall situation, Montego Bay's Mayor, Councillor Noel Donaldson, who also visited the property, said that he was informed by the Ministry of Local Government that it was awaiting advice from the office of the Attorney-General in order to conduct its own probe into the situation at Bogue.
CONTROVERSY
The controversy over the Bogue lands came again to public attention in the recent Local Government elections campaign when the old Parish Council administration announced that it was in the process of regularising the land situation there by making parcels of lands available to informal settlers on a two-year lease-to-sell basis.
The announcement drew sharp criticism from members of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) camp, who accused the Council of handing over the land to party activist and friends at prices way below the true market value of the property.
