THE KINGSTON and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC) has a Mayor and Town Clerk who are determined to get things done. If only they had the money which the serious management of the municipality requires. Mayor McKenzie is estimating that up to $500 million of revenue goes uncollected annually. If only 40 per cent of this could be collected most of the problems which the municipality now faces with parochial roads, gullies, public sanitary conveniences and so on could be satisfactorily dealt with, the Mayor says.
Blatant violations of building regulations, illegal billboards, and the non-payment of fees by some 3,500 barbers are among the many causes of loss of revenue to the cash-strapped Corporation. Seventy per cent of buildings erected in the Corporate Area are constructed illegally with no building fees paid. The new firmness of the KSAC with respect to building codes has been demonstrated in its stringent review of the application for the construction of the US embassy at Liguanea including requiring an environmental impact assessment from NEPA. A similar firmness must be directed towards non-applicants who are operating outside the law.
Ramshackle disorder characterises the nation's capital and the extended Corporate Area, like the rest of the country. The Mayor and his Town Clerk are determined to restore some order while boosting the revenue intake of the Corporation. Earlier on, a drive to remove illegal billboards was started, and before that was the stubbornly resisted drive to regulate street vending. Now the Corporation is closing in on illegally operated sidewalk garages, massage parlours, and even basic schools. Apart from the obstructive nature of some of these operations to the rights of other citizens in the municipality and the loss of revenue from the non-payment of fees, there are concerns about health and environmental risks in many instances. The KSAC is not just wielding a big stick but plans to educate citizens on the functions of the local government body and on their responsibilities under the law.
This month the Corporation plans to embark on an aggressive public education campaign in tandem with more stringent measures to curb the blatant disregard many persistently delinquent persons now show to the legitimate authority of the KSAC. Breaches have become so widespread for so long that a great deal of bawling and resistance are to be expected in any drive to restore public order in the municipality. But civilized social life, and in particular life in the confines of urban space, absolutely depends on rules and regulations which must be generally respected and enforced. The deterioration of the Corporate Area in this regard must be halted. As Mayor McKenzie has said, "enough is enough."
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
