Nagra Plunkett, Staff Reporter
A section of Railway Lane in Montego Bay. Twenty-nine properties from the Railway Gardens community, inclusive of sections of Barracks Road, have been put up for slum clearance under the Housing Act. The residents have been given 30 days' notice to vacate the properties. - CLAUDINE HOUSEN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
WESTERN BUREAU:
BUSINESSMEN IN Railway Gardens, Montego Bay, are protesting the move by the Ministry of Land and Environment to forcefully acquire their lands.
The landowners are insisting that they be given the opportunity to participate in the redevelopment plans for the area.
Plans are afoot to extend the Charles Gordon Market and commercialise the area to maximise the viability of retail businesses. However, the project is to be redrafted to include a new development order for St. James.
But property owners are advocating for incentives to develop their real estate in keeping with the Greater Montego Bay Redevelopment Council (GMRC) Plan. The GMRC is a coalition of groupings, including the private sector, the parish council and civil society, which came about in 1995. The original plan was put forward two years later.
THEM WANT TO PUSH ME OFF
"I have been down here (in Railway Lane) for many years and them want to push me off. Not even remuneration of land I don't hear about yet!" contended businessman Percival Fearing of the now-defunct Percy's Funeral Parlour.
"We are seeking the ability to get a suspension on the notice in order to commence discussions on joint redevelopment of the area," said Junior Taylor, managing director of Taylor's Consultant Services.
Mr. Taylor explained that the declaration of the compulsory acquisition of the lands was published in June 2004 in the Jamaica Gazette. Subsequent to that, a hearing was convened at the Montego Bay Land Valuation offices and the removal notice was issued.
"I would assume, based on the fact that nobody sees the gazette on a regular basis, that none of the landowners were informed of what was happening. The relocation exercise speaks to residents and not to business people," Mr. Taylor added.
