( L - R ) Richards, Brown

FEAR AND a lack of human resources are some of the reasons cited by some mayors as to why squatting has not been tackled in a serious way by the local authorities, which have power to curtail the problem.

Mayor of May Pen and chairman of the Association of Local Government Authorities (ALGA), Milton Brown, told The Gleaner's Editors' Forum Monday that the parish councils have the authority to stop any illegal development.

"We have the power, and I am putting it in inverted commas, to go there and issue a stop order because they do not seek permission to put up the building, and really physically, if needs be to stop them, which is normally a very dangerous proposition," he said.

Stop order

"We have the legal authority to issue the stop order and if we do that that would, over time, prevent the establishment of these settlements," he added.

Asked why the authorities have not exercised their power under the law to prevent the mushrooming of squatter settlements, Mayor Brown admitted that the "fear factor" was a real concern.

In addition, the ALGA chairman said that policing of squatter settlements was not a revenue earner and at the same time the parish councils did not have adequate human resources to monitor some of its core functions, including breaches of building code and the construction of building projects.

He said a decision has been taken in Clarendon to employ special constables or security personnel, to help deal with the squatter issue.

Prevent squatting

Meanwhile, councillor for the Bensonton Division of North East St Ann, Lydia Richards, said the local authorities should move swiftly to prevent squatting when it is observed in an area.

"We allow the people to squat too long," she said. "We are afraid to say to them, because of the vote that we are going to lose, to say to them look, you can't put the house there, and when it is out of control now then we are going to tackle it; now it becomes difficult."