Jamaican Government to Seize and Sell Lands for Unpaid Property Taxes

“We are going to seize anything of worth that you may have for the value of the outstanding taxes and if that is not enough we are going to take the body to court”. That’s the most recent threat leveled by Acting Commissioner of Inland Revenue, Viralee Lattibeaudiere, as she addressed a recent joint press conference at the KSAC. Mrs. Lattibeaudiere also disclosed that persons would be recruited for training as bailiffs and that space would be rented to store seized goods. The Acting Inland Revenue Commissioner also advised of the Governments intention to reactivate the Quit Rents Act under which persons properties would be seized and sold for unpaid property taxes. "This is how serious we are going to get. I urge individuals to heed the Minister's call to pay up arrears. It will not be business as usual," she warned.

Quit Rent is a form of levy or land tax imposed on freehold or leased land by a higher landowning authority, usually government or its assigns. Some governments have now abolished the quit rent system and relieved those with a nominal quit rent obligation from the requirement to pay it, replacing quit rents with a uniform system of land tax. However in other countries, such as Malaysia, quit rent remains an important means of raising revenue from landowners. A full copy of the Quit Rents Act is provided below:

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NEPA, KSAC….BOTH SIDES OF THE SAME COIN

How can the Government of Jamaica establish a radio station in the midst of a residential community and yet the agencies which are supposed to have oversight responsibility for illegal land uses and zoning breaches claim to be unaware more than 3 years after the fact? That’s the case with KOOL FM which the Government of Jamaica established on Braemar Avenue in the heart of the Golden Triangle one of the oldest residential neighbourhoods in St Andrew in flagrant violation of not only the zoning laws but the restrictive covenants governing the community. Further, the National Environment and Planning Agency, NEPA, and the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation, KSAC, gave approval for the construction of a four-storey apartment complex next door to the radio station. Ironically the four-storey building (itself a breach) continues to be overshadowed by the Transmission Tower of the radio station.

This comes on the heels of loud and persistent complaints from the citizens, which the agencies in question continue to seek to frustrate, while patronizingly claiming to be desirous of a process of on-going dialogue. However, in light of the recent revelation that the Government of Jamaica had previously issued a directive to NEPA to ignore all breaches committed by other Government agencies, the delays relating to enforcement and efforts to frustrate the citizenry by both NEPA and the KSAC are now explained. Indeed, the process has been totally compromised and has opened the floodgates of corruption which has been apparently extended beyond just Government agencies to friends or other connected persons.

Will the Bruce Golding led Government of Jamaica now have the courage the commission a forensic audit of the entire approval process as impacted by NEPA and the KSAC?

Seymour Avenue: State Abdicates its Responsibility

Teach us true respect for all,

Stir response to duty's call..

excerpt of Jamaica's National Anthem

The Kingston and St Andrew Corporation (KSAC), National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA), the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) and the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) would be far more efficacious in the discharge of their respective mandates, if only they would adhere to the principles and precepts enunciated in Jamaica’s National Anthem. Indeed, while the State contemplates detaining persons without charge for indeterminate periods, claiming quite erroneously that this will minimize criminal activity and are equally consumed by the morally bankrupt suggestion that prostitution be decriminalized in the name of public health and as a substantial source of tax revenue, there is a general abdication of responsibilities by the State to treat with matters which are far more mundane but which continues to threaten the well-being of all. A case in point being two empty lots of land bordering Fairway and Seymour Avenue in Seymour Lands, which have been used for practically every nefarious activity imaginable. However the State has ignored the repeated complaints by the citizens.

Indeed, all that the citizens have been requesting over the last two (2) years is that the lots are bushed, the informal housing units are removed and that the drug peddling and prostitution be stopped. In their quest, the citizens have written to the KSAC, NEPA and JCF and have also turned to their political representatives for assistance, all to no avail. Indeed, the citizens advise that KSAC Mayor Desmond McKenzie is acutely aware of the situation but has quite uncharacteristically taken no action. In the case of NEPA, they responded one (1) year later to enquire of the citizens if the lots had been bushed. In terms of the Police, the citizens continue to await their intervention.

In the meantime that lower section of Seymour Ave bordered on the north by Fairway Avenue and to the south by Old Hope Road could easily be renamed Prostitutes Row or Crack Alley as prostitutes can be seen brazenly plying their wares day and night and the evidence of drug usage and sale is there to be seen by all. That location has also been the scene of several robberies and rapes coupled with other serious criminal activities but inexplicably the JCF refuses to act. The 3 - 4 acre location has also been the scene of numerous illicit fires but is now perhaps best described as a tropical jungle in the midst of an urban centre, which provides a convenient place of refuge for criminals and their illicit activities. However, there are two high-end multi-storey apartment and townhouse complexes and an office complex on the same section of Seymour Avenue which continue to be adversely affected and the residents and occupants safety compromised by the perpetuation of these activities.

In this matter, the KSAC is obliged as part of its statutory duty in conjunction with the NSWMA to clear those lots, in the face of unwillingness by its owners and bill them for any expenses incurred. The JCF is also duty bound to address the criminal activity which is experiencing exponential growth in this area. The politicians are equally duty bound to effectively represent the collective interests of the persons in their constituency or political division, as the case may be. This situation is untenable and is particularly repugnant in light of the fact that the residents of Seymour Lands arguably pay the highest levels of property taxes in Jamaica but are unable to access any meaningful level of service from an increasingly reluctant State apparatus. The National Anthem entreats Jamaicans to “Stir response to duty’s call” but that lesson has obviously been lost on political representatives and the State (Central and Local Government) alike. This as the State agencies continues to victimize the law abiding residents of Seymour Lands by their lassitude and indolence. Indeed in this scenario, the residents of Seymour Lands, are obviously regarded as no more than TRN numbers and high end property owners who can be routinely tapped as a source of revenue by the State or in the true colloquial phrasing remain “The gift that keeps on giving!”

WANTED: A Pied Piper For New Kingston

The commercial district of New Kingston and the adjoining residential communities are being overrun by rats and primarily through State indolence, absolutely nothing is being done to combat the situation. Indeed, the situation has become so acute that the Police are now cautioning visitors to New Kingston and residents of nearby residential communities to check the engine compartments of their cars after conducting business in New Kingston for rats. Ironically, the New Kingston Police Post has been a victim of this situation as well, in so far as at least two (2) service vehicles have been reportedly disabled after rats chewed several wires and cables in the engine compartments of the respective units. This problem is being replicated in Seymour Lands and is also attributable to the poor solid waste disposal mechanisms of restaurants operating illegally in the community coupled with equally poor construction waste disposal practices in a community that has been literally teeming with new construction projects.

Repeated complaints have only led to cursory action by the State in New Kingston with no real sustainable and effective strategies being employed to tackle the root causes of the rodent infestation. In the residential communities, there have been no interventions by either central or local government agencies to either combat the rodent infestation or treat with the appalling solid waste disposal practices of restaurants which are also operating in breach of the restrictive covenants and zoning laws governing these communities. Similarly, though there have been repeated complaints to the Kingston & St Andrew Corporation (KSAC) complete with photographs clearly depicting the issue of inadequate disposal of constructive waste, there has been no effort to treat with the situation by the local authority.

Indeed, the indifference of the state apparatus is now so stark that a relatively new restaurant in Seymour Lands, which have been repeatedly found in breach of the Noise Abatement Act by the Police, had been operating without a spirit license, been the scene of numerous robberies and at least one rape, has recently been granted a spirit license by the State, with no reference to the citizenry which had repeatedly objected to the varying untoward activities being conducted at the location. This is particularly poignant since the approval was granted immediately after the Police had reportedly successfully prosecuted the owners for operating without a license.

Therefore, yet again the pronouncements by the KSAC about zero tolerance are seemingly attention grabbing headlines tailored for an eager press rather than a statement of intent to confront the real issues affecting communities. Indeed, in this new dispensation where Local Authorities, including the KSAC, are slated to be given more autonomy, there has to be a greater degree of accountability for the local authorities. The residents of Seymour Lands and New Kingston arguably pay the highest property taxes in Jamaica, with taxation levels in the past routinely exceeding $100,000 per annum in instances but yet have little or no representation in terms of local governance. The communities at best receive a polite hearing from the local authority but very little is usually accomplished. In the present scenario, the matter is critical as residents fear an outbreak of leptospirosis, as the communities are being overrun by rats and no longer have the impetus or time to engage in meaningless banter with an inefficient and ineffective local government apparatus which refuses to fulfill its statutory obligations. Apparently, in the new dispensation only court action will rouse them from their slumber as the Local Authorities must be held to a higher standard of accountability and performance.

Re-Engineer the Approval Process in Jamaica

“All I wish is for my children to be able to take a breath of fresh air in Jamaica by the time they are forty years of age!” For many Jamaicans, this has become their singular yet unselfish ideal, borne out of enlightened self-interest, given the environmental degradation being occasioned by the poor oversight responsibility exercised by the regulatory agencies coupled with a paucity of political will. Indeed for many, their dreams have been shattered by decades of economic malaise and a mounting casual disregard by the State for proper urban planning strategies, which are being sacrificed on an altar of expediency and short-termism. For example, in Seymour Lands and the residential sections of New Kingston, the current building boom while been marked by widespread breaches of the State’s regulatory framework for urban planning, also highlights the contempt with which sustainable environmental practices are treated. However, this contempt is also being replicated across the other urban centres in Jamaica. Some of the imperatives are highlighted below:

Legal Overhaul
Indeed, while there is heightened construction activity in Seymour Lands, there remains no enforceable mechanism to treat with Air Pollution emanating from construction sites and even for the appropriate disposal of construction waste. Whereas a protocol does exist for the Disposal of Construction Waste, it is breached with impunity and therefore has lost its legitimacy. As a result it is estimated that the air quality in the above community has deteriorated by some 30 – 40 percent, with the attendant increases in respiratory ailments among the citizenry. This points to the need for a protocol which is actually enforceable. Further, it is critical that the laws governing construction activity in general be reviewed. For instance, the Building Code which currently obtains in Jamaica was drafted in 1907. Similarly development in Kingston and St Andrew is supposed to be guided by a Development Order prepared in 1966, however in the current context there is seemingly a more laissez faire approach to development. Equally the principle of adverse possession and the Limitations of Action Act need to be revisited and placed in a modern context to facilitate orderly development and once and for all discourage antisocial activity inclusive of spontaneous settlement (squatting) on private lands. Current squatting laws only protects Crown Lands and therefore reflects a deficiency that should be addressed with urgency. Therefore in essence there is need for a comprehensive review of all laws governing development in Jamaica inclusive of the NRCA Act which should be amended to facilitate the compulsory consultation of the citizenry regarding any developments within their respective communities.

Densities and the Environment
Similarly, the matter of linking increased densities to access to a central sewer line would deceptively appear to indicate environmental consciousness on the part of the State. However, in the context of the parishes of Kingston and St Andrew, the Soapberry Waste Water Treatment Plant is now just being commissioned into service putting to an end a period of years when there were no functional treatment plants. Even so, according to KSAC Mayor Senator Desmond McKenzie only 35% of residencies in the Corporate Area are attached to the sewer system with the majority in the foreseeable future continuing to rely on more traditional waste disposal mechanisms. However, just being in relative close proximity to the sewer line (attached or not) in Seymour Lands and other areas increases the density from 30 to 50 habitable rooms per acre and attracts a 100% surcharge on water bills, whether or not there is a functional treatment plant. Further, this has not impacted the continued flow of 20 million gallons of waste water and 1.5 million gallons of solid waste into the Kingston Harbour daily and puts paid to any notion of environmental sensitivity on the part of the State.

Enforcement
Similarly, stipulations for plot ratios, setback ratios and the minimum green area space established by the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) are equally frequently breached facilitating a sustainable development crisis in many urban centres in Jamaica. To compound this issue, there is a lack of capacity at the level of the local authority (in this case the KSAC) and NEPA to engage in a meaningful and sustainable enforcement and monitoring exercise. For example, the KSAC now boasts a complement of 6 Building officers up from 2 in 2006/7, to police all construction activities and enforcement issues across the parishes of Kingston and St Andrew. Further both agencies lack any financial incentive to embark on any meaningful enforcement exercise. Firstly both are at least partially funded by the Government of Jamaica and given budgetary constraints operate primarily in a parsimonious environment. Hence, in the main they are unable / unwilling to engage in any form of corrective legal activity. Further, even if they engage persons functioning in breach of the law and are successful in a court of law, any monetary award does not inure to the benefit of the regulatory body, to even cover legal costs but are turned over in their entirety to the Consolidated Fund of the State. This has led to a situation where the regulatory bodies are actively encouraging citizens to challenge developers in the courts to address breaches rather than seeking to fulfil their statutory obligations. This is clearly an untenable scenario.

Preserving Process Integrity
Also as part of the approval process, varying committees are established to review and adjudicate applications with the Prime Minister who has portfolio responsibility for Planning and Development being the final arbiter in the event of an appeal by a developer. The first area of concern must be the KSAC Building and Town Planning Committee, which boasts a significant number of politicians ( with no discernible relevant areas of expertise) coupled with a few technocrats determining the process. This is a dangerous practice and increased emphasis needs to placed on the technocrats with the involvement by the political directorate being minimal and such participation occurring on a rotating basis to avoid even a perception of corruption. There is also the need for a strengthened oversight process coupled with greater autonomy for the local authorities to seek redress through the courts. Similarly for both the Local Authority and NEPA, persons affiliated with enforcement activity should be rotated from time to time ( perhaps after every 6 – 12 months) so as to avoid undue familiarity between staff and developers and preserving the integrity of the process and again reducing even the perception of corruption. In this regard any breach by personnel must be dealt with harshly and swiftly under the Corruption Prevention Act and / or any other applicable law. Further, whereas there has been some capacity building, particularly at the level of the local authority, there are particular concerns regarding the quality of decisions being made. For example, in Seymour Lands and the residential sections of New Kingston, there is feverish construction activity with respect to high density developments but there has been no increase in water supplies, which leads to reduced water pressure or no water at times, yet there is no slowdown in the pace of approvals.

The Voice of the People
Finally, the process needs to facilitate the involvement of the community based organizations at every stage of the application and enforcement processes. This has been a particularly vexed issue for a protracted period, as the views of citizens in the main are given minimal to no weight in a process that often times affects their living environment, property values among other issues. In fact the system has become so compromised that for example, developers rarely seek to address matters relating to the Discharge or Modification of Restrictive Covenants prior to the commencement of construction as they are obliged to do but which would necessitate the involvement of the citizenry, but instead seek to regularize the process on a de facto basis. Even in the cases of breaches, the involvement of the citizens is minimal and response times so slow (some might argue deliberately) that by the time the respective regulatory body intervenes there is certain knowledge that nothing can or will be done. Not only has this led to a loss of legitimacy of the process but has led to an overall deterioration in the quality of life being experienced in residential communities as unscrupulous developers recognising the deficiencies have sought to engage in varying activities which in some cases threaten to ruin the character and ambiance of some residential communities. Hence whereas cognizance is taken of the desire of the State to streamline the approval process due care must be exercised that the requisite control mechanisms are established to finally inculcate the concept and functional tenets of sustainable development.

Zero Tolerance Indeed!

The Chairman of the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation, KSAC, Mayor Desmond McKenzie announced with great fanfare earlier this year a “zero-tolerance” approach to persons who chose to store their construction material and waste on the roadways and sidewalks of the Corporate Area. However, the usually proactive Mayor has been inexplicably silent on this issue, despite a plethora of complaints to the local authority (KSAC). Indeed the problem in the community of Seymour Lands has become so acute that the air quality has been estimated to have deteriorated by at least 40 percent in the vicinity of some of the projects, as no attempt is being made by control the dust nuisance by the multiple, active construction sites and in several cases construction material is stored in the roadway and on the sidewalks.

Indeed the sidewalks and roadways are being specifically used to store sewerage pipes, concrete blocks, marl, sand, gravel and all manner of construction waste material. The roads have been severely damaged in some instances but inaction by the local authority has been the strategy employed. Indeed, the worst example of this has been Argyle Road and Musgrave Avenue in Seymour Lands; however the frequent complaints by the citizenry are routinely ignored by the representatives of the local authority. Ironically the local authority remains part of the building approval mechanism which allows persons to construct new building with setback distances of 5 feet per floor from the property boundary, which apparently is not being policed either and in some instances, the distance is so narrow that the heavy-duty equipment required on those sites cannot successfully enter and function on the premises and are routinely parked on the sidewalks and in the roadways impeding access.

This has proven to be a particularly vexed issue with residents of not only Seymour Lands but also those residing in the residential sections of New Kingston where in some instances building construction occurs on top of the perimeter walls dividing properties and foundations for multi-story buildings are excavated (leaving a 40 ft hole in the ground) and then abandoned. All this within the full view of the Councillor for the Trafalgar Division and Deputy Chairman of the KSAC’s Building Committee, Waderoy Clarke, who routinely traverses the very streets on which the breaches are being committed but takes no remedial action.

Whereas the mayor continues to enjoy the confidence of the citizenry, it is critical that he intervenes urgently in the management of the local authority as unscrupulous developers continue to dismiss the edicts of the KSAC, perpetuating a chaotic approach to development. Continued failure to do so will only result in a further loss of legitimacy for the local authority and give credence to a notion of ineffectual governance. The notion of zero tolerance is usually a welcome strategy particularly in the maintenance of law and order. However, with respect to its usage by the KSAC, it has now become a mere buzzword which usually points to a carefully orchestrated sound bite or equally catchy headline, but in actuality heralds a protracted period of inactivity and lassitude.

What Price for Development in Jamaica

It is indeed ironic, that the Jamaican society is now seized with the notion of facilitating accelerating development, but the strategy is opportunistic at best. in so far as it ignores all requisite control mechanisms, which would afford these developments a degree of sustainability over the medium to long term. Indeed, some the immediate challenges being faced by the citizenry are dust pollution, noise pollution and flawed urban planning compounded by an increasingly aloof and arrogant state mechanism. However, the difficulties described are already covered in most part by varying laws but there is almost no enforcement or such enforcement is so selective, as to be deemed arbitrary.

This has led to a loss of legitimacy for the state apparatus, which is supposed to police the named categories. For example, with the boom in construction activity in Seymour Lands (Golden Triangle) there is no effective dust pollution control mechanism. Hence, the air quality in the community has deteriorated substantially over the past few years and despite persistent appeals to the regulatory agencies, nothing is done. Similarly, the Chairman of the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation (KSAC) and Mayor, Senator Desmond McKenzie, indicated earlier this year that a zero tolerance approach would be taken regarding the storage of construction materials on the sidewalks and roadways. No action has been taken. Indeed at one particular construction site in the Golden Triangle, the contractor has from inception not only stored his material on the sidewalks near to the project but routinely stored excess materials on the sidewalks of nearby roads. However, in this regard the KSAC inexplicably remains impotent.

Similarly, the residents of Seymour Lands, Trafalgar Park and the residential sections of New Kingston are all affected by night noises and the failure of the police to enforce the Noise Abatement Act. While the new Commissioner of Police Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin, has expressed an intention to treat with breaches, the fact that approval was recently given to J’ouvert celebrants to commence their road march and party activities at 2 am, militates against any particular expectations that the status quo will change. However, in the interim, in some of the high priced gated communities, persons are only allowed to sleep at the absolute discretion of the party promoters and club operators as to when they chose to terminate their nocturnal activities.

Equally, residents in the Kensington Avenue area in New Kingston have been afflicted by helicopter landings and departures from the nearby Mutual Life Centre. Though appeals have been made to the Civil Aviation Authority (to effect a change to the approved flight plans so as to minimize impact) nothing has been done. This situation is such though that roofing tiles in some of the apartment complexes have been falling out, given the vibrations from the low-flying helicopter.

Further, the State apparatus has given approval for the operations of at least one sensuous massage parlour and that particular activity is expanding considerably in the named communities above. Repeated complaints have been made to the relevant authorities and mistakes acknowledged, yet absolutely no remedial action has been taken. There has no been no activity seeking to prevent the operations of the newer facilities either.

Similarly, density ratios and setback distances have been unilaterally altered which ensures that any new multi-storey dwelling automatically will overshadow and overlook its immediate neighbours, creating a loss of value among other ills. Further, in all cases there is no provision made for additional water to be piped into the communities yet additional developments are approved routinely. Developers are also required to post signage regarding their proposed developments. In most cases this is completely ignored, as is the fact that the restrictive covenants in the majority of cases need to be modified or discharged prior to construction. These activities occur routinely after the fact.

Hence for Jamaica’s development to be sustained there is need for the introduction and enforcement of order. The KSAC, NEPA and the Police have all failed in the effective discharge of their duties so far. There is therefore an urgent need for a new approach to development to be adopted, as the current mechanisms which pits citizen against developer and the state is not tenable and will only serve to undermine true progress and stymie sustainable development. The law may well be a tool of social engineering, but failure to adhere to its tenets will lead to the unraveling of the very fabric of the Jamaican society.

The Fear Factor and the Jamaican Parish Council

Minister of State with responsibility for Local Government Robert “Bobby” Montague has been reported by the Gleaner as stating that “the parish council as an institution has the capacity and the capability to man and police the new (building) code”. However, at the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation (KSAC), the largest of the local authorities (parish councils), there is a Planning Department with reportedly 6 building officers (up from 2 inspectors / enforcement officers in 2006) for the parishes of Kingston and St Andrew. These officers are charged with the responsibility to inspect all building sites requiring KSAC approval, investigate and follow-up on all complaints about illegal land uses and spearhead any legal action required. Ironically the KSAC advises that where successful legal action has been undertaken any financial award must be transferred in its entirety to the consolidated fund with the local authority being responsible for any legal fees incurred. This has led to sub-optimal performances and has resulted in a continued loss of legitimacy for the Local Authority.

Further, as highlighted by the Chairman of the Association of Local Government Authorities (ALGA) Mayor Milton Brown in a recent Gleaner Editors Forum, in response to a question regarding the breakdown in enforcement of development breaches, there is a “fear factor” that was of real concern in that regard. This has led to situations where enforcement notices are issued but never served as inexplicably the addresses for the premises or the owners of said premises can now longer be found. Indeed, in the case of their enforcement counterpart in the Corporate Area, the National Environment and Planning Agency, NEPA, homeowners are advised that in the event of a breach of use, for an enforcement notice to be served, both the owner and the tenant, if applicable, must be on the premises in dispute at the same time of service. Of course this scenario also opens the possibility for corrupt practices to take root and due care must be exercised that this does not occur or is stymied when it does.

Indeed in a statement dated March 12 2008, The Trafalgar Council noted its concerns “that work at a controversial building site on Donhead Avenue in Seymour Lands, where a fatality occurred earlier this week, had continued undetected by the Building Inspectors for approximately six weeks after the initial cease and desist order was allegedly issued on January 22, 2008”. Further, The Council noted that “this issue points to a flawed process of oversight, by the Local Authority and can only serve to undermine the effectiveness of the rules and principles, governing the building trade. Whereas, this may be reflective of inadequate capacity at the level of the local authority, the issues at hand are so grave that they must be addressed urgently, in an effort to optimize efficiency, as the current modus operand is untenable”.

A new building code is critical as the country continues to be guided in law by the Building Code of 1902. However, when faced with a scenario where in the case of the KSAC, the size of their Building Committee is larger than the quantum of building officers employed to police the most populous sections of the country, there is cause for alarm. Similarly in St Catherine, with a population in excess of 400,000 persons there are a mere 5 building officers, which is equally preposterous. Therefore in the final analysis, it must be concluded that the Local Authorities do not have the capacity or the capability to supervise the new building code, whenever it is actually enacted. Indeed, they have failed to effectively police current building breaches and there are no new discernible strategies which would facilitate renewed optimism.

See Also

Construction Booms in Jamaica: Are the Building's Safe?