Another nine-day wonder?

 I wonder if that excellent investigation by the Integrity Commission which unearthed the alleged corruption at KSACMC and the top executive at NWC, will cause the Holness administration and its minions to stop harassing/maligning that institution and allow it to do its work in peace!

Or if the spotlight now turned on the corruption at the Building Department of the double-dealing KSACMC will be just a talking point or will something be finally done about that institution that has caused nothing but grief for many struggling homeowners in the corporate area?

Me, hold my breath?

No way.

I am of course referring to the Integrity Commission’s exposure which caused NWC top boss Mark Barnett to be sent on leave by the NWC and now face prosecution.

The 'delinquency' of the Building Department is not new. And it has cost the Municipality, homeowners, and taxpayers, dearly over the decades.

Right now, the spotlight on that department has to do with new developments in upscale areas but the headaches the department caused over the years, have long been visible in places like Richmond Park, Eastwood Park, and Bedford Park.

I resided in Bedford Park for decades, and their refusal to prosecute businesses that operate there illegally caused nothing but frustration for us forever, despite the fact that the breaches were reported ad nauseam. 

Not to mention the unnecessary cost to taxpayers in general. For, the commercialization of residential areas causes the rapid deterioration of the roads which were never built to the standard necessary to withstand commercial activity. So, on the rare occasions when the authorities repair these roads, it’s the general public that has to foot the bill.

Why?  Because “Money talk and bull#&@%** walk!”

That is what the first operator to breach our covenant told residents when he turned his home into a heavy-duty commercial operation and a delegation approached him. And yes, the KSACMC refused to do anything about it, so more and more illegal operators followed suit until the road became almost undrivable. The entire area deteriorated and life became miserable for homeowners despite regular reports to the so-called regulators, the KSACMC.

“Money talk and bull#&@%*...walk.”

As a victim of that corrupt municipality, I know them well. Yup,  and there have been many successive administrations at that sewer pit.

I couldn’t believe it when I recently heard an apologist saying the problem at KSAMC was that they didn’t have the funds to employ enough building inspectors!

Do you know what the penalty for operating businesses in residential areas is? If my memory serves me correctly, it is in the range of $25,000 per day once the infractions continue. And they were always reported and totally visible!

But while the violations continued for all to see, the KSACMC happily gave up that revenue because individuals at the monitoring and enforcing institution were being paid millions not to enforce the laws. So, as the neighborhoods became run down, people who had worked long and hard to own a home had to move out of sheer exasperation.

The unprosecuted violations over the decades elicited an occasional report in instigative journals, but successive administrations would do nothing about the disgraceful and outright corruption at that municipality, so one can only assume they are all complicit!

Now it continues, not only with the commercialization of residential areas but also with rampant building violations in apartment development in areas with large lots.

That’s what the much-maligned Integrity Commission has brought to the fore by the exposing of the NWC boss and “delinquency” at the Municipality.

Will the exposure lead to any cleansing of the stables at KSACMC?

 I doubt it, for we are notorious for our love of nine-day wonders followed by a “bagga mout,” but no action is usually taken.

Many decades ago, it was reported that the late Sir Alexander Bustamante had once disbanded the KSAC because of the entrenched corruption there. After my experience with that institution, as far as I am concerned, the time has long passed for another cleansing there.

If the latest Integrity Commission's Report leads to that action, they will be more than well worth their existence, despite the determination by senior politicians to destroy them.

Corrupt KSAMC, Jamaica

Every time I see a headline like the one below, I seethe at how corrupt that organization once known as KSAC, but now called KSAMC, is.

The headline in the Gleaner of April 24, 2022, said; "KSAMC clamps down on popular gym, restaurant," and the report began; "A gym and restaurant at 7 Hillcrest Avenue in St Andrew are to be closed by July 31 in a case of illegal development brought by the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC) against the operators and property owner. "

While one would love to think the KSAMC is finally acting in the interest of residents, an appreciation of the address, is a good reminder of what motivates that corrupt organization. 

Money.

You see, Hillcrest Avenue is considered an up-town area and better yet, it is very close to Jamaica House.

Have you ever seen the KSAC acceding to the requests of residents in non-uptown areas to close down commercial operators that are destroying their residential areas? 

Never.

And it's not that people living in less affluent areas who strived to buy a home had/have not been appealing to that local authority to enforce the laws dealing with illegal operators in their residential communities.

Nor have they been making reports out of malice but because commercial activity destroys residential roads and leads to an increase in crime.

The fact is, there have always been different standards of construction for commercial and residential roads in the city. For whereas roads in commercial areas are built sturdier to handle a higher level of traffic activity including heavily laden vehicles, roads in residential areas aren't.

So, when a residential area becomes commercialized, the first thing to go is the roads, which the Local Authority does not maintain under the best circumstances anyway.

Then there is the increase in the level of crime.

 For when an area is residential, people tend to know each other and are more vigilant when they see strangers around. However, when the community becomes commercialized, the ability to monitor who is coming in and going out, quickly disappears.

Travel into places like Richmond Park, Bedford Park and Eastwood Park and see how the neighborhoods have deteriorated under the KSAC's (KSAMC's) watch!

So, what has happened to the homeowners who have for decades had to watch their property values decrease and standard of living degraded, because of the commercial activity, you may very well ask.

After decades of bringing the illegal activity which is destroying their environment to the attention of KSAC Councilors, the relevant Members of Parliaments and at times even the Ombudsman, (whose office is described by the Jamaica Information Service as "An Institution Protecting the Rights of Citizens), those who can afford to move, do, while others have to live with the destruction.

The fact is, in a corrupt society like Jamaica, the only thing that can determine the rights of a citizen is money.

For you must have lots of money to bribe the politicians and heads of institutions in Jamaica, to have the laws enforced or to look the other way.

How can I ever forget the illegal operator in our community who flatly declared many decades ago that; "Money talk and bullshit walk."

He still operates in the community and has even expanded his operations, although the intrusion has been reported to every councilor, Member of Parliament, Mayor and even Ombudsman over several decades. While he prospered, many other illegal commercial operators have also joined him.

 So, metaphorically, the residents have indeed been reduced to walking as the road surfaces disappeared right under their feet and crime overwhelms the community!

So yes, the residents at Hillcrest Avenue will get protection for that is a wealthy area and as they say, "Money talks.........."