Kingston Mayor, Senator Delroy Williams, says the ongoing audit of the 2018 Building Act, was prompted by the troubling findings of the report done by the Integrity Commission into a controversial housing development on Charlemont Drive in St. Andrew.
That development is owned by the President of the National Water Commission, Mark Barnett and his wife Annette.
Speaking during his contribution to the State of the Nation Debate in the Upper House on Friday, Senator Williams says the results of the audit will indicate which areas of the Building Act are in need of strengthening.
We have more in this report from Chevon Campbell.
In the explosive report tabled in the House of Representatives last year, the Integrity Commission accused Mark Barnett and his wife Annette of several breaches of the permits granted to them to develop housing units on the Charlemont Drive property in St. Andrew.
The report also accused the Kingston and St. Andrew Municipal Corporation, KSAMC of negligence in its oversight of the development process at the location.
Senator Williams, the Chairman of the KSAMC, says having digested the report, there are important questions left unanswered.
Senator Williams says he’s given a directive for the Building Act to be subject to a thorough review to determine if it’s fit for purpose.
Senator Williams says as a consequence of the report by the Integrity Commission, the KSAMC must improve the guidelines related to site inspections.
He says building officers will also be required to upgrade their skills.
Meanwhile, Senator Williams says there are not enough building officers at the KSAMC.
He says the shortage of staff in this area is causing a backlog, given that the Corporation has received well over 4-thousand building applications since 2019.
Senator Williams says the five building officers currently in the employ of the KSAMC are each processing an average of 1-hundred-and-80 applications per annum.
Senator Delroy Williams, Mayor of Kingston.
He was making his contribution to the State of the Nation Debate on Friday.
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