Patricia Green | Urban development wrongs need course correction

William Shakespeare wrote, “… All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts …”. The February 26 local government elections delivered an equally distributed Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC). The incumbent mayor will be replaced.

What does that augur for the landscape of the Kingston Metropolitan Area (KSA)? How will the issues raised by the various judicial reviews, too long to list here, be addressed by the newly configured KSAMC? How will they handle those matters generated by the Integrity Commission about the development at No. 11 Charlemont Drive? How will this ‘newly positioned’ KSAMC respond to long-overdue breach issues now being highlighted through that development by the director of public prosecutions (DPP)?

Globally, the development processes in all nations are governed and adhered to by statutory bodies and professional institutions. In Jamaica, there are the local authorities such as the KSAMC and, in central government, the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA). If the nation is witnessing a scenario through No. 11 Charlemont Drive and others being played out across the KSA development landscape, then the issues also should be addressed by all requisite local professional bodies. This is more than a KSAMC and/or a NEPA issue or responsibility.

Critically, the development process and its operational procedures are managed and operated by professional teams mandated by their codes of professional conduct to ensure adherence and implementation of good practice in the development sector.

ADHERE TO GUIDELINES

All Jamaican professional institutions and associations and their membership in both private and public sectors are obliged to adhere and operate within international guidelines that they help to establish collectively:

1) International Union of Architect (UIA). This was founded in 1948 to unify architects, influence public policies, and advise architects to serve the needs of society. It concludes that “… architects should be able to operate within a variety of client, architect, management and builder relationships in an effective and professional way …”.

The UIA, with the United Nations Educational and Scientific Organization (UNESCO), in 2019 established the Baku Declaration on ‘Architecture, Planning and Design: Keys to Safeguarding Heritage in the Age of Mass Tourism’. This calls for “… new investments in culture that recognize the diversity of heritage, sharing its many rewards, and maintain historic urban centres as organic elements of larger communities and cities …”. Note carefully that this governance safeguards the downtown Kingston historic urban landscape and the Vale Royal building.

2) International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE). This deals with all aspects of structural engineering, the science and art of planning, design, construction, operation, monitoring and inspection, maintenance, rehabilitation and preservation, demolition and dismantling of structures, and takes into consideration “… technical, economic, environmental, aesthetic and social aspects …”.

3) International Association of Certified Practicing Engineers (IACPE). This governs engineers, and established standards “… in professional competence and ethics of engineers, maintenance professionals, and operations personnel …”.

4) International Federation of Surveyors (FIG). This receives United Nations and World Bank recognition covering the “… whole range of professional fields within the global surveying community …” to promote professional practice and standards.

5) Quantity Surveyors International (QSI). This supports and protects the character, status and interests of the profession of quantity surveying, to promote good practice and high standards from its members, involving skills to help “… make the construction industry more efficient …”.

6) International Society of City and Regional Planners (ISCRP). Its June 2019 Code of Professional Conduct proposes to maintain proper records of agreements entered into and work undertaken, also to take “… all reasonable steps to maintain their professional competence, practise within areas of competence …”.

7) International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI). This is a business networking organisation for all real estate professionals worldwide, containing five core values, (a) Integrity – “… in everything we do and say, thereby earning and maintaining the trust and respect of the business industry we represent …”; (b) Commitment to excellence; (c) Culture of innovation and development; (d) Focused on creating sustainable membership value; (e) Community of action.

REMAIN SILENT?

In responses to judicial rulings and governmental findings over development breaches, where are the aspects that pertain to professional involvement and conduct? Should the professional bodies remain silent? Significantly, the Real Estate (Dealers and Developers) Board is governed by its 1988 Act that states in part under Section 5(b) “… to monitor the activities of developers…”.

Such awareness is inculcated from the commencement of tertiary training because all universities and colleges must offer internationally accredited and validated curricula. I know, from first-hand experience as the former head of the Caribbean School of Architecture at the University of Technology, Jamaica, that each student often needs to be reminded that leaving the university with the undergraduate qualification of a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture is totally insufficient to call themselves ‘architect’. Even with the best manipulation of computer-aided drawings and 3D modelling technology to turn their sketches into ‘real-live’ images, they are not an ‘architect’ and using that title is illegal. An architect is a registered professional who would have obtained a professional master’s degree, undergone a professional qualification examination, and signed the code of professional conduct. Ask the Architects’ Registration Board governed by its 1987 Act, and any other professional registration board governing the legal, medical, accounting, etc, professions. All must pay the requisite annual registration fees alongside undertaking continuous professional development. Without these, a professional licence to practise will be withheld.

In my Gleaner commentary of February 6, 2022, ‘KSAMC should abide by building act’, I pointed out that “the 2018 Building Act, Section 18 requires … all applications to be accompanied by ‘building design and plans’ and the certification application by a ‘building professional ... . In the case of ‘small building work’ (below 300 square metres), a ‘building practitioner’ may apply, except if the work is complex …”. Was a building professional team responsible for the development at 11 Charlemont Drive? If not, why not? The KSAMC has a responsibility under the 2018 Building Act to include this response in their report, for national understanding.

It is with deep respect and many commendations that I salute both the prime minister and the leader of the Opposition for immediately taking a stance to bring about discipline and good order inside both their respective parties. The recent local government elections now provide an opportunity to begin to address and re-address several distasteful issues on the KSA development landscape. This thereby offers the opportunity for a positioning at the political and professional leadership levels to begin the process of development corrections across the nation of Jamaica. Let us now begin to do what is right.

Patricia Green, PhD, a registered architect and conservationist, is an independent scholar and advocate for the built and natural environment. Send feedback to patgreen2008@gmail.com and columns@gleanerjm.com