Fast-track Bogue sale – councillor

There are new calls for a swift resolution to the long-standing Bogue land saga in which several business operators who occupied property under a previous People’s National Party (PNP) administration are now facing a demand for payment at current market value.

Dwight Crawford, councillor for the Spring Garden division where the controversial lands are located, said that the current occupants ought to legitimise their status and be able to build out their businesses.

Referencing the need for the proceeds of the impending sale, Crawford said that the funds could be utilised to improve other local government infrastructure, such as the Old Shoe Market.

“We are demanding that there should be no street vending,” Crawford told The Gleaner.

“Yet, there is need for more space to accommodate them, especially with the demand for social distancing and the funds from this sale would go a far way in making such provision.”

The occupants of the five-hectare Bogue Industrial Estate property are contending that they are being unfairly targeted by the ruling Jamaica Labour Party and produced lease-sale agreements from the then Hugh Solomon-led local government administration dated May 22, 2003.

However, the current administration has challenged the sale arrangement, with the support of a report from the since-disbanded Office of the Contractor General that revealed that the Glen Harris PNP administration breached the Government’s divestment policy in 2015 when it tried to sell the lots to the squatters based on a 2009 land valuation.

The value of the property in 2015 was $700 million.

MORE TIME REQUESTED

Montego Bay Mayor Leeroy Williams and his team are adamant that the 26 lots will be paid at current value, as well as six years of rent or mesne profit amounting to a combined $75 ­million.

In documents obtained by this newspaper, the municipal corporation requested payment of the outstanding balances on the mesne profit by January 15.

But attorney-at-law John Junor, the legal representative for the occupants, has requested more time amid complaints that current market value and demand for payment for their illegal occupation of the land is too much.

“They are trying to force people off the land with these exorbitant sums, the valuation is way too high,” said an occupant who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“I spent millions to develop my property from the swamp that it was when I first came, and I believe that should be considered.”

The occupants were also advised that failure to pay the outstanding rental would disqualify them from purchasing the property.

“Please be advised that in order to qualify, you must pay mesne profit due for the period 2011 to 2016 in full, have obtained all relevant building approvals for any existing structure, (and) be up to date with property taxes in relation to the lot you occupy,” the correspondence read.

Efforts to contact Junor, a former PNP member of parliament, were unsuccessful. The Gleaner understands, however, that Junor is set to meet with the occupants on Thursday.