Hanover Municipal Corporation says building amnesty a success

WESTERN BUREAU

Despite being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Hanover Municipal Corporation (HMC) says its building amnesty, which was in place between November 2019 and June 2020, was fairly successful.

The amnesty was sparked by the large number of buildings that were being constructed illegally across the parish, which was not only robbing the coffers of the HMC but was also leading to the erection of many unsafe buildings.

“It (the building amnesty) is a good initiative, which I think we should do ever so often” said David Gardner, the chief executive officer of HMC, in an interview with The Gleaner.

In response to questions about the achievements and effectiveness of the amnesty, Gardner said with the COVID-19 pandemic hitting Jamaica in the midst of the amnesty campaign, it impacted the strategies that were devised. However, he said the HMC did benefit from the amnesty.

Gardner also stated that the HMC is now reaping success from the effects of the amnesty, as more investors and developers are now aware of the requirements and are using the proper channels in pursuing their developments.

“If you notice, for argument sake, today we had about 20 approvals to do, in previous months we have had about 23, prior to that we normally would have an average of about four or five, so a lot of information was going out (during the amnesty), and a lot of calls were coming in, people were asking about the procedures, and they were able to get the necessary advice,” said Gardner.

While not downplaying the impact of the amnesty on the increase in the number of development plans now coming in to the corporation for approval, Gardner argued that no real analysis was done on the effects of the initiative, albeit the high probability.

Gardner also argued that the initiative is one he would recommend for repeat in the future, if the situation warrants, but according to him, the conditions have to be right.

“It would not be prudent, in my opinion, to do it in a time like this, but it is a good initiative that I think we should do ever so often, I would recommend it,” said Gardner.

– Bryan Miller