Golding calls out delinquent developers

Member of Parliament for St Andrew South Mark Golding has call out a developer operating in New Kingston for dumping debris on a vacant lot in the community and issued a warning to other developers of similar ilk to stop disrespecting inner-city residents.

“I want to use this opportunity to appeal to developers in Jamaica. When you doing your projects don’t disrespect our community by taking your (construction) waste and just dumping it on land in the community, like people don’t live here. A disrespect that. We don’t support those things,” he said.

Golding, who is also leader of the parliamentary Opposition, said that the developer had been identified and the matter reported to the relevant authorities but no action had been taken against the delinquent developer for spoiling the vacant lot and devaluing the property value of the land at the intersection of Barnes Avenue and Harris Street.

“We know where that dirt comes from and we reported it the authorities already. Is a project in New Kingston where they building an underground car park and is truckloads of dirt they carry and dump on that land. How we going to use that land now with all that dirt on it? I told other developers that if they have a need for fill, them can come and take the fill from there but I don’t know if any have taken up that offer yet.

The president of the People’s National Party was addressing a symposium on ‘Farm the Future’ hosted by the Youth For Excellence Limited in collaboration with the Rose Town Foundation for the Built Environment and the Rural Agricultural Development Authority, with strong sponsorship support from the private sector. Farm the Future is a regional vocational training programme in urban agricultural techniques.

Describing himself as a strong believer in urban agriculture, Golding pointed to Havana, Cuba, as a prime example of success in this area.

“They grow food all over the place – in buildings, on roofs, terraces and everything and so there is no reason why we can’t produce a lot more. We have land. All over the constituency there are pockets of land that are just open and are not being used for any productive purpose,” he lamented.

He also committed to supporting the Farm the Future enterprise.

“I would love this to become a really cool project which many young people can benefit from and end up earning an income from – whether it be a social enterprise, whatever it may end up being, it will have whatever support I can give,” Golding declared.