Chuck decries ‘ill-conceived’ high-rise developments

JUSTICE MINISTER Delroy Chuck has lashed out at some housing developers allegedly involved in money laundering and whose “ill-conceived” high-rise apartment complexes are preventing Jamaicans in single-family homes from enjoying their privacy.

He said the situation is evident in northern St Andrew, where many of Jamaica’s wealthy neighbourhoods are located.

“Surely, these residents, many are retired and endeavouring to enjoy their retirement, deserve to have their peace of mind and bereft of the demand to protect the restrictive covenants to which their properties are entitled,” he emphasised last month at a meeting of the Jamaica Urban Developers Association Limited Real Estate Development Webinar.

Chuck commended the developers who followed the rules and praised them for the task they have undertaken to provide lovely residential homes for thousands of Jamaicans.

He said he was aware of the vast majority of developers, especially those who were members of the Jamaica Developers Association, who follow the rules and get shafted by long delays and obvious frustration.

“Still, there are far too many developers, especially those who are seeking to launder ill-gotten gains, or to make some quick money from ill-conceived developments, who are making residential and neighbourly living inconvenient and an unholy mess of perennial dust, heavy equipment disturbance and road disrepair,” he said.

In June, the Real Estate Board of Jamaica admitted that it was still labouring to bring a number of licensees that, together, handle billions of dollars in sales annually, in line with laws that are meant to counter the flow of illicit money. From a risk assessment survey conducted via questionnaire two years ago, there were 74 real estate licensees considered high-risk, and 222 medium-risk.

And for the 18-month period up to June last year, Jamaican financial investigators tracked down nearly $2 billion in assets they believed were acquired through illicit activities. The assets – mainly real estate – were included in 27 asset forfeiture or money-laundering investigations completed by the Financial Investigations Division, The Gleaner reported.

Chuck, who is also the member of parliament for St Andrew North Eastern, pointed out that in upper St Andrew, most homes were built less than 50 years ago and were generally part of a scheme governed by restrictive covenants.

“On reflection, is it fair to these residents to have these multi-family, high-rise units springing up contiguous to their homes, which were hitherto private and with unrestricted view and in an unobtrusive setting.

“In truth, residents are extremely annoyed, angry and amazed when, without notice or warning, and most times without knowledge of any amendment to, or application to amend, the restrictive covenants, multi-family developments simply spurt up totally unannounced,” Chuck said.

He said further that residents should never have to suffer the inconvenience or expense of challenging applications to modify restrictive covenants to which, as homeowners, they are entitled.

“I strongly believe that restrictive covenants, being contractual arrangement between homeowners, should only be modified with an express, implied or constructive agreement or a significant majority of all the homeowners agreeing,” he added.

In recent years, the Jamaican courts have ruled against several developers for starting construction before getting the court’s approval to modify restrictive covenants. Most of the cases involve developers constructing multi-family houses in areas dominated by single-family dwellings.

Advocates have called for a change to the current system whereby developers get building approvals, after which they are told to seek changes to restrictive covenants.