Cease and desist - Hanover Municipal Corporation issues stop order on two major projects

WESTERN BUREAU:

Stop orders have been issued for two significant projects now under way in Hanover, including expansion work at a major hotel.

According to the Hanover Municipal Corporation (HMC), the action was part of its ongoing bid to stop the practice of developers erecting buildings without the necessary permits and approvals.

Reports from the corporation are that a cease work order was served on the RIU Port Marley Limited with regard to development being carried out on its hotel in Negril.

It also said that a stop order was served on a Chinese developer, who is constructing a building in Lucea, opposite a Texaco Service Station. The HMC said that scant regard was shown for the corporation and its building codes and regulations as the developer had been previously served with a cease work order, yet he continued carrying out construction work on the project. The building is located a short distance away from the HMC building.

"There are evident deviations from the building plan that was approved for that project, and even though we had spoken to him and also served a cease work order, he continued with the construction without any regard," a senior HMC official told The Gleaner.

The official said that coming out of the corporation's recent physical planning and environment committee meeting, a decision was taken to serve the stop order on that developer. If no attempt is made by him to correct the breaches identified, the corporation plans to utilise other methods to ensure compliance, the official said.

ISSUES WITH RIU

In the case of RIU's cease work order, the HMC official said, "The situation with RIU has to do with three things: the amount of mud being transferred to the main roadway by the trucks traversing the project; the parking of workers' cars along the side of the main road adjacent to the project; and the operation of several itinerant vendors along the side of the main road adjacent to the project."

According to reports, the HMC has received several complaints about the three issues outlined, which it said are the responsibility of the developers to correct as they present a hazard to users of the Negril roadway.

The official said that the HMC would be paying close attention to see whether the two orders would be obeyed or if there would be a continuation of the flagrant disregard that was previously shown.