Rasbert Turner, Gleaner Writer
SPANISH TOWN, St. Catherine:
RESIDENTS OF the flood-prone Nightingale Grove in St. Catherine have decided to take the developers, Bushy Park Development Limited and the St. Catherine Parish Council, to court for breach of contract.
This decision was made last Saturday during a community meeting held at the Bushy Park Seventh-day Adventist Church in St. Catherine.
According to Samuel Clunis, president of the citizens' association, the residents are not satisfied with the development. He said the lack of basic infrastructure such as kerbs, culvert, and proper drainage have caused the area to be more vulnerable to flooding with the slightest rainfall.
He said that it was the duty of the parish council to ensure that development was permitted in areas that are suitable for such work.
"At a meeting held on July 27, 2005, a member from the St. Catherine Parish Council and Councillor Gerval Weir attended and told us that they did not gave permission for the scheme to be built," he said.
PARISH COUNCIL NOT AT FAULT
According to Mr. Clunis, it was after several letters and a meeting on Wednesday, January 18, where representatives from the Ministry of Housing attended and showed the affected residents documents, that the houses were given permission to be built by the St. Catherine Parish Council.
Councillor Weir, in an interview with The Gleaner, acknowledged going to the meeting on July 27. He said, however, that the residents were told that the houses were not handed over to the St. Catherine Parish Council for them to deal with infrastructural matters.
"The president is making trouble as at no time was he told about any permit. He was advised that the scheme was not handed over to the parish council," Mr. Weir said.
The councillor said that he is aware of the citizens' plight and have put forward several proposals for them to be relocated. To date, several citizens of the community have indicated that they would move to the nearby Thetford area in St. Catherine, and that there has to be more dialogue, he said.
Meanwhile, the president said beginning today, he would be pursuing legal action against the developers and the municipal authority.
He said that for too long residents who occupy the more than 270-odd houses have been suffering since they occupied them in 1976.
