The Editor, Sir:

Apparently, it is the law in Jamaica that a building will not obtain electricity from the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) Company unless the said building was passed fit by a government electrical inspector (GEI).

One would imagine that for a GEI to pass a building as fit for obtaining electricity from the JPS, the said building would have been one that obtained the necessary building or development approval from the respective parish council, environmental and other agencies.

Why, a reasonable person would contend, would a GEI pass such a building for electricity connection if the construction of said building was not approved by the relevant authorities? Why would the GEI and the parish councils and such authorities not work together to facilitate Jamaica's orderly development? But perhaps the law, as is the case with so many others on the books in Jamaica, may not be strictly and appropriately enforced.

Necessary building approvals

There are over 700 squatter settlements islandwide, according to the recent revelation by Housing Minister Dr Horace Chang. The necessary building approvals were likely never granted for the majority of those settlements (especially those built on government lands), yet many of those buildings have electricity, some through the JPS and probably many with water connection through the National Water Commission (NWC).

There are also many buildings and dwellings across Jamaica that do not form part of the squatter community but which were, nonetheless, built without the necessary approval and which now obtain electricity through the JPS and water through the NWC system.

All the various public-and private-sector agencies should be working in tandem through a very logical and systematic process to facilitate building construction and development in Jamaica. Every person seeking to construct any building in Jamaica should be made to understand the clearly enumerated step-by-step process that he or she needs to follow.

The practice of allowing people to continue to break the laws of the land, such as by way of squatting or illegal or unapproved constructions, only to have them 'regularise' their breaches, must be strongly discouraged in Jamaica. This is a recipe for continued lawlessness and mayhem, which continue to seriously frustrate the development of that better Jamaica.

We must levy huge fines and demolish any structure constructed in clear breach of our laws. However, the bureaucracy and general bungling that continue to frustrate investments and/or development in Jamaica must be first dealt with by the authorities, as many people so break the laws because of the red tape and inefficiencies that pervade the system.

I am, etc.,

KEVIN K.O. SANGSTER

sangstek@msn.com