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Where is the money?
Kgn mayor wants contractor-general to probe diversion of funds for city projects
Alicia Dunkley
Thursday, August 24, 2006
McKENZIE... when the city goes on show we are going to hang our heads in shame
Kingston Mayor Councillor Desmond McKenzie says he will be asking the contractor-general to probe the diversion of nearly $300 million earmarked for two projects, which were to be completed in the capital in time for Cricket World Cup next year.
According to McKenzie, he had been told by the Kingston City Centre Improvement Company (KCCIC), which is to spearhead the redevelopment of the business district, that the "money earmarked for the projects had been diverted and used elsewhere".
The mayor also said he was still awaiting a response from the chief executive officer of the Urban Development Corporation, Marjorie Campbell, to a letter he had sent asking for an explanation of where the money allocated to upgrade St William Grant Park in downtown Kingston, and to construct a transportation centre had gone.
McKenzie, addressing the weekly meeting of the Kiwanis Club of Eastern St Andrew at the Altamont Court Hotel on Tuesday evening, said Kingston was far from ready for the 2007 cricket games and well behind in its preparations for the current hurricane season, which forecasters predicted would be very active.
"There are no drains in Kingston, yet we are bringing thousands of visitors to this country and we want to put Kingston on show," McKenzie said. "The city is nasty, the city is dirty... so when the city goes on show we are going to hang our heads in shame."
The Kingston and St Andrew Corporation, he said, did not have the resources to carry out the necessary work. Furthermore, he said that it would cost the local government ministry in excess of $100 billion to deal with infrastructure problems in the city, some of which surfaced after Hurricane Ivan almost two years ago.
The mayor also chastised the government for what he said was a lack of political will to deal with the issues affecting downtown Kingston. He said his attempts to seek an audience with Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller to discuss the problem have not been acknowledged.
"I am calling on the prime minister. I wrote her about three weeks ago pointing out the problems we face and asking her for an urgent meeting. The prime minister has not even paid me the courtesy of replying. I have written to the prime minister seven times since she has taken office without one response or acknowledgment of receipt of the correspondence," he said.
"We can no longer ignore what is happening to our capital. Kingston is the heart of Jamaica. If there is shooting in downtown Kingston it affects the entire country, and the government has failed to recognise what is required and what must be done. For too long we have done things based on political expediency," he added.
According to McKenzie the role of the local authorities in Jamaica has never been taken seriously and has been used as a 'political football'.
"Both political parties are guilty of desecrating local government. The Jamaica Labour Party can't extricate itself from what has happened to local government, and so too the People's National Party," McKenzie said
where is the money
Kgn mayor wants contractor-general to probe diversion of funds for city projects
Alicia Dunkley
Thursday, August 24, 2006
McKENZIE... when the city goes on show we are going to hang our heads in shame
Kingston Mayor Councillor Desmond McKenzie says he will be asking the contractor-general to probe the diversion of nearly $300 million earmarked for two projects, which were to be completed in the capital in time for Cricket World Cup next year.
According to McKenzie, he had been told by the Kingston City Centre Improvement Company (KCCIC), which is to spearhead the redevelopment of the business district, that the "money earmarked for the projects had been diverted and used elsewhere".
The mayor also said he was still awaiting a response from the chief executive officer of the Urban Development Corporation, Marjorie Campbell, to a letter he had sent asking for an explanation of where the money allocated to upgrade St William Grant Park in downtown Kingston, and to construct a transportation centre had gone.
McKenzie, addressing the weekly meeting of the Kiwanis Club of Eastern St Andrew at the Altamont Court Hotel on Tuesday evening, said Kingston was far from ready for the 2007 cricket games and well behind in its preparations for the current hurricane season, which forecasters predicted would be very active.
"There are no drains in Kingston, yet we are bringing thousands of visitors to this country and we want to put Kingston on show," McKenzie said. "The city is nasty, the city is dirty... so when the city goes on show we are going to hang our heads in shame."
The Kingston and St Andrew Corporation, he said, did not have the resources to carry out the necessary work. Furthermore, he said that it would cost the local government ministry in excess of $100 billion to deal with infrastructure problems in the city, some of which surfaced after Hurricane Ivan almost two years ago.
The mayor also chastised the government for what he said was a lack of political will to deal with the issues affecting downtown Kingston. He said his attempts to seek an audience with Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller to discuss the problem have not been acknowledged.
"I am calling on the prime minister. I wrote her about three weeks ago pointing out the problems we face and asking her for an urgent meeting. The prime minister has not even paid me the courtesy of replying. I have written to the prime minister seven times since she has taken office without one response or acknowledgment of receipt of the correspondence," he said.
"We can no longer ignore what is happening to our capital. Kingston is the heart of Jamaica. If there is shooting in downtown Kingston it affects the entire country, and the government has failed to recognise what is required and what must be done. For too long we have done things based on political expediency," he added.
According to McKenzie the role of the local authorities in Jamaica has never been taken seriously and has been used as a 'political football'.
"Both political parties are guilty of desecrating local government. The Jamaica Labour Party can't extricate itself from what has happened to local government, and so too the People's National Party," McKenzie said
where is the money
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