BLACK RIVER, St Elizabeth — Mayor of Black River and chairman of the St Elizabeth Municipal Corporation Derrick Sangster has called senior officials at the municipality to a meeting pertaining to apparent inconsistencies in communication over an application for a Flow cell tower in Portsea.
Sangster's decision comes a day after placard-bearing protestors, wearing what appeared to be hazmat suits, blocked a roadway in Portsea, north of Junction in southeastern St Elizabeth, over the erection of the cell tower there.
Residents say they are concerned about the proximity of the tower to their homes and possible associated health risks. The tower is almost complete with Councillor Layton Smith (Myersville Division, People's National Party) suggesting that only electrical work remains to be done.
Head of the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) Peter Knight told the Jamaica Observer on Thursday that the agency had verbally told the local municipality that an application for an environmental permit by telecommunications company Flow for the cell tower was refused following a meeting on December 20, 2022.
At the same time, Smith claimed that the St Elizabeth Municipal Corporation had granted a building permit to Flow, but due to poor communication within the municipality two senior officials acted contrary to each other as a stop order was issued unknowingly to the other.
Flow in a statement late Thursday said it is in dialogue with the municipality to rectify the matter.
"Construction of the cell tower commenced at Melksham in Portsea, after permission was granted by the St Elizabeth Municipal Corporation on November 02, 2022. Subsequently, we recently received a stop order from the Municipal Corporation, while the construction of the tower was being completed. We are in discussions with the CEO of the Municipal Corporation to address the concerns. No further work will be done at the site while we work towards a resolution. Our commitment to delivering excellent mobile service to Melksham and its environs remains unchanged, as we seek to deliver on the government's mandate to improve the reach of mobile broadband across the island," the statement read in part.
Sangster in responding to the situation said he has called the municipality's chief executive officer, director of planning and superintendent of roads and works to give an account as to what transpired.
"We are still trying to put the pieces together about it. We are going to meet on Monday with my team to try and sort out some issues as to what might have gone wrong, so at the moment I really can't give too much in detail," he said.
When asked if there was a breakdown of communication between senior officials, Sangster said he will be seeking clarification.
"There might have been some miscommunication I am not sure, but at the moment I can't say anything definitive. We will meet and get some clarity as to what might have transpired… As to what might have gone wrong, if anything did go wrong until we clear the air with that meeting and see where we are," said Sangster.
Knight told the Sunday Observer on Thursday that the documentation explaining NEPA's decision regarding the refusal of the environmental permit will be ready for Monday.
However, Sangster argued that he expected the document to have been in the possession of the municipality.
"That document should have been here already on the file from when the thing [application] was being processed, so all this I will find out [about]," he said.
SANGSTER... we are going to meet on Monday with my team to try and sort out some issues as to what might have gone wrong (Photo: Gregory Bennett)
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January 08, 2023 at 12:15PM
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Mayor intervenes in St Elizabeth Flow cell tower issue - Jamaica Observer
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