MoBay mayor wants Bogue lands situation settled

WESTERN BUREAU:

The current occupiers of the Bogue Industrial Estate property, in the western city, are being urged to be prepared to purchase their lots once the procurement process ends in June, which would bring to an end an ownership saga that has spanned several decades.

Montego Bay Mayor Richard Vernon, who was speaking on the matter at last Thursday's monthly meeting of the St James Municipal Corporation (StJMC), said that pre-development work on the Bogue lands will begin in June this year.

"We know that the Bogue Industrial Estate has long been a topic of discussion, and I just want to say that we started the process as promised, and we are almost at the end of the procurement process,” said Vernon.

“We are anticipating for the work to commence in June 2026 so that we can move into the next phase of the project, which is the development phase.

"Infrastructure is progress, but ownership is permanence, and so I use this opportunity to remind the occupiers that they must organise themselves now to purchase the lots that they occupy."

The sale of the Bogue property, which houses 26 commercial lots adjacent to the Fairview commercial complex in southeastern Montego Bay, has been a perpetual issue dating as far back as 2003, with former mayors Noel Donaldson, Charles Sinclair, Glendon Harris, Homer Davis, and Leeroy Williams all failing to resolve the matter.

The property, which was valued at $700 million in 2015, has also been at the centre of political infighting, including a period in 2003 when the Ministry of Local Government blocked an attempt by the StJMC, which was then led by Noel Donaldson, to subdivide and sell the property.

In 2023, the land's occupiers, who were said to be People's National Party supporters, argued that they were being unfairly treated by the then administration despite having valid lease and sale agreements dating back to May 22, 2023. The lease/sale arrangement was set up during the tenure of Hugh Solomon, Montego Bay' mayor at that time.

The StJMC has been seeking to collect $1 billion from the sale of the Bogue property to finance other projects in Montego Bay, including the building of a new facility at the site of the downtown district's Old Shoe Market, which was razed by a devastating fire in October 2023.

Vernon told Thursday's meeting that the lands will be sold in accordance with the guidelines set out by the Integrity Commission, formerly the Office of the Contractor General (OCG).

"The council (StJMC) is following through on its commitment to modernise the infrastructure there at the property, ut the occupiers must ensure that they are ready and positioned to deal with the purchase of the property, which - based on the ruling of the OCG, now the Integrity Commission - must be sold at current market value when we are doing this undertaking," said Vernon.