StJMC mulls action against companies for hanging wires

WESTERN BUREAU:

The St James Municipal Corporation is calling on telecommunications companies with low-hanging wires, which were displaced by Hurricane Melissa a year ago, to address them immediately or risk legal action in the interest of the public safety.

Montego Bay Mayor Richard Vernon issued the warning on Thursday at the St James Municipal Corporation’s (StJMC) City Hall 2026 Municipal Budget Presentation at the Montego Bay Cultural Centre, where he outlined plans for the corporation’s $2.8-billion budget expenditure for the 2027-2028 financial year.

The presentation marked the first time that the StJMC was outlining its planned expenditure in a public setting.

“One year after Hurricane Melissa, we are still plagued by a severe public nuisance, dangling loose and low-hanging wires left behind by telecommunications companies,” said Vernon, chairs the StJMC. “Our chief executive officer has written to those cable companies repeatedly, demanding swift actions to clear this hazardous clutter from our public spaces. Regrettably, our words have been met with sluggish action.”

He said the StJMC would not tolerate the risk any longer.

“If these lines are not safely cleared or bundled immediately, we will be taking aggressive further steps, including legal action, because we must do this to protect the lives and livelihoods of our residents,” added Vernon.

St James was among several parishes hard hit by Hurricane Melissa, which damaged numerous utility poles and power lines along its destructive path.

In a Sunday Gleaner report on March 29, five months after the Category 5 hurricane impacted Jamaica, Dramaine Jones, the western regional operations manager for the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA), said that his entity’s waste management work was being impeded by loose wires.

On the matter of waste management, Vernon said that $476 million of the StJMC’s projected budget will go toward garbage-collection support.

“Directly linked to the order of our parish is the state of our physical surroundings. Clean communities strengthen public health, civic pride, tourism competitiveness, and investor confidence. They communicate who we are as a people and how seriously we take our stewardship responsibilities,” said Vernon.

“Garbage collection operations across St James belong strictly to the NSWMA. The municipal corporation cannot directly control or manage the day-to-day collection routes, and we will not make false promises on their behalf,” he continued. “However, we provide this massive funding block because local sanitation matters deeply, and we maintain a rigorous strategic dialogue to hold our partners to account, because our standards for St James remain uncompromising.”

Additionally, $337 million will go toward streetlights in St James; $172 million to road repairs; $335 million to regulate public order; $190 million towards disaster management; and $251 million for social development programmes.

christopher.thomas@gleanerjm.com