The National Democratic Movement is registering its opposition to the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) constructing their offices on a lot of land on Montrose Road, near to Vale Royal (the official residence of the Prime Minister of Jamaica) in the Seymour Lands area of South Eastern St. Andrew, otherwise referred to as “The Golden Triangle”.

The NDM is alarmed that this is being done in this prime residential area which is not zoned for commercial buildings under which offices fall.

The NDM noted that the Inter-American Development Bank has been a faithful ally and partner to Jamaica for over forty years and that Jamaica has benefited significantly from the agency’s expertise in wide array of subjects, ranging from education to agriculture.

However, the Movement is disappointed that the multilateral agency is planning to construct an office in the residential neighbourhood and sees it as inappropriate and unfortunate.

The NDM said that, notwithstanding the fact that the IADB may be an avid supporter of Jamaica, the zoning laws should be equally applied to all organizations and blasted the relevant agencies including, the National Environmental Planning Agency (NEPA) and the KSAC, for approving such a project.

“It does not matter that this multilateral organization is a major provider of grant funding to Jamaica. Since we are a sovereign nation, we cannot undermine our laws to appease external powers, as this will send a wrong signal, set a bad precedent and may even undermine our own rule of law. There cannot be one law for foreign agencies and a stricter law against local citizens”, said NDM President Peter Townsend.

Contact:
Peter A Townsend
President
National Democratic Movement
318 4802