KINGSTON, Jamaica— People’s National Party (PNP) President Mark Golding says Sunday afternoon’s staircase collapse at Torrington Park Housing Scheme in St Andrew, during which an elderly woman was injured, could have been avoided if his alleged years of warnings were heeded.
In a news release following the incident, Golding stated that he has been calling attention to the deteriorating state of the building since 2018.
“I have repeatedly reached out to key officials, including then Permanent Secretary Audrey Sewell, former Minister of Housing Pearnel Charles in 2021 and even Prime Minister Andrew Holness in both 2022 and 2023,” the Opposition leader said.
“For nearly five years there has been no effective action taken to ensure the necessary repairs were done, in spite of meetings, inspections and assurances that the repairs have been approved, only for the work to be deferred, with nothing done to address this avoidable risk,” he added.
Golding said that a year ago, a community meeting was scheduled to be held with representatives from the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation to inform residents that the issues with the building were going to be addressed, however this was not done. He added that he was informed last Wednesday that the emergency procurement to make repairs to the building was blocked by the Public Procurement Commission.
“It’s a procurement issue within the government system that has prevented this from being addressed over the last year, but my representations to the government on this I think go back four or so years, and we brought engineers here to look at it, and it’s clear that something needs to be done, because this is obviously rotten, and there’s some other issues as well with the building, and now this thing has collapsed,” Golding said.
He opined that for emergency situations, where lives are at risk the Public Procurement Commission should not be able to block decisions.
“I think that where there’s a situation where people’s lives are endangered by a structure, a government structure, I don’t think the procurement system should be able to take a decision to block the procurement based on some assessment from reading a document, they should come and have a look, I don’t believe they came to see it,” Golding said.
He added: “There needs to be a greater connection between the bureaucrats who are making these decisions, and what’s actually happening on the ground. If they’re told this is a situation of urgency, and an emergency situation, they shouldn’t just be able to say, well they’re not satisfied with it, and then that’s the end of the matter.”
Golding in the release spoke to the residents of Torrington Park stating that he shares in their frustration, pain and anger. He said the government owes the Torrington Park residents “more than apologies; it owes them action.”
