NDP ignored the law by erecting billboard without Planning permission

By Admin. Updated 2:51 p.m., Tuesday, May 21, 2024, Atlantic Standard Time (GMT-4).

The opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) did not lodge an application to the Physical Planning Department seeking permission to erect a billboard at Gibson Corner on the South Leeward Highway.

One News SVG contacted the department today (May 21) and the department confirmed that no application was lodged for the erection of the billboard.

Persons seeking to erect things like billboards in public spaces must seek permission to do so under the Town and Country Planning Act of 1992, an Act that came into being by the James Mitchell-led New Democratic Party (NDP) Administration.

Section 16, Subsection One of the Act says “…notwithstanding any provisions in any other law, no person shall carry out, or cause to be carried out, any development except under and in accordance with the conditions of a grant of permission for development given in writing ty the Board”.

The Act says “development” includes all building, demolition, rebuilding, and mining works, any subdivision of land, the display of any advertisement, and any change of use”.

Under the 1992 Act, it says in Section 2 that “advertisement” means any sign placard, board, notice, hoarding, word, letter, model or device, displayed on or outside any building or on land or water and situated in or within sight of any public place and used or adapted or intended for use for the purpose of advertising to the public.

The erection of the billboard at Gibson Corner on the edge of a section of the South Leeward Highway, the only throughway to access the Leeward side of the island where Sandals Resort is located, has created mixed feelings among some Vincentians.

Some have argued that the timing of the billboard which highlights the country’s homicide count with the caption: “There were 52 Homicides in SVG in 2023. Crime is out of control; the SVG has a plan to make SVG safe again,” was wrong since hundreds of travel marketers and scores of cricketers are in the country.

Others, however, have argued that facts are facts and the timing could be better, “so that people can better invest in their safety”.

Parliamentary Representative for East Kingstown – Mr. Fitzgerald Bramble said on radio on Sunday that the placement of the billboard was part of the NDP’s messaging strategy and was not targeted at tourists.

“The billboard that’s been erected is just anothermechanism in our messaging strategy. What that billboard projects is nothing new, it’s nothing that we haven’t spoken about before,” Mr. Bramble said via a telephone call to WEFM Radio.

“All that the billboard is saying is that we have a issue of crime. Here is an example of the incidence and the extremity of the crime problem in our country and we have provided information where you can find the New Democratic Party’s plan for addressing the issue of crime. This has nothing to do-the billboard has nothing to do with targeting tourists, and making our country look bad and all that sort of stuff,” Mr. Bramble added.

Opposition Leader and President of the New Democratic Party (NDP) Dr. Godwin Friday said on HOT FM today (May 21) the calculation has nothing to do with Sandals. It has nothing to do with tourism.

The crime situation

There were 55 homicides recorded in 2023, a record number that broke the 2022 record of 42.

Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves has blamed the easy access to guns in the U.S. and young people who have a fascination with guns as part of the reason for the increased number of gun-related deaths here.

But, former police commissioner- Mr. Colin John said publicly in 2023 that based on intel, most of the homicides being committed in the country are linked to a drug transaction that went wrong sometime in 2014 where friends became foes.

Many Vincentians are of the view that the homicides being recorded are drug-related and the result of criminal elements in the country “taking out each other” in reprisal fashion, and that the rest of the country is unscathed. 

Still, many have expressed grave concerns and the need for more action to reduce the incidences of gun violence.

Recently, a national Firearm Amnesty Programme was launched by the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force, but as of May 16, only 13 firearms and 291 rounds of ammunition were handed in. 

The amnesty ends in May 31 and will be followed by stiffer penalties for illegal firearm possession. 

The government has also announced the introduction of high-tech scanners at the ports of entry to detect weapons after several high-powered rifles and ammunition were detected coming through the ports.