The Tribune

• Contractor chief warns on 'incredibly dangerous precedent'

• Says shanty town ruling exposes society's 'two sets of laws'

• Legitimate contractors ask: 'Why should we follow the Act?'

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamian Contractors Association's (BCA) president yesterday said builders are asking "why should we follow the law" following the country's "rank failure to manage the built environment".

Leonard Sands told Tribune Business that the recent shanty town ruling by Chief Justice Sir Ian Winder had further exposed the double standards and "two sets of laws" that exist in Bahamian society due to the multi-decade neglect by successive administrations over enforcement of the Building Regulations.

While Sir Ian found that only two of 260 unauthorised structures could be demolished, as other owners had not been properly notified of the Supreme Court injunction preventing further construction, the BCA president said his ruling did not address the failure by inhabitants to seek permission to build in the first place.

Branding the failure to properly enforce the Building Regulations Act as "incredibly dangerous", due to the "precedent that has been set," Mr Sands told this newspaper that developers and contractors are openly questioning whether they should endure the cost and time associated with doing projects legitimately by obtaining the necessary permits and paying due inspection fees.

"You're telling a developer with $100m that they can't go ahead and start development without the necessary permits, yet you're allowing almost 300 residents to build and expand without making a single application to any government agency for permits," he blasted. "What if an ill-minded developer takes that as precedent and does the same thing?

"We have a number of contractors waiting to be engaged on millions of dollars of work, but they're waiting on building permit applications to be approved. Is it fair for them to be waiting? You're also telling a developer, a builder or contractor through the building permit process that they have to pay for all the inspections. If those residents have not paid for inspections, why are we paying money for the right thing to happen and go through all the bureaucracy?

"What if contractors, developers and project sponsors take the position they are no longer going to apply for building permits, and will just build on their lot. What if developers, contractors and builders do not pay the necessary inspection fees? Why should they disadvantage themselves if 300 others did not do the same thing? How is it that Bahamian contractors must wait until their clients have obtained permits to build but shanty town residents apparently do not?"

Ryan Pinder KC, the attorney general, said on Tuesday in the aftermath of Sir Ian's ruling that the Government now plans to employ the Building Regulations Act to demolish and remove structures that have been built in violation of this law. The Chief Justice, in his ruling, left the door open to such action by saying he was "comforted" that the Government has "other lawful means" to take the necessary action under the minister of works and utilities' remit.

The Building Regulations Act empowers the responsible minister to mandate that owners demolish illegal structures and, if they fail to do so within 28 days, the Government can then act. This appears to provide the Davis administration with legal means to proceed with demolitions, as Mr Pinder indicated, but Mr Sands argued that the failure of past administrations to enforce the Act is "incredibly dangerous because the precedent has been set".

"That's incredibly dangerous that we don't enforce the law. It has not been enforced for decades, or it has been enforced selectively," Mr Sands told Tribune Business. "If you build on your property without a permit they will enforce the law on you, but they don't seek to enforce it on those who blatantly disregard it.

"This is rank and absolute failure to manage the built environment. This falls squarely on the feet of the Ministry of Works and Building Control. This is total dereliction of duty by the Government of The Bahamas and has to be addressed. I represent contractors who follow the law, and they are asking me why they should follow the law. It's that serious. It's a national matter. I don't know why they should. It's a free for all and it's not fair.

"It seems like there are two laws in our society. One for those that follow the law, and none for those that do not. The Building Regulations Act is clear on the process which must be followed in order to build a structure."

While Sir Ian ruled that shanty town residents had not sufficiently been informed of the injunction's terms prohibiting further construction and expansion of illegal structures, Mr Sands argued that his judgment did not address the failure to obtain permits under the Building Regulations Act in the first place.

"We're not even talking about, and no one's even addressing it, how many of these structures have BPL power supply," the BCA chief added. "In order to have BPL power supply you need to produce an occupancy certificate. It's impossible to obtain an occupancy certificate if you don't have approval to build in the first place."

Sir Ian, in his ruling, said it was "unequivocal" that there had been "massive expansion of these unregulated communities" by some residents. Craig Delancy, the building control officer, alleged that one community on the south side of SC Bootle Highway in Abaco had more than tripled in size in a little over two months - going from 39 structures on October 27, 2022, to 131 as at January 5, 2023. This was an increase of 91, with 86 structures visible from the air.

The Farm, near Treasure Cay, had tripled from 40 structures in March 2021 to 120 as at January 21, 2023, while shanty communities in New Providence had also grown. Mr Delancy also found that illegal structures expanded by 41 on the north side of SC Bootle Highway, Marsh Harbour; by 13 in All Saints Way, New Providence; and by 15 and 27 in the New Providence communities of Montgomery Road and Butlers Way.