Mayor Denies Targeting Whitehouse Residents

Montego Bay Mayor Richard Vernon said Whitehouse residents are not being singled out over unapproved building work in the St James community. (jamaicaobserver.com) Vernon made the statement at a community meeting in Whitehouse, a fishing district in St James, where residents raised concerns about security, garbage collection, public health and land regularisation. The meeting was held on April 16, 2026, with municipal officials, police, health representatives and GeoLand Title Limited in attendance. (govern1.com) (jamaicaobserver.com) He said the St James Municipal Corporation had served cease-and-desist notices over the past year in “hundreds of communities” across the parish, not only in Whitehouse. He named Bogue Village, Rosevale, Rhyne Park, Westgate Hills and Cornwall Courts as other areas where residents were warned over extensions or other construction without approvals. (jamaicaobserver.com) The dispute centers on land regularisation, the process of bringing occupied lots and buildings into the legal planning system so owners can secure titles and approvals. Vernon said the municipality’s role as local planning authority is to make sure construction matches the parish development order and other rules for subdivisions and building works. (jamaicaobserver.com) At the Whitehouse meeting, Vernon said the current push would cost residents only the expenses tied to getting title documents, and he framed the effort as a way to give households security of tenure. A municipal post about the meeting said some residents have lived in the community for up to 60 years without titles in hand. (jamaicaobserver.com) (govern1.com) The timing matters because Vernon has been widening enforcement beyond housing issues in St James this month. On April 12, he said the corporation would intensify enforcement across Montego Bay, citing more than J$30 million in unpaid billboard fees and nuisance concerns tied to abandoned vehicles at Catherine Hall Sports Complex. (jis.gov.jm) Vernon has also made regulation and urban order part of his broader agenda since taking office. After he was sworn in on March 7, 2024, he said the corporation would pursue a local sustainable development plan, reduce illegal vending and organize economic activity in Montego Bay rather than leave it unmanaged. (jis.gov.jm) Residents who fear selective treatment are pushing back against a corporation that is now enforcing planning rules more visibly, while Vernon is arguing the Whitehouse action is parish-wide and non-political. His closing message at the meeting was that regularisation should help Whitehouse fit into Montego Bay’s wider development, not push residents out. (jamaicaobserver.com)