PORT ANTONIO, Portland — The Jamaica Agriculture Society (JAS) and the Jamaica National Heritage Trust (JNHT) have asked the Portland Municipal Corporation (PMC) to rethink plans to demolish the JAS building in Port Antonio because it has historical and architectural significance.

On October 31, 2023, concerned about breaches observed, the local health department ordered that the structure at 11 Harbour Street should be closed. A notice placed on the building cited contravention of the Public Health Act and Public Health (Nuisance) Regulation 1995.

That same year the building was damaged during the October 30 earthquake and on November 10 the municipal corporation deemed it a “dangerous structure/site and a public nuisance” in a posted notice which indicated that the structure would be demolished.

However, during Thursday’s monthly meeting of the PMC, acting CEO Megan Bramwell read letters from the JNHT and JAS in which both bodies laid out their objections to that proposal.

The heritage trust said it intends to take steps to ensure that the building is protected.

“Considering the historical and architectural significance of the building, the JNHT has commenced the process to have the site declared as a national monument. We are therefore requesting that an extension be granted to the JAS to carry out the necessary rehabilitation to ensure that the structure is preserved,” the JNHT said in its correspondence to the municipal corporation.

It added that the JAS has indicated that it is “actively seeking funding to conduct rehabilitation to the structure”.

The JNHT also laid out why the building ought to be preserved.

“It is one of the few remaining structures in the town that is associated with the banana trade which brought Port Antonio to prominence. In addition, its structure possesses features of the Jamaican vernacular architecture which was a noted style in the 19th century and early 20th century,” the CEO read from the letter.

In its correspondence to the PMC, the law firm of Robertson and Company, which represents the JAS, invited the municipal corporation to work with its client “to preserve the historical value of what can only be of benefit to the town of Port Antonio and the parish of Portland”.

“We are in possession of correspondence from the Jamaica National Heritage Trust confirming the historical and architectural value of the structure at 11 Harbour Street which will no doubt be vital in the future management to the tourism industry in Portland,” said the law firm. “We are of the view that you will appreciate that what is in the interest of the town of Port Antonio would also be in your interest. We await your response,” it added.

The PMC’s chief engineering officer in its Road and Works Department, Raymond Grant said legal advice would have to be sought as there are clear rules about the local authority’s responsibility to act when a structure is deemed unsafe.

“There are provisions under the Building Act [about] how we treat with a dangerous structure in terms of the service of notice advising that the structure is so dangerous and the content standing there is a danger to the public, its neighbour and those who have an interest within the confines of the property itself,” he explained.

“We have proceeded likewise. Having done that it seems to be some pushback from the agriculture society as relates to a particular interest in instituting repairs and heritage trust having some interest in the property. We will have to seek counsel from our attorney,” he added.

In response to mayor of Port Antonio, Councillor Paul Thompson’s question about whether “the structure is defective” Grant replied, “It is my considered opinion from my visual assessment [that] it is”.

For his part, environmental health officer for Portland Lorenzo Hume reminded the meeting that “the building, as it is, is unsafe for habitation”.

But Bramwell suggested a way forward.

“Since they want to preserve the building, the entire space should be boarded off, [so] that no vendor or any occupier [can] be in there or under the building; and that we give them a definite time in which to do so. We write back to them [and say] what is to be done,” she outlined.

The councillors agreed; however, it was pointed out that because of how the building is structured, individuals will have to walk in the road, alongside traffic, when passing the boarded up structure.