By Tyrone Reid, Staff ReporterCENTRAL GOVERNMENT is expected to state shortly, acting on the advice of Solicitor-General Michael Hylton, whether the National Works Agency (NWA) or the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC), has legal responsibilities for the roads within the Corporate Area.
A war of words erupted in March when Desmond McKenzie, Mayor of Kingston, threatened to drag the NWA before the courts if it did not stop removing and destroying legitimate outdoor advertising signs, which were sanctioned by the KSAC.
The NWA retaliated in mid-May when Collin Morrison, communications officer at the executive agency, insisted that the island's major thoroughfares fall under the purview of that body.
Yesterday the Solicitor-General told The Gleaner that the Government had requisitioned his department to look into the matter.
"We are advising central government on the issue ...there is this dispute as you say between the KSAC and the NWA and we have been asked to advise on who is right, if the KSAC is right or the NWA is right," said Mr. Hylton.
While the Solicitor-General was willing to say that the investigations were completed and the recommendations made, he was tight-lipped about what he had determined.
GIVEN ADVICE
"We have given the advice and it would not be appropriate to tell you what I have told them (Government) until they act on it," he said.
Mr. Hylton hinted, however, that in a case of this nature, the agency that carried out the damage should most likely be the agency from which restitution is sought.
"Presumably anybody whose signs were taken down is going to sue the person who took them down. If you say that you had proper authority to put up the sign and it was taken down, you should sue whoever took it down and that is the short answer," said Hylton.
If this happens, the NWA could be slapped with a civil suit as affected businesses have already threatened legal action to recover in excess of a million dollars in damages alone.
But some legal experts are of the view that the businesses should file a lawsuit against the KSAC for compensation because they had entered a contractual agreement with the local authority.
According to legal opinion, the option of hauling both the local government body and the executive agency before the courts is open to the proprietors as well. This was suggested, as opting to go this route would avoid one agency passing the blame to the party that is not in attendance.
Mr. Hylton said the latter suggestion is frequently used but he declined to comment on its appropriateness in this case. "That is a strategy that is often used and very often is the correct strategy, as to whether it is the right one in this case, I really don't want to say."
However, Mr. Hylton made it clear that both agencies cannot be held liable. One has to bear the brunt of the civil suit, he said.
