Golding blames government inaction for staircase collapse at Torrington Park
· The GleanerOpposition Leader Mark Golding is blaming government inaction for today's incident in which a staircase at a state-owned high-rise building in Torrington Park collapsed, injuring one person and leaving residents of 16 apartments unable to access their homes.
Golding, who is the member of parliament for the St Andrew South constituency in which the building is located, says the "dangerous incident could and should have been avoided" as he has been calling for repairs to the deteriorating structure since 2018.
"I have repeatedly reached out to key officials, including then Permanent Secretary Audrey Sewell, former Minister of Housing Pearnel Charles in 2021, and even Prime Minister Andrew Holness in both 2022 and 2023," he said in a media release on Sunday.
He added: "For nearly five years, there has been no effective action taken to ensure the necessary repairs were done, in spite of meetings, inspections and assurances that the repairs have been approved, only for the work to be deferred, with nothing done to address this avoidable risk."
He is calling for the government to urgently intervene to provide immediate support to the injured resident and stranded families and to implement a comprehensive plan to repair and rehabilitate the buildings in Torrington Park.