KINGSTON Mayor Desmond McKenzie says political expediency has led to environmental devastation across Jamaica, especially in the Corporate Area where unapproved building construction is rampant.

"We create pockets of votes to keep us in power but the outcome has been pockets of destruction," said McKenzie, who is a senator for the governing Jamaica Labour Party and has for years been serving as councillor for the Tivoli Gardens Division in West Kingston.

He said that building construction in river beds, hillsides and gully banks in the Corporate Area, many times abetted by politicians, was having serious effect on the environment and life in Kingston, Jamaica's capital city.

McKenzie, who was addressing yesterday's annual general meeting of the Realtors Association of Jamaica at the Terra Nova All Suite Hotel in Kingston, said 35,000 houses are built on the banks of rivers, gullies and even in river beds in the Corporate Area.

"If the Labour Party do it, it is wrong, and if the PNP do it, it is wrong," McKenzie said. "We have to be honest about what is taking place to be able to do something about it."

He said communities such as Harbour View and Gordon Town in St Andrew have suffered from extensive land slippage caused by hillside construction, seriously affecting drainage and roads.

"It will cost $50 million to make roads in Harbour View accessible," said McKenzie, adding that seven major housing developments in Gordon Town over the past two years were "wreaking havoc" on the rural St Andrew community.

According to the mayor, land slippage in the Corporate Area has been on the increase since 2003 when 132 incidents were reported in sections of west and east Rural St Andrew.

"It is now happening in some areas that have never had it before," said McKenzie. "The figure is now at 575, with the eastern section of the city accounting for 350 such events, which has forced the KSAC to suspend building approvals in the affected areas," McKenzie said.

Said the mayor: "We are not considering any building applications in Jack's Hill, Hope Pastures, Lawrence Tavern and some other sections of the Corporate Area. We are setting up a committee to explore why these areas continue to be affected by land slippage."

But in addition to politicians, the mayor said building professionals and businessmen should also share some of the blame for the damage being done to the city.

"There are white collar criminals who are using the law to get around things," he said.