THE International Seabed Authority (ISA), the only United Nations Secretariat to be sited in a developing country, is less than pleased with the state of the headquarters, located on the same premises as the Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown Kingston.
In the secretary-general’s report circulated during yesterday’s Assembly, the authority referenced “the age and poor condition of the air-conditioning units, elevators and windows of the headquarters building”, “flooding and poor lighting” of its parking garage, and “persistent problems with the audio systems used for interpreting” at the Jamaica Conference Centre.The ISA is meeting in Kingston for its 19th annual session.The issues were itemised under section V of the report, titled Relations with the host Government. There, too, the ISA spoke of the failure of the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) to produce renovation projects, which the local agency said was the reason for increasing annual parking fees charged to the Authority.“In 2012, the proprietors of the parking garage attached to the headquarters building, the Urban Development Corporation, unexpectedly increased the annual fee charged to the Authority by 103 per cent, ostensibly because of planned renovation projects.“To date, no renovation has been undertaken, and poor lighting and the flooding of the garage during heavy rains continue to be a major safety and security concern for the Authority and its staff,” the ISA said.The UDC acknowledged receipt of the Jamaica Observer’s e-mail seeking comments and further information on the matter yesterday, but no answers were forthcoming up to late evening.On the subject of elevators and air conditioning system, the Authority conceded that between August 2011 and March 2012, the Government of Jamaica, in line with its agreed responsibilities, undertook some repairs.“[That] went some way in ameliorating some of the most serious defects,” the report said.“However, the long-standing problems relating to the inconsistent water supply and the poor performance of the air-conditioning units of the headquarters building remained unresolved as at May 2013.”Aside from the exterior, the ISA says it is disappointed with the layout and decor of the interior, for which it has responsibility.“The secretariat offices were last refurbished in 1999 and are now in a very poor state of decoration and repair,” it said, adding that things were in this state because of “budgetary constraints” for the “current biennium”.The Authority also has issues with the equipment at the conference centre, which it rents for the staging of its annual meetings.“Over the past several years, the meetings of the Authority have been adversely affected by persistent problems with the audio systems used for interpretation. The problems were especially disruptive during the 18th session and the meeting of the Legal and Technical Commission in February 2013,” the secretary- general’s report said.Asked how it responded to the claims, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which represents Jamaica at the ISA, declined to comment. It also declined answering how much was spent on the upgrades between 2011 and 2012, whether additional upgrading works were planned and the timeline for such, and the amount of dues the country pays to the Authority.The ISA seems to blame the situation on what it describes as a lack of a formal mechanism for the discussion of issues concerning the relationship between the host country and the Authority. As an example, it pointed to the UN Committee on Relations with the Host Country, which was established by a resolution of the General Assembly.The ISA has 164 member States, plus the European Union, and has an administrative budget of US$14 million for the 2013/2014 financial period.The premises of the Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown Kingston on which the International Seabed Authority is located. (OBSERVER FILE PHOTO)View the original article here
Seabed authority laments poor infrastructure
