Outcomes - Selected Case Summaries
Categories
Renaming of road
Investigation | 26 September 2018
Lands & Survey Department (L&S) , Ministry of Education, Youth, Sports, Agriculture and Lands (EYSAL)
A resident discovered the road adjacent to his property was being renamed. He emailed a complaint to EYSAL seeking an explanation as to why his neighbours were eligible to apply for a renaming of the street when they did not own any property adjacent to the street. He also asked why he had not received notification of the renaming as required by The Roads (Naming and Numbering) Law, 1997. He also sought an explanation for the approval of the use of a name of a living person which he pointed out was in contravention of the Street Addressing Rules published on the entity’s website and the required forms. When he did not receive a response, he filed a complaint with our office.
We investigated the matter to determine if he had been treated fairly and to ascertain if the policies and relevant legislation were followed during the approval process.
The Director of Lands & Survey admitted that they had failed to follow the requirements set out in the applicable laws. The Ombudsman concluded the complainant was treated unfairly. He had a legitimate expectation that his correspondence would be responded to in a timely manner and that a reasonable rationale would be provided for the decision taken to approve the application. She also found that EYSAL failed to comply with the process outlined in the law. L&S acknowledged that the rules published on their website were out of date and required updating.
The applicant was informed that the approval of the name change was withdrawn to allow the process to be followed as laid out in the law. In addition, L&S agreed to remove the outdated information from their website. The Ombudsman’s recommendations were accepted and are in the process of being implemented.