SCHOOL ON EDGE

WESTERN BUREAU:

Land clearance for the building of a church in Orchard Gardens in Hopewell, Hanover, has put more than 1,100 students and teachers at Hopewell High School literally on edge as a dangerous precipice has been created between the school and the church property.

The church, which goes by the name ‘Doer of Faith Church of God’, acquired a plot of land bordering the school, and in clearing the property for building purposes, has created a steep drop of more than 50 feet along the border with the school.

The precipice falls just where the school implements its farming projects in which several students participate.

The land is also looking unstable at present.

Hopewell High School Chairman Dalton Hastings has expressed deep concern about the excavation work that has taken place, bringing the matter to the attention of the Hanover Municipal Corporation (HMC).

When HMC officers visited the site on Friday, they expressed shock and amazement at what had taken place on the property. They issued an immediate verbal stop order to the pastor of the church, the Reverend Courtney Kerr, who was on location at the time of the visit.

Kerr was told that the HMC’s building and enforcement officers will undertake a second visit next Monday, at which time a written stop order will be served.

“What is necessary to support that precipitous fall is not an ordinary retaining wall, and nothing else should be done on this property until a drawing for such a wall is presented for examination and approval at the HMC,” the officer told Kerr.

DAYS TO SUBMIT WALL PLAN

Kerr was instructed to submit the necessary drawing for the retaining wall to the HMC for approval within 10 days of being served with the written stop order notice.

The Gleaner has learnt that while the church had submitted an architectural drawing of the structure to be built on the property and had received approval, the plans neither showed the topography of the land nor made mention of the planned excavation works.

Kerr was directed to put in place some form of preventative border at the top of the precipice, which falls in the area of the school garden, to prevent the possibility of students falling over the edge.

The reverend apologised to the visiting building officers and the chairman of the school board, claiming that he did not know that the land was so steep.

“We did not know. Honestly, we did not know of it, and we will do everything necessary to prevent any problems,” Kerr stated.

“Let us just trust in God that nothing happens. We will do our best to remedy the situation,” he stressed.

The apology of the pastor was no comfort for the school’s chairman, however, as Hastings told The Gleaner that his concerns are twofold.

“As it is now, [the] safety of the children is [the] number one [priority], and secondly, the structure of the school has been compromised because the precipice has been cut right on the boundary of the school fencing, and as you realise, the fencing is giving way,” he stated.

Kerr said he is eagerly awaiting the remedial action.

bryan.miller@gleanerjm.com