Church hit with another stop order for construction near Hopewell High
Published:Saturday | September 30, 2023 | 12:10 AMBryan Miller/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
THE HANOVER Municipal Corporation (HMC) has again issued the Doer of Faith Church of God in Hopewell, Hanover, with a stop order over a retaining wall that was being done without its approval.
Chief engineering officer of the HMC, Wayne Mitchell, told The Gleaner that a recent check by officers revealed that the wall was being built without any plans being submitted to the HMC, and as such a stop order has again been issued.
“A stop order has been placed on activities on that plot of land until the necessary plans have been duly submitted and are approved,” Mitchell noted.
He explained that once the drawings are submitted and approved, the HMC’s building officers will be doing periodic checks while construction is taking place to ensure the wall is built to specifications.
The church is building the wall on lands they own that border a section of the school to prevent further land slippage on the school compound.
It became necessary to build the estimated 50-foot high retaining wall, as an excavation by the church in preparation for construction led to a precipitous land slippage from the school to the church lands following heavy rains in the area in June.
The slippage has compromised a section of the school perimeter fencing and a block of classrooms, which was said to be in danger of collapsing.
Information from the school is that approximately 200 students and teachers use that block of classrooms during school hours.
AGREEMENT TO BUILD RETAINING WALL
Prior to the latest construction, the HMC and the Ministry of Education held meetings with representatives of the church, and an agreement was reached for the church to build a retaining wall to prevent further land slippage from the school compound.
It was pointed out that because of the height and width that the retaining wall has to be built, it was stipulated that it must be constructed in line with specifications approved by the HMC.
“I sincerely hope that the municipal corporation is doing what they are supposed to do, because the mandate from them to the church was that a set of drawings (for the wall) must be submitted to the corporation for approval,” expressed Dalton Hastings, chairman of the Hopewell High School board.
He also shared a hope that the wall would have been completed before reopening for the September term.
A parent expressed similar sentiments.
“I was hoping that it was done over the summer holidays, but the church delayed the whole process, for reasons best known to them, and now school has reopened and they are nowhere near completion of that wall,” one concerned parent told The Gleaner.
“I certainly hope that between the ministry and the municipal corporation, they are monitoring them,” he stated.
In the meantime, Hastings pointed out that school is back in full session, but the area where the land slippage took place, which was used as the agricultural plot, had to be abandoned in the interest of the students’ safety.