Hopewell church defies HMC’s orders

WESTERN BUREAU:

Persons behind the construction of a church in proximity to the Hopewell High School in Hanover have seemingly defied an order from the Hanover Municipal Corporation (HMC) to construct a border wall to protect students from the clear danger posed by a 50-foot excavation which they have created.

“They (the church) have not done anything that they were mandated to do by the municipal corporation, and as it is, the students are now even more in jeopardy than before,” said Dalton Hastings, chairman of Hopewell High School’s board of governors. He is worried that the situation could get worse if it is not remedied before the start of the rainy season.

The situation was reportedly created in October 2022, when the Doer of Faith Church of God acquired lands in proximity to the school and began clearing it for the construction of a church. In clearing the land, they dug deep into a section that borders the school’s garden, creating a steep drop of over 50 feet, exposing whoever goes to that section of the school’s compound to danger.

The HMC visited the site last October and promptly issued a stop order on the church to cease construction. The church was further ordered to present a drawing for approval by the HMC for a retaining wall against the precipice, and instructed to construct some form of border at the top of the cliff they had created.

However, five months later, the HMC’s instruction to the church have still not been not been followed.

An irate Hastings says he fears for the safety of the students, teachers, and other employees at the school, and wants the situation to be addressed urgently.

“I have instructed the school to do another letter to the municipal corporation as a follow-up to the previous letter we had written about the issue,” said Hastings. When contacted, Tevin Spence of the compliance and enforcement unit at the HMC told The Gleaner that a follow-up visit will be made in short order, with a view to having the situation resolved.

“We plan to meet with the church administrator to insist that they follow the instructions issued to them, otherwise we will have to take the matter further,” said Spence.

An attempt to contact Pastor Courtney Kerr, head of the Doer of Faith Church of God, was unsuccessful. However, a person connected to the church said the church did not wish to discuss the matter in a public setting.