SPANISH TOWN, St. Catherine:
Minister of Water and Housing, Dr. Carl Blythe has taken sides with the Seventh Day Adventist Church on the issue of a piece of land in Greater Portmore nearby the 100-man Police Station that the church is trying to acquire to build on.
The Minister made these statements at a recent task force meeting in Greater Portmore. Accor-ding to a source who was present at that meeting, Minister Blythe was against the Parish Council giving the church notice to vacate the land. The church last year leased the property from the Council to conduct a crusade. Minister Blythe insisted that the church should be allowed to remain on the property until they have acquired land to build on or until the Parish Council was ready for the land.
Earlier this year the church was harshly criticised by leaders of the community of being greedy because of their attempts to purchase the land. The leaders pointed out that the Adventists had enough churches in that community already and that there were other denominations in the community that wanted lands to purchase but had to wait.
They also said that lands that were being put up for sale in the community should be advertised so that whoever wanted to purchase it could have a fair chance. Meanwhile the Adventist Church had been granted an extended lease agreement by the Parish Council.
