Pastor fears for safety of children

THE threat of a sinkhole developing on the property of the Sycamore Community Church and Sycamore Christian Academy in Umbilo where water has been trickling into the property from an unknown source for more than a month, has the pastor concerned for the safety of children and her congregation.

Pastor Chantal McCarthy said the church, which also has a school on the property, was the lowest lying property on Sycamore Road which meant that water flowed straight into it. “We have growing concerns firstly for the safety of our children because they could get hurt while playing around the field and also that a sinkhole could be developing, especially since the water has been constant and may affect or undermine our church foundation or the office block,” said McCarthy.

Initially the water went unnoticed because of wet weather. “We came in on a Sunday a month ago and noticed something was amiss because we had several days of hot weather yet the water hadn’t dried up but was stagnant,” explained Mc Carthy.

The church checked for a leak on the property and also contacted their neighbour whose wall had loosened from the constant from the constant flow of water. Both properties were cleared of any leaks. “We initially thought it was the neighbour’s pool leaking, but they checked their pool and found no leaks. If we can’t find it, how do you stop it?” McCarthy said.

Two weeks ago the eThekwini municipality’s water department was called in to get samples and test whether the water was chlorinated, storm water or sewage water.

Last week the church members discovered two spots where water was slowly running and bubbling under the sand in the yard, causing more concern.

“We don’t want any disasters here and our priority is the safety of our children and our parishioners because the yard is the play area for the junior learners and doubles as our church parking on a Snday,” she said.

McCarthy said she was surprised that the neighbour’s wall hadn’t fallen over because the wall has been waterlogged for a month, and the church was aware the bedroom of the home was affected by the leak.

On Sunday the church took a decision to close the parking area to parishioners for fear of a sinkhole as the area was too wet and soggy. The school has also severely restricted the play area for the young learners and stopped physical education lessons.

“We can’t take a chance. They can’t run around because it is too wet and muddy and we are afraid of them coming in contact with the water because we don’t know where it comes from. There is also the potential problem of mosquitoes and other pests breeding as the weather warms up,” said Lynn Leach, the physical education teacher at the school.

McCarthy said the leak was not from their property so hoped the municipality would follow up and assist them. “We need help because we can’t sort it out on our own, we have done what we can to notify the various departments and this is urgent but it doesn’t seem to be urgent to them. Our children’s safety, church parishioners’ safety and building stability is at risk,” she said.

The eThekwini Water Department was unavailable to comment on the situation at time of going to press.