A Church Wanted a Community College on Its 135 Acres. Squatters Have Been on 10 of Them for Decades

• The United Church owns 135 acres at Chapleton, Clarendon
• About 10 acres have been occupied by squatters for decades
• The church planned a community college on the land
• It wants to cut off the occupied piece and regularise residents

A plan by the United Church of Jamaica and Grand Cayman to build a community college on its land in Chapleton, Clarendon has been held up by squatters who have lived on part of the property for decades, the Gleaner reported in November 2018. The church owns 135 acres there, the same land that houses Clarendon College, and about 10 acres are occupied.

The Rev Norbert Stephens, general secretary of the United Church, explained the thinking behind the college project. “We feel that this was another way to continue the contribution towards education,” he said. His proposed solution for the occupied land was practical rather than confrontational: “What we wanted, and some of this has already been done, is to cut off the piece that is already occupied so we can regularise those persons.”

According to the report, the settlement began with a government arrangement in the late 1970s, when seven-year leases of five-acre plots were issued for farming and occupation. When the leases ran out, the lands were not taken back, and the occupants stayed. Some residents were said to use the school’s water and other resources without paying.

One resident, Michelle Nugent, who sells cooked lunches to students, told the paper: “I have lived on this property for a long time. About seven years ago, I built my own dwelling.” She said she would be willing to formalise her stay, telling the Gleaner: “I am not paying any lease now, but I would readily do so if given the chance.” The report described the relationship between the school, the church and the residents as not adversarial.

The Chapleton case shows a path that avoids evictions: survey the occupied section, separate it from the rest, and offer residents a lease or a route to ownership, while freeing the remaining land for the church’s own plans. For Jamaican churches with large rural holdings, and for diaspora members who support their building projects, it is a reminder that temporary arrangements such as short leases can harden into permanent occupation if nobody follows them up. The earlier a church regularises occupiers, the more of its land it keeps for its own mission.