From 1990, I have been the owner of an acre of land in Westridge Estates. I remember doodling my dream house many a day in high school. I had plans drawn up and approved for the site. An integral part of this included almost an acre of natural Bahamian forestation that was on the land. For 15 years, I made plans to construct my home.

Then, the dream turned into a waking nightmare when, almost 2 years ago, I drove by to discover that the property had been completed cleared! All of the soil was removed and the land was scarified. Even a part of the hill had been excavated. I was devastated! I asked the worker on the property next door who was responsible. He said his employer, the owner of the adjacent property, made a mistake by having mine cleared instead of his.

What bothered me was the fact that I had to make contact with the perpetrator. What was worse was that he is a PASTOR of a major church group in this country. Even more sickening was his attitude. "You are making noise over trees". Does the good pastor realize that trees were on Earth before Man? Does he not know that God gave us stewardship over them as well? What about the breaking of the laws of this land? What about the damage to my property and losses I suffered?

For the past two years, I have attempted, through my attorney, to have this pastor and his wife take responsibility for their actions and compensate me for the loss to my property and the destruction of my land. They are constructing a mansion next door and continually trespass on my property, using it to store material, park cars and heavy equipment, mix cement and as a garbage dump. This all has been brought to the attention of the Police, who have DONE NOTHING. Money and power in this country seem to rule over justice.

This matter is presently before the Supreme Court. When it is finished, I fully intend to expose this pastor for his hypocrisy and arrogance and the anti-Christian attitude and actions both he and his wife exhibit. We have a serious problem in this land, where men of the cloth strut about as if they were gods. Most Bahamians cater to this nonsense but this pastor will se that I am not one of them. Wrong is wrong. Justice will be served.

RE: 'The quote' It certainly was NOT a preacher who made that quote famous. Alexander Hamilton said In his Speech on the Constitutional Convention on a Plan of Government: "The voice of the people has been said to be the voice of God; and, however generally this maxim has been quoted and believed, it is not true to fact. The people are turbulent and changing, they seldom judge or determine right. " Leaving us to draw his seeming conclusion that the people are that as opposed to God who is calm and consistent, and usually judges or determines correctly. Of course, he finished that quote with "Give therefore to the first class a distinct, permanent share in government. They will check the unsteadiness of the second....
Oh course, the part left out here is that Hamilton did not believe in democracy, and did believe in a Republican form of government where ‘the people’ (what he considered the unwashed, dirty, underclass), would never vote directly on any issue. It was Hamilton who said that direct democracy was a disease and a poison. To his thinking, the Senate would be like the House of Lords, (the first class), given more power and six years instead of two years for a term, and able to keep the House of Representatives (similar to the House of Commons (the second class),), in check.

From 1990, I have been the owner of an acre of land in Westridge Estates. I remember doodling my dream house many a day in high school. I had plans drawn up and approved for the site. An integral part of this included almost an acre of natural Bahamian forestation that was on the land. For 15 years, I made plans to construct my home.

Then, the dream turned into a waking nightmare when, almost 2 years ago, I drove by to discover that the property had been completed cleared! All of the soil was removed and the land was scarified. Even a part of the hill had been excavated. I was devastated! I asked the worker on the property next door who was responsible. He said his employer, the owner of the adjacent property, made a mistake by having mine cleared instead of his.

What bothered me was the fact that I had to make contact with the perpetrator. What was worse was that he is a PASTOR of a major church group in this country. Even more sickening was his attitude. "You are making noise over trees". Does the good pastor realize that trees were on Earth before Man? Does he not know that God gave us stewardship over them as well? What about the breaking of the laws of this land? What about the damage to my property and losses I suffered?

For the past two years, I have attempted, through my attorney, to have this pastor and his wife take responsibility for their actions and compensate me for the loss to my property and the destruction of my land. They are constructing a mansion next door and continually trespass on my property, using it to store material, park cars and heavy equipment, mix cement and as a garbage dump. This all has been brought to the attention of the Police, who have DONE NOTHING. Money and power in this country seem to rule over justice.

This matter is presently before the Supreme Court. When it is finished, I fully intend to expose this pastor for his hypocrisy and arrogance and the anti-Christian attitude and actions both he and his wife exhibit. We have a serious problem in this land, where men of the cloth strut about as if they were gods. Most Bahamians cater to this nonsense but this pastor will se that I am not one of them. Wrong is wrong. Justice will be served.


Quite a disheartening story. What about applying the golden rule to teach a lesson? Get a bulldozer to plow the cars, heavy equipment, trash and all else back onto his land! :cop: Thow a big party at your lot and park the cars on his. A sword can cut both ways! Try to get a 'competing' pastor to help spread the word of this couple's arrogant practices.

Please keep us informed of your progress in this case. As my mother says, some people need to be taken down a peg or two. Good luck. :hot:

Thank you, casualobserver, for your comments. You know, the temptation was (and still is) there to do what you suggest and even more. In fact, I have the right to take all of the piles of sand, fill, etc., he stores on my property and sell them. But, guess what? The laws and justice in this land are so skewed ("fair is foul and foul is fair", to quote Shakespeare) that I, not the good pastor, would be the one up the proverbial creek of human excrement! Besides, I would be no better than him.

What I can do is spread the word to expose this travesty. I ask that you and those of like mind do the same. Evil persists when good men (and women, of course) do nothing.

Again, many thanks. I will indeed post updates on this so stay tuned...

Ironic that your moral compass is stronger than the pastor's!
We look forward to your updates.

From 1990, I have been the owner of an acre of land in Westridge Estates. I remember doodling my dream house many a day in high school. I had plans drawn up and approved for the site. An integral part of this included almost an acre of natural Bahamian forestation that was on the land. For 15 years, I made plans to construct my home.

Then, the dream turned into a waking nightmare when, almost 2 years ago, I drove by to discover that the property had been completed cleared! All of the soil was removed and the land was scarified. Even a part of the hill had been excavated. I was devastated! I asked the worker on the property next door who was responsible. He said his employer, the owner of the adjacent property, made a mistake by having mine cleared instead of his.

What bothered me was the fact that I had to make contact with the perpetrator. What was worse was that he is a PASTOR of a major church group in this country. Even more sickening was his attitude. "You are making noise over trees". Does the good pastor realize that trees were on Earth before Man? Does he not know that God gave us stewardship over them as well? What about the breaking of the laws of this land? What about the damage to my property and losses I suffered?

For the past two years, I have attempted, through my attorney, to have this pastor and his wife take responsibility for their actions and compensate me for the loss to my property and the destruction of my land. They are constructing a mansion next door and continually trespass on my property, using it to store material, park cars and heavy equipment, mix cement and as a garbage dump. This all has been brought to the attention of the Police, who have DONE NOTHING. Money and power in this country seem to rule over justice.

This matter is presently before the Supreme Court. When it is finished, I fully intend to expose this pastor for his hypocrisy and arrogance and the anti-Christian attitude and actions both he and his wife exhibit. We have a serious problem in this land, where men of the cloth strut about as if they were gods. Most Bahamians cater to this nonsense but this pastor will se that I am not one of them. Wrong is wrong. Justice will be served.

Ok....equate your damage to me in dollars? I only see that you were inconvenienced by the pastor, nothing else. Does he owe you an apology? maybe, perhaps, but oh well. Move on. In the long run, fence in your property, and matter close....

About a year ago an attempted rape of a maid in Blair in Nassau was hot news when an alleged neighbor of the maid's employer shot one of the alleged assailants and killed him, in the street I might add. It remains a mystery whether the shooter was charged with which in my view was the crime of murder, and with special circumstances since the shooter was not a black man. Cetainly Mr. Moss has a more direct interest in the violation of his property than the neighbor had in the Blair fiasco. I say the next time you are violated sir, shoot to kill. That will solve a lot of problems and perhaps shake up the very slack and corrupt system that has been allowed to develop in this country. Until then they will continue to steups and laugh at us as they scoff at our weakness and lack of resolve. That is my five cents.

Ok....equate your damage to me in dollars? I only see that you were inconvenienced by the pastor, nothing else. Does he owe you an apology? maybe, perhaps, but oh well. Move on. In the long run, fence in your property, and matter close....


The cost of replanting trees, the time needed to for trees to grow, re-grading the property, filling in a hill, disposal of the neighbors construction materials, and then to build a fence. I'm sure the lawyer isn't working pro bono either.

That's more than an inconveniece! It's downright expensive to put back something that another destoyed illegally. :voodoo:

like i said, tell him you'd like that swimming pool now :shaky:

but seriously, fence in the yard, maybe he thought he was clearing government land, for security reasons in that area, it is wise to clear any bush that surrounds your home. Ofcourse when planning a home one should know who owns the surrounding property, so you would probably have a legal case ..?

Well, definately it is a civil case. One needs to prove damages. In this case, inconvenience. How was he inconvenience? In the near future, the gentleman was planning on clearing his own land to build his own house. This was already done; beyond he had anticipated it, but it was done nonetheless and for free, I may add. So who won in this case the complaintant. In regards to the cutting down of rocks and his 'hill 'etc, one would have to prove that in deed, the hill is eccential for what he would have been planning to build. The question is, would he have had to also cut down the hill in order to build? Morethanlikely he had to. So he won again. Maybe the rev, needs to sue this gentleman for compensation.

And again how many prominent reverends lives on Westridge? I only know of one?

About a year ago an attempted rape of a maid in Blair in Nassau was hot news when an alleged neighbor of the maid's employer shot one of the alleged assailants and killed him, in the street I might add. It remains a mystery whether the shooter was charged with which in my view was the crime of murder, and with special circumstances since the shooter was not a black man. Cetainly Mr. Moss has a more direct interest in the violation of his property than the neighbor had in the Blair fiasco. I say the next time you are violated sir, shoot to kill. That will solve a lot of problems and perhaps shake up the very slack and corrupt system that has been allowed to develop in this country. Until then they will continue to steups and laugh at us as they scoff at our weakness and lack of resolve. That is my five cents.

This was a sad post. I can imagine how far Mr. Moss would be locked up in Fox Hill, after he would have taken your advice and shoot to kill the good, prominent reverand, protecting his property. Kindly rethink your post, and express an opinion of a law abiding Bahamian.

I say Mr. Moss take a stand and let the neighbor know exactly how annoyed he is with the entire situation. Why not simply go next door and notify the pastor that any property of his found on your land will be removed instantly. Do this with a police officer present so you have an "upstanding citizen" present to corroborate your side of the story if the situation comes to court. Then file a police report so it is on the record. If you find a car on your land in the future, call a tow truck and have it taken away. If you find materials on your land, call a dump truck and have it removed. Yes it will cause you a little time and money, but would it not be worth the cost to avoid this pastor irritating you so much in the future by his blatant trespass?

Everyting is relative,(1)you said he cleared your land by mistake,so this should not be an issue.(2)As to the material on your property was this discussed with him ,because I live in a developing neighbourhood & this happins all the time mostly with the neighbours consent.(3) Are you also in the process of building at this time & need the space?(4) Are you really angry because of the way he went about this or is it because he is a so called prominent pastor that is really gettin to you?

Everyting is relative,(1)you said he cleared your land by mistake,so this should not be an issue.(2)As to the material on your property was this discussed with him ,because I live in a developing neighbourhood & this happins all the time mostly with the neighbours consent.(3) Are you also in the process of building at this time & need the space?(4) Are you really angry because of the way he went about this or is it because he is a so called prominent pastor that is really gettin to you?


Last time I checked, a persons property was theirs for whatever they want it for. Own a million dollar yacht that hasn't left Hurricane Hole in a year? Who cares, its your yacht to do with what you want. Same for land, it's yours to own whether you develop it or like to look at the birds in the trees. It shouldn't matter if he is planning to build today, tomorrow, or next year. It shouldn't matter if other developments use the neighbor's land, it's still technically trespassing!

I agree that this could have been handled much more politely, but it sounds like this landowner was snubbed by the pastor initially, and it never got any better. The pastor, as the man who did wrong, should be man enough to apologize (publically or not) and try to make ammends. Failing to do so only results in threads like these and a trial in the court of public opinion. :dunce:

Rory, be fair!
Does it matter if it was 5 years ago or yesterday.
Is it alright to do as you please with someone else's propety?
Have you ever been wrongly threated and others thing you crying for nothing, does not feel good does it?

It is so sad that we can not be fair in our dealings with each other...

Last time I checked, a persons property was theirs for whatever they want it for. Own a million dollar yacht that hasn't left Hurricane Hole in a year? Who cares, its your yacht to do with what you want. Same for land, it's yours to own whether you develop it or like to look at the birds in the trees. It shouldn't matter if he is planning to build today, tomorrow, or next year. It shouldn't matter if other developments use the neighbor's land, it's still technically trespassing!

I agree that this could have been handled much more politely, but it sounds like this landowner was snubbed by the pastor initially, and it never got any better. The pastor, as the man who did wrong, should be man enough to apologize (publically or not) and try to make ammends. Failing to do so only results in threads like these and a trial in the court of public opinion. :dunce:

I agree, however we are considering potential collection of damages. How would it have bee determined? And how much would it have been?