A legal battle is brewing between a widow and the leadership of Bog Walk Seventh-day Adventist Church in St Catherine over a section of land allegedly occupied by the religious group illegally.

In a claim filed in the Civil Division of the Supreme Court in October last year, the woman, a retiree, urged the court to, among other things, order the church to “deliver up vacant possession of the property” located at Bybrook Church Road in the parish.

Simply put, vacant possession means that the relevant person, whether a purchaser or landlord or the legal owner, is in a position to enjoy the property undisturbed by any other party.

The woman, in an affidavit filed in support of the claim, said the church was served with a notice to quit, dated August 10, 2024, to give up the property on or before September 30, 2024.

She, however, said the church has built a “permanent structure on part of the property belonging” to her and her spouse and “is in the process of erecting a concrete wall on the property despite being made aware” by a surveyor’s report that it is encroaching.

A copy of a surveyor’s report showing the alleged boundary breach and the area of the claimant’s property occupied by the church are among the supporting documents filed for the court’s assessment.

According to the woman, neither her, her dead husband, nor anyone else with authority had given the church permission to occupy the property. Furthermore, she said although she had made the church aware that the property was needed for a housing development, it had continued to occupy the space.

According to the information section of the religious body’s Facebook page, it was founded in the 1950s.

The woman’s attorney, Clayton Lawrence, told the Jamaica Observer that the church has been served with the documents through its attorney, who, he said, has acknowledged receipt.