Homeowner furious after ‘gold diggers’ fail to restore pit

Yanique Cole was getting ready to move into her house. She had shelled out about $300,000 to construct an absorption pit to collect waste from the dwelling. But before it could be completed, persons discovered mineral deposits in the wall of the pit and thought they had hit the jackpot.

For the new two weeks, gold diggers descended on Cole's Chester Castle, Hanover property and began their mining operations. They thought they had found gold but the authorities declared it to be pyrite, a worthless mineral popularly known as 'fool's gold'.

Disappointed with the results of their mining operations, the residents retreated from Cole's property, but not before the walls of the pit caved in, causing it to collapse due to the indiscriminate digging. The residents who previously promised to have it restored have not honoured their end of the bargain. Now Cole, the mother of a newborn, has been forced to delay moving into her house because there is no pit.

"When yuh see mi dig the pit there and pack it, mi did have a time frame because mi did a plan fi move from the rent house where mi live before the month end," she said, adding that her landlord has raised her rent and she has been hurrying to complete her home.

The frustrated woman told THE WEEKEND STAR that she asked the police for help when the 'gold diggers' first appeared, but it was not forthcoming.

"Mi call police, police come an' a tell mi sey, 'Bwoy, it better mi leave the people dem'. No justice, you understand, nobody fi help mi. Mi a call out fi help from how long before dem destroy the pit ... till dem destroy the pit, till when mi go up deh the other day, mi cry wen mi see the pit, mi could not believe," Cole said.

She is questioning her next move, having spent a pretty penny to build the absorption pit.

"Fi get the backhoe [operator] him charge by feet, a $6,000 per feet and it was 15 feet. Suh you know it's about $90,000 and you know you have to buy stone a the quarry, which is another $50,000. Then ni haffi pay the truck man $16,000 per trip, and the gentleman who deh pack it, him a $6,000 too per feet fi pack it," she said.

"Mi pass over $300,000 fi the pit and mi never know that dem gwan destroy it," Cole said.

When THE WEEKEND STAR contacted residents on Wednesday afternoon, they said that they had arranged with Cole and her family to start rebuilding her pit last Saturday. They said that when they got to the property, the owners were not present, so they left. The residents said they will return on another occasion.

Cole has contended that neither she nor her spouse needs to be at the location for the residents to rebuild the pit.