Government is advising property owners to carefully examine walls and structures on their property and to alert the authorities after part of a fallen concrete block wall in Hamilton Parish injured a 16-year-old bike rider this week.

Minister of Works and Engineering Ashfield DeVent issued a statement following the collapse of the wall Tuesday by the Dub City Variety store. Kylisha Julio sustained serious facial injuries as a result of the fallen concrete blocks which knocked her off her cycle.

?It appears that the structural integrity of the wall which retained material on private property was compromised by equipment working on that property,? said Mr. DeVent.

He said the matter was currently being investigated by the Ministry of the Environment and the Department of Planning and a report is expected.

Mr. DeVent said Government had inspected 150 walls to date in response to direct calls from the public.

?I am urging members of the public to continue to inspect their properties and report unsafe walls and rock cuts to this Ministry or to the Department of Planning.?

Mr. DeVent said following the tragic death of teacher Andrea Bicarie, who was killed when a retaining wall fell on the car she was sitting in at the Bermuda College, an information line was set up for the public to call to report unsafe walls. The Minister said work crews have carried out major refurbishments to wall and rock cuts in a number of parishes. ?The Ministry is committed to undertaking an initial inspection once we have received a request from the public, but it must be remembered that it is the owner?s responsibility to maintain walls and rocks cuts on their property.?

Yesterday, Shadow Works and Engineering Minister Patricia Gordon Pamplin said she had received a number of calls from members of the public who are concerned about unsafe walls in their area.

She called on the authorities to be vigilant as Bermuda cannot afford another loss of life or a serious injury from fallen retaining walls.

She said Government and private homeowners must work to clearly determine what walls were on public land and what were on private land.

If dangerous walls are on private land, Ms Gordon Pamplin said neighbours must work together to identify the problem and pool their finances to correct it. Several danger spots she had been alerted to were a wall on Marsh Folly Road, and an unsafe wall on Chapel of Ease Road in St. David?s. has been alerted to two retaining walls which appear to be buckling, one at Devon Springs and the other on Lighthouse Road in Southampton.

?We don?t want to be paranoid but we must be critical to the extent that we cannot afford another loss of life from a fallen wall.

?We know Government can?t chase every phone call, but we are asking that, for the substantive walls, to make an inspection.?

While Ms Gordon Pamplin said it appears Government is getting on with the job she suggested marking the walls that had been inspected to provide an indicator to the public which areas were safe, and which could pose safety hazards.

Shadow Health Minister and Devonshire East MP Michael Dunkley said he has repeatedly asked Government to fix the Devon Springs Hill retaining wall. The wall, which is buckling and has pieces of rubble and sand coming out of it is causing concern among area residents.

?It?s an accident waiting to happen,? said Mr. Dunkley. ?This is Government procrastination. Government needs to be working in the interest of public safety and in the interest of the community.

?We are living in a small Island which is becoming increasingly more developed meaning we have to take extra caution.?

Devon Springs Road is currently closed to motorists. An engineer told Government was trying to determine if the retaining wall, located by Party Plus and Pet Care on South Road is on Government or private land.