‘Humanitarian crisis’ - Holness pledges Government support to displaced families at Cooper’s Pen demolition site

WESTERN BUREAU:

Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has described Monday’s mass demolition at Cooper’s Pen in Trelawny as a “humanitarian crisis”, declaring that neither he, his ministers nor the constituency’s member of parliament (MP) had prior knowledge of the operation.

Addressing the controversial demolition exercise yesterday, Holness said images of displaced families, including a mother with a newborn baby, were disturbing and that the Government would have to find ways to support those affected.

“The images that we have seen are disturbing. My heart goes out to the families who have been dislocated,” the prime minister said.

“I see a particular image of a newborn and the mother being displaced.”

Holness said he was surprised when informed of the demolition early that morning and immediately ordered state resources mobilised to assist the affected residents.

“I had no prior knowledge of it, nor none of our ministers, certainly not the member of parliament,” he said.

Cooper’s Pen falls in Trelawny North, which is represented by the governing Jamaica Labour Party’s Tova Hamilton.

Holness said resources from the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management and the Ministry of Labour and Social Security were mobilised because “technically it was a disaster”.

“We have been able to respond in the humanitarian crisis that has been created,” Holness said, adding that a longer-term intervention would be necessary.

However, the prime minister stopped short of commenting on the circumstances under which the demolition was carried out, saying he first needed to be properly advised on the court decisions surrounding the dispute.

“The matter is quite complex, and it involves court rulings, for which I need to be properly advised on those court rulings before I speak,” he said, promising to address the specific circumstances at a later date.

‘SQUATTING IS WRONG’

At the same time, Holness was unequivocal that the plight of the families should not be interpreted as Government support for the illegal occupation of land.

“Squatting is wrong. Informal settlement is not encouraged,” he said.

However, he argued that every Jamaican should have an equal opportunity to access land and housing and acknowledged that the State would have to determine how best to assist the Cooper’s Pen families.

“We will have to find ways to support those families who are impacted,” he said.

Holness cautioned, however, that whatever intervention is developed must not establish an unsustainable precedent for other cases involving informal settlements.

“Whatever our response is, we have to be careful that we don’t set up precedents that are not sustainable, because whatever we do now, everybody is going to expect that it is done going forward,” he said.

The prime minister said the Government was therefore carefully developing a response that could form part of a broader approach to informal settlements.

He pointed to the need for a programme that would regularise communities where possible while simultaneously preventing the continued illegal occupation of land.

“It is the same way that we will develop a programme to address squatter communities, irregularly settled communities, formalise them, regularise them, and prevent further squatting and informal settlement,” Holness said.

The prime minister’s comments come days after scores of residents of Cooper’s Pen were left homeless when structures in the Trelawny community were demolished in a long-running land dispute.

The operation sparked outrage as families watched homes they had occupied for years being torn down, with several residents maintaining that they had received no notice that the demolition would take place. Images of displaced children and families, including mothers with young babies, subsequently circulated widely.

Lothan Cousins, the opposition spokesman on lands, has since argued that the Government has legal options available to prevent the demolition of the remaining houses. He pointed to a 2016 judgment in the dispute and contended that the Government failed to appeal that ruling to the Privy Council.

Cousins has called for the Government to invoke Section 4 of the Local Improvements (Community Amenities) Act, arguing that a similar intervention was used in relation to residents of Red Hills Road in St Andrew in 2016. He said such action could protect the Cooper’s Pen residents whose homes have not yet been demolished.

janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com