Golding calls for inquiry, policy changes after Coopers Pen demolition

COOPERS PEN, Trelawny — Opposition Leader Mark Golding is calling for an inquiry into how court-protected private land rights are imposed against unprotected communities, following Tuesday morning’s demolition of 20 houses in Coopers Pen, Trelawny. He was among a number of Comrades, each with an opinion to express, who on Thursday toured the community where displaced residents now live under tents and other temporary arrangements. The People’s National Party (PNP) president said the situation requires immediate Government intervention.

He argued that while private property rights must be respected, the State also has a duty to be there for those in need of protection. “The third point I want to make is a policy issue, and it relates to how private rights, as protected by the court, are enforced against vulnerable communities. There needs to be a mechanism to ensure that this sort of thing doesn’t happen,” Golding said.

“There needs to be a proper inquiry into this, with a policy that balances the rights of our citizens: protects private property rights, but also protects the rights of the people who are vulnerable and who the State is there to protect,” he added. He said similar demolitions had occurred in Clifton, St Catherine; Pleasant Hill in Lluidas Vale; and Albion in St Thomas, and urged an inquiry into the wider process of land rights enforcement. Golding described the situation in Coopers Pen as a humanitarian crisis and called for urgent action to secure permanent housing for the affected families.

“What has happened here is a calamity, a humanitarian calamity. The first priority must be to restore the lives of the [people] who have had their homes destroyed,” he said. He acknowledged the Government’s provision of tents and other temporary assistance but said it was only a stopgap.

“The permanent relocation of those who have been displaced, in consultation with them on lands where they can be permanently settled in decent living conditions, is critical at this time,” he said. Golding said responsibility for identifying land for relocation rests with Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness, in his capacity as Minister of Economic Growth and Infrastructure Development. “The matter of lands falls directly under the portfolio of the prime minister.

He is in a position to expedite a solution to this crisis, and I’m calling on him to do so,” Golding said.