KINGSTON, Jamaica — The People’s National Party (PNP) is calling on the Government to immediately deploy grief counselling and psychosocial support for the women and children of Coopers Pen, Trelawny, following the pre-dawn demolition of their homes.

In a statement on Tuesday, the PNP reflected on the early hours of last Tuesday, August 11, when families were woken shortly after 3:00 am by heavy machinery tearing down their homes. No notice was given.

Noting that mothers and children, some still in nightclothes, stood in darkness among the rubble of houses many had occupied for decades, the party reiterated that more than 20 households are now homeless, among them approximately 15 women, aged 18 to 75, and 12 minors, aged three to 17.

Stressing that the loss would have been traumatic with lasting emotional scars, the PNP said the time has come to engage the Jamaica Psychological Society to help coordinate professional grief counselling and trauma support for the affected women and children.

Dr Angela Brown Burke, Opposition Spokesperson on Social Protection and Social Transformation, said: “No family should ever have to face the terror of watching their home destroyed in the dark, with their children beside them and nowhere to turn. That is why we believe now would be the time to reach out to the Jamaica Psychological Society, so that professional grief counselling can begin without delay. Government must match this with its own resources, and ensure that support continues for as long as these families need it.”

The PNP is now calling on the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and the Ministry of Health and Wellness to work alongside the Jamaica Psychological Society to deploy trained trauma counsellors to Coopers Pen without delay, and to ensure sustained, rather than one-off, mental health support for the affected women and children.