Isat Buchanan, Member of Parliament for Eastern Portland and Opposition Spokesperson on Youth and Human Rights, has condemned the demolition of twenty homes in Coopers Pen, Trelawny, and is calling on the Government to provide immediate relief for the families left homeless.

The demolition took place in the early hours of Tuesday, August 11, 2026, when a crew arrived shortly after 3:00 am, detained more than 20 men without explanation and then under police watch, and then tore down the homes using bulldozers and heavy machinery. Residents say they received no notice and had no opportunity to save their belongings before their homes, and in many cases their life possessions, were destroyed.

“No Jamaican should wake to find their home reduced to rubble without warning,” said Buchanan. “Regardless of the legal status of the land, every citizen is entitled to be treated with dignity and humanity under our Constitution.”

Buchanan noted that this follows a similar demolition in Albion, St Thomas, and questioned the continued absence of adequate protection for vulnerable citizens facing eviction.

He is calling on the Government to urgently provide:

* Emergency housing and welfare support for all affected families;

* Counselling services, particularly for children;

* Assistance to replace destroyed belongings; and

*A clear account of the police’s role in the operation and how it was allowed to proceed without notice.

“The measure of a government is how it treats its most vulnerable citizens, not only how it protects property rights,” Buchanan said. “These families deserve answers, compassion and action, not silence.”