- A letter to the Observer urged churches to audit their land
- It put the number of landless Jamaicans at about 1.5 million
- It proposed granting small parcels of idle church land to the landless
- It followed squatter evictions at Cooper’s Pen, Trelawny
After squatters were evicted at Cooper’s Pen in Trelawny, a reader wrote to the Jamaica Observer in September 2026 with a proposal aimed squarely at the churches. “With approximately 1.5 million landless Jamaicans, we cannot afford more theological debate. We need action,” wrote Michael Spence.
Spence argued that the major denominations hold a great deal of land. “It is believed the Anglican Diocese of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands holds 80-plus parcels. The Catholic Church is reported to operate 31 parishes and major schools,” he wrote. He went further: “Church officials admit half or less is used for worship or schools. The rest is idle or squatted on.”
His answer was what he called the “2 Square Solution”. He called for “a full church land audit followed by the ‘2 Square Solution’ — granting small parcels to the landless.” He grounded the idea in principle, writing: “Every human being has a right to a liveable space,” and ended with an appeal: “Churches, get on board, in Jesus’s name!”
The letter’s figures are presented as belief and report rather than audited data, and the churches were not quoted in response. But the idea it raises, a public inventory of church land and a plan for idle parcels, has been raised repeatedly in Jamaica as the housing shortage and squatting have grown.
Whether churches give, sell, lease or develop idle land, the first step is the one Spence names: knowing exactly what they own. For diaspora Jamaicans and returnees who belong to these denominations, the question is worth raising with church leaders. Land that is surveyed, titled and planned for can serve both the church and the landless. Land that sits unused is more likely to be captured, and to become a problem rather than a blessing.
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