Tuesday, October 27, 2026
Replacement land for families being moved off the disputed Cooper’s Pen property in Trelawny has been surveyed and divided into lots, the Prime Minister says, and procurement has begun for roads, water and other basic services. The lots, however, will not be free: families will have to buy them outright, lease them or take them under another contract. About 100 households are affected, and residents still on the land have been told to leave by 30 November.
Nineteen families whose houses were demolished in August received relocation grants in September, totalling about J$10 million, which the Government describes as assistance rather than compensation. A temporary decanting site has been prepared for the most vulnerable, but its location and capacity have not been given, and no lot prices, payment terms or start date for the move have been announced. The deadline is fixed; the bill is not. How do families plan to pay for land when nobody has told them the price?
In loose ink and watercolour on green, a brisk suited official is about to kick a tin can marked “LOT PRICE?” further down a country road, announcing “NONE OF IT IS FREE”. The road runs out just ahead at a sign reading “LEAVE BY NOV 30”, while a family waits beside a flattened zinc-fence yard with a handcart of belongings labelled “100 HOUSEHOLDS”.
Read more: Cooper’s Pen Families Will Pay for New Land, on a Six-Week Clock
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