Sinclair: Gov’t will find Coopers Pen solution

WESTERN BUREAU:

Senator Charles Sinclair, deputy general secretary of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), has intimated that the Government will be finding a solution to address the plight of residents of Coopers Pen, Trelawny, who recently had their homes demolished.

Addressing JLP supporters in St Elizabeth on Sunday, Sinclair rejected suggestions that the Dr Andrew Holness-led administration is insensitive to the plight of poor Jamaicans.

“I want to believe that my Government is going to find a solution to what exists there (Coopers Pen),” said Sinclair, referring to some 20 houses that were destroyed two weeks ago and the Government’s housing initiatives to help Jamaicans in difficult circumstances.

“We have found a solution under the HOPE programme. The prime minister started a HOPE programme in which, up to now, he has distributed over 300 houses of substance to people who have found themselves in vulnerable positions,” he added, referring to the Housing, Opportunity, Production, and Employment initiative.

The Coopers Pen dispute centres on privately owned land occupied by residents for decades despite a 2010 court order to vacate, with successive efforts to regularise the community ultimately failing.

In 2012, the then People’s National Party (PNP) administration sought to intervene through compulsory acquisition and a plan to regularise the community, but that effort was ultimately unsuccessful.

DID NOT PURSUE APPEAL

The matter reached the Court of Appeal, which handed down its judgment in April 2016, but there was an option for an appeal to the Privy Council. However, the JLP administration, which returned to office that year, did not pursue an appeal.

The issue resurfaced on August 11 when about 20 homes were demolished in a pre-dawn operation under police security, sparking widespread criticism and questions about the Government’s involvement.

“I can say categorically, the Jamaica Labour Party is not out to demolish poor people’s houses,” said Sinclair.

He also took aim at the Opposition, arguing that persons now criticising the Government had opportunities to intervene when they were in office up to 2016 but did not do enough.

“When I see Mark Golding take up himself and run gone down there and say Government should do this and Government should do that, what did he do? He needs to account for what he did because, at the time, he was minister of justice,” said Sinclair.

“He could have brought any legislation, taken any action, directed the attorney general to do whatever it is that they wanted to do in order to assist the people, but they did nothing, except to bring what the court ultimately described as a sham and one that was lacking in sincerity.”

According to Sinclair, the JLP’s record demonstrates a commitment to improving the lives of people in disadvantaged and vulnerable communities.

albert.ferguson@gleanerjm.com