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

In the early hours of Tuesday, August 11, 2026, families in the Coopers Pen community were woken shortly after 3:00 a.m. by heavy machinery tearing down their homes. No notice was given. Mothers and children, some still in nightclothes, stood in darkness among the rubble of houses many had occupied for decades. More than twenty households are now homeless, among them approximately 15 women, aged 18 to 75, and 12 minors, aged 3 to 17.

For the women who shielded their children in those terrifying moments, and for the children who watched their homes disappear before sunrise, the emotional toll cannot be measured in bricks and lost belongings alone. Trauma of this kind, inflicted with or without warning, leaves lasting scars, particularly on the very young and the elderly among them.

The PNP believes 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. The Party is encouraging the Ministry of Health and Wellness to pursue this dialogue and ensure that proper measures are put in place for counselling.

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 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.