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

In a statement on Tuesday, the PNP reflected on the early hours of last Tuesday, August 11, when families were woken shortly after 3:00 am by heavy machinery tearing down their homes. No notice was given.

Noting that mothers and children, some still in nightclothes, stood in darkness among the rubble of houses many had occupied for decades, the party reiterated that more than 20 households are now homeless, among them approximately 15 women, aged 18 to 75, and 12 minors, aged three to 17.