Government Offers Cooper’s Pen Residents Lots or Grants to Relocate

The Government is asking displaced Cooper’s Pen families to choose between a full relocation grant to find new land or a lot at a Hague and Clifton housing site with a smaller grant. Officials say the plan is part of a wider housing development, but residents still face a November 30 court deadline to leave the Trelawny lands.

More than 100 residential lots will be made available in Hague and Clifton, Trelawny, to relocate residents from Coopers Pen as part of a government housing plan on state lands. Officials say affected residents can choose between a relocation grant or a lot with partial assistance, as Jamaica works to meet a court-ordered November 30 deadline.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness says survey work is complete and the government has begun procuring roads, water and other amenities for lots being prepared for displaced Cooper’s Pen residents in Trelawny. He said the relocation land will not be given free and that the $9.9 million grants are humanitarian support, not compensation for the illegal demolitions.