Rasbert Turner, Gleaner Writer

Nadine Brown walks with her two-month-old child past the rubble among which they now sleep. The mother and her child are included in a group of 40 persons who were made homeless when their houses in Bodles, St. Catherine, were demolished on Friday. The residents, some of whom have been squatting on the property for as many as 10 years, say they have not been able to identify alternative accommodation. - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer

OLD HARBOUR, St. Catherine:

A one-week-old baby is among 22 children and their parents who were left homeless in Bodles, Old Harbour, last Friday following a demolition exercise.

A total of 40 persons lived in wooden structures on the property.

It is reported that the residents, who have been living on a section of the Bodles Property for the past 10 years, did not comply with warnings to leave by Friday.

Agustus Nelson, 65, said about 11:00 a.m. on Friday, men armed with hammers and accompanied by the police, smashed the eight wooden houses where he and his neighbours lived - houses, he said they have spent thousands of dollars to build.

The residents have acknowledged that they occupied the land illegally. However they say they have not been able to find alternative accommodation.

Furniture, appliances and even children's school supplies were also damaged during the demolition.

When The Gleaner visited the community yesterday, the children seemed oblivious to having lost their homes.

They played in the wreckage and even tried to switch on a smashed television set while a few adults cooked a meal of tinned mackerel and dumplings on an open fire.

"Mi caan eat none," said Nadine Brown, a mother of four, including a two-month-old.

Residents of Bodles, St. Catherine, look at remains of thier houses, following a demolition execersie on Friday.