Jamaica Gleaner

HIV CARE GAP

THE AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) Jamaica is calling for urgent action to reach the thousands of people living with HIV in Jamaica who are not receiving treatment. In a statement yesterday, the AHF, which works to expand access to HIV prevention,...

IC can’t query fund sources for MPS’ prior purchases – complaints director

THE INTEGRITY Commission (IC) has moved to set the record straight about information it has requested from parliamentarians on assets they acquired, in some instances before becoming legislators. Delroy Chuck, a member of the Integrity Commission...

Chuck: Ministries dragging feet on updating archaic fines

SEVERAL GOVERNMENT min- istries have not yet submitted lists of offences with “absolutely ridiculous” monetary fines that fall under their purview, Justice Minister Delroy Chuck has disclosed. The revelation comes years after the Government, through...

MUNICIPAL MUDDLE

SOURED RELATIONS between Councillor Tanyalee Williams and Clarendon Central Member of Parliament (MP) Delroy Williams have boiled over, triggering her dramatic resignation from the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP). The decision signals a bruising blow to...

‘CUSHY OFFICE’ SCALE DOWN

THE GOVERNMENT’S decision to scale down the office space that will house the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NARRA) and cut rental costs, though welcomed, is raising questions about the quality of analysis behind government lease...

FORMER AIR J PLANE BOMBED

WHEN THE Israeli Air Force reported the destruction of Iran’s presidential VIP Airbus A340-300 often dubbed ‘Iran Force One’ during a military strike in Iran in March of this year, the repercussions were felt beyond the Middle East, reaching Kingston,...

Doctors’ pay fight ends in major win

FOLLOWING THE Industrial Disputes Tribunal’s landmark ruling in favour of doctors in their long-running allowances dispute with the State, senior trade unionist Lambert Brown says the medical practitioners are ready to meet with the Government to...

‘UNINFORMED’

THE GLOBAL Afrikan Congress (GAC) is demanding an apology from parlia- mentarian Everald Warmington for his “uninformed assertions” that Black Africans who sold people into the transatlantic slave trade should be held more accountable than Europeans...

CRY FOR TRUTH

JAMAICA IS crying out for truth, Reverend Dr Devon Dick, pastor at Boulevard Baptist Church in St Andrew, declared yesterday, citing a lack of trust in the community. “Citizens do not think that they can rely on our leaders for the truth,” Dick said...

UDC warns it cannot guarantee daily services at Little Dunn’s River

THE URBAN Development Corporation (UDC) says the rel- evant team has been directed to take steps to facilitate public access to Little Dunn’s River Beach in Ocho Rios, St Ann, in compliance with a court order. However, the UDC indicated that it was...

GUILTY AS CHARGED

DOUJON GRIFFITHS, who was on trial in the United States (US) for the murder of fellow Montegonian Massania Malcolm and her one-year-old daughter, Jordania Reid, was found guilty yesterday in the Orange County courthouse in Orlando, Florida, and is to...

ULTIMATUM

MINISTER OF Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton said the ministry is on high alert for any potential disruptions to the healthcare system by doctors. “To the extent that it disrupts the health system, we have to put contingency in place, and...

BAR FIGHT

THE ADVOCATES’ Association of Jamaica (AAJ) and Jamaican Bar Association are dismissing what they described as “narratives being peddled” to distort their campaign for amendments to the Firearms (Prohibition, Restriction and Regulation) Act. Chief...

‘We’re in a desperate position’

THE ST James-based Herbert Morrison Technical High School is facing a signifi- cant challenge to recover past students’ records and library materials lost during the passage of the Category 5 Hurricane Melissa last October. The school, located in...

NIGHTMARE WITNESS

AFTER SPENDING 47 days in custody on gun and robbery charges, St Catherine musician Shamar Champagne says he was amused when the woman who accused him of armed robbery claimed she had seen him in a nightmare — as the driver. Champagne, who was freed...

Levy delay puts millions in revenue at risk, say senators

OPPOSITION SENATOR Ramon Small-ferguson says the Government’s delay in legislating an increase in the environmental protection levy has cost the country vital revenue, at a time when tax and grant receipts for the April-to-june quarter were already...

Lawmakers weigh new legal approach to domestic violence

LAWMAKERS ON both sides of the Parliament have agreed to explore the possibility of making domestic violence a standalone crime amid uncertainty about what would constitute the offence. “I would certainly ask that it be up for discussion,” said Olivia...

‘Silent’ attorneys declare decisions on gun crimes must be left to judges

ARGUING THAT the law must be applied with regard to the circumstances of individual cases, attorney Peter Champagnie is urging that the debate around Jamaica’s firearms legislation not be reduced to a political issue. “It cannot be a Cinderella...

TOUGH ROAD AHEAD

PRIME MINISTER Dr Andrew Holness says a report on the status of the economy has indicated that there are “head- winds” ahead even as recovery from Hurricane Melissa takes shape. Holness, who was speaking at a ceremony where the European Union, through...

HEAVENLY FIRE

THE LATE leader of the Pathways International Kingdom Restoration Ministries had reportedly claimed to be the prophet ‘Elijah’ and tried to summon heavenly fire before shooting at cops during a bloody 2021 service at the church. “Mr [Kevin] Smith...

RECOVERY PITCH

OPPOSITION LEADER Mark Golding has unveiled a five-point recovery strategy for western Jamaica, accusing the Government of failing thousands of residents still struggling to rebuild their homes, businesses and liveli- hoods nearly 11 months after...

HARVEST HEARTBREAK

FOR ANGELLA Jones, the hardest part of farming is not the work. It is putting everything she has into the ground, watching crops fail repeatedly, and then having to find the money to start all over again. Jones shared that reality during an interview...

Holness pitches Jamaica’s rebuild to global capital

PRIME MINISTER Dr Andrew Holness has pitched Jamaica’s post-hurricane recon- struction and growth agenda to a group of international investors representing, according to organisers, hundreds of billions of US dollars in assets under...

FATAL FAITH

PATHWAYS INTERNATIONAL Kingdom Restoration Ministries member Corey James on Thursday said he was convinced that the now-deceased church leader could have brought back his former church sister, who was killed in an alleged sacrificial ritual five years...

TCN U-TURN

A DECISION by Jamaica and the Unites States to withhold the full details of the controversial third-country nationals (TCN) agreement has been described as“odd”by former diplomat Byron Blake, who says similar deals have been made public in other...

Chuck warns against going soft on guns

JUSTICE MINISTER Delroy Chuck says the Government is reviewing the mandatory minimum sentences under the Firearms Act but remains convinced, along with the security forces, that the tough penalties are helping to reduce murders and shootings. At the...

PNP: Gov’t failed to plan for school reopening

THE PEOPLE’S National Party (PNP) has accused the Government of “building narratives” to cover up a failure to properly plan for the new school year, pointing to widespread delays in school renovations across the country as evidence of poor strategic...

THE POWER OF SECOND CHANCES

JUSTICE MINISTER Delroy Chuck says there is no longer a backlog of expungement applications following the recent amend- ments to the Criminal Records (Rehabilitation of Offenders) Amendment Act (2026). Chuck made the disclosure on Sunday at the...

TB FEARS IN LOCK-UP

TWO PERSONS arrested and charged, and who were being housed at the Duhaney Park Police Station lock-up, are suspected to have died from tuberculosis (TB) within 15 days of each other after being admitted to the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH). One of...

Furniture shortage, repairs delay Black River Primary reopening

A WEEK after the start of the new academic year, classes are yet to resume at the Black River Primary and Infant School in St Elizabeth as work continues to restore hurricane-ravaged classrooms. The school has approximately 819 students, none of whom...

PARTIAL RELIEF

TWO NOTED attorneys have welcomed the United Kingdom’s (UK) decision to waive visa fees for Jamaicans travelling to argue cases before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) but remain critical of the requirement that locals still need a...

PLEA FOR PATIENCE

REPAIRS TO more than half of the schools severely damaged by Hurricane Melissa should be completed by the end of the year, Dr Kasan Troupe, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, has disclosed. Addressing...

STAY ON BEACH EVICTION

THE SUPREME Court has imposed an injunction that temporarily blocks the country’s environment regu- latory authority from evicting at least 40 people from the Jacob Taylor Beach lands in Duncans, Trelawny. Justice Andrea Thomas granted the injunction...

A new dawn

PRINCIPAL OF the newly created Hydel Cumberland High School in St Catherine, Carlon Pitt, said the institution is already seeing the benefits of the merger, and is focused on moving forward as it enters the new academic year. The two St...

JTA demands seat at table on school closures

PRESIDENT OF the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA), La Sonja Harrison, is raising concern over what she describes as the lack of consultation regarding school closures and mergers. According to the JTA head, at least 10 schools are set to be merged...

US VISA SQUEEZE

A SENIOR Jamaican public official has confirmed that their American tourist visa was cancelled while in the United States (US) on official duty. American authorities also cancelled the tourist visas of two high-ranking Jamaican policemen who were...

Bartlett appeals for authentic Jamaican souvenirs

TOURISM MINISTER Edmund Bartlett is challenging Jamaica’s craft vendors and artisans to move away from imported souvenirs and seek to create authentic Jamaican products that showcase the island’s culture and creativity in their interactions with...

‘DROP IN THE BUCKET’

DESCRIBING THE Government’s allocation for water trucking to schools as “a good first drop in the bucket”, Anniona Jones, president of the Jamaica Association of Principals of Secondary Schools (JAPSS), says more sustainable measures will be needed to...

DRUNK IN CLASS

JAMAICA’S CLASSROOMS are facing an unsettling challenge, with one in every 10 high-school students reporting that they have gone to school drunk, while a similar proportion say they have turned up under the influence of marijuana or other drugs. The...

WATER CRUNCH

THE SEVERE drought conditions cur- rently affecting the island have resulted in increased operating costs for wa- ter-related businesses in the Corporate Area as they seek alternative sources of supply to comply with prohibition orders and wa- ter-use...

Hunter bids farewell to NWA

AFTER 14 years as head of the National Works Agency (NWA), Chief Executive Officer E.G. Hunter bid farewell to the staff yesterday, his final day of employment at the agency. In a letter to the Public Services Commission dated May 7, 2026, Hunter...

‘Our grief must become action’

JAMAICANS ARE being challenged to break the culture of silence surrounding the abuse of children, with Marisa Dalrymple-Philibert, minister of state in the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, declaring that communities often see the warning...

MILLIONS DOWN THE DRAIN

$50m research push as Gov’t invests in health talent

THE GOVERNMENT is investing $50 million in healthcare research while spending an av- erage of $500 million annually to train healthcare workers in areas where there are critical shortages, Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton has...

BUSINESSES GUTTED

A MASSIVE fire ripped through a section of the business district along Hagley Park Road in St Andrew on Thursday, flattening at least three buildings in its wake. The fire reportedly started some time after 11 a.m. in the repairs section of the...

SENIOR COPS TARGETED IN COCAINE PROBE

NEARLY A dozen high-ranking policemen and soldiers are the targets of a widening narcotics investigation linked to the seizure of cocaine from a police storage facility in January, which has drawn the attention of Jamaica’s international...

PENSION PAIN

YEARS AFTER retiring from the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), two former district constables say they are still without their full pensions, leaving them in financial distress and demanding answers. Derrick Foster told The Gleaner he spent 36 years...

CHILDREN ABANDONED

FOUR OF the five children abandoned at the Spanish Town Hospital in St Catherine have spent their entire lives at the facility, a situation Chief Executive Officer Jacqueline Ellis says is unacceptable. The latest child – a male who is one and a half...

Reading renaissance

GRACE BASTON, the lead implementer behind the Grade Seven Academy Reading initiative at Holy Trinity High School in Kingston, could not be more pleased with the latest findings from the third student-administered assessment of grade-eight students this...

NOT EXPELLED BUT ... LEFT IN LIMBO

AST Catherine woman has been left worrying about the fate of her grandsons after she and the family was asked to find another school for the two cousins, who administrators at Enid Bennett High School have described as among the institution’s most...

In the classroom, six days a week…

THEY STARTED with mathematics. Then students wanted Spanish, English, science, information technology and social studies. Soon, four weekdays were not enough. “Miss, we’re ready,” they told their educators. Saturday was added. Then Sunday. What...

BLAKE’S GRADE-ONE SWEEP

KEMOY BLAKE, the technical drawing teacher at Winston Jones High School in Manchester, is used to his students achieving high passes in the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination. But in his eight years at the school, this was the...

BATTERED SCHOOLS, RESILIENT RESULTS

BEFORE BEVERLEY Feare could prepare her students for the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations, she first had to find them. Hurricane Melissa had torn through the communities served by Maud Mcleod High School in eastern...

TEACHERS BALK

UNRESOLVED ISSUES surrounding their uniform allowance and a graduate policy for educators pursuing further studies were among the main concerns raised by delegates on Tuesday as the Jamaica Teachers’ Association rejected the Government’s wage...

Principals do the math as CXC releases results today

PRINCIPALS ACROSS Jamaica are hopeful that the strategies employed to improve their students’ mathematics performance will pay off when this year’s Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination results are released later today. Dr...

DEAL OR NO DEAL

THE GOVERNMENT has made an improved offer on key components of the 28-point claim from the Jamaica Teachers’ association (JTA), which will be placed before delegates for a decision early this week. Mark Malabver, president of the JTA, told The Gleaner...

‘BRUTAL’

RETIRED REAL estate investor and shareholder in New Falmouth Resorts Limited Marcia Ann Chisholm has expressed strong disapproval of last week’s bulldozing of homes in Cooper’s Pen, Trelawny, insisting that her late father would have opposed the...

‘HUMANITARIAN CRISIS’

PRIME MINISTER Dr Andrew Holness has described Monday’s mass demolition at Cooper’s Pen in Trelawny as a “humanitarian crisis”, declaring that neither he, his ministers nor the constituency’s member of parliament (MP) had prior knowledge of the...

EVICTION CRY

AN ELDERLY St Elizabeth man is appealing for the intervention of Justice Minister Delroy Chuck after a court ordered him to vacate land he has lived on for 41 years by Sunday, insisting that he is not a squatter. A disheartened William Phillips, 75,...

‘Cold ground was my bed last night’

ON TUESDAY night, Shane ‘Biggs’ Ricketts, whose house was demolished in Cooper’s Pen, Trelawny, earlier that day, could not help but reflect on Bob Marley’s hit song, Talkin Blues, in which the legendary singer declared“cold ground was my bed last...

RUDE AWAKENING

RESIDENTS OF a section of Cooper’s Pen, Trelawny, were jolted from their slumber on Tuesday morning to find a demolition crew flattening their houses in a pre-dawn operation involving bulldozers, tractors, and sledgehammers. When the hours-long...

WATER LOCKDOWN

SEVERAL PARISHES will be under water prohibition orders as of this week. The National Water Commission (NWC) announced yesterday that it will issue a water prohibition notice tomorrow, with enforcement measures taking effect on August 17. The...

CCJ under scrutiny

ALLEGATIONS THAT have emerged about the operations of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) should be urgently addressed, a former senior regional diplomat has asserted. “It is not a trivial matter, and I am hoping that those responsible for the CCJ...

TRIGGER TROUBLE

JUST 22 minutes apart on July 28, two police officers in different parishes accidentally shot themselves with licensed firearms. A few days later, a policewoman was injured after her Glock pistol was discharged inside her home, an M16 rifle was...

NEVER FORGET

DISAPPOINTMENT OVER low public turnout overshadowed St Elizabeth’s Independence Day observance on Thursday, as civic and municipal leaders gathered with only a handful of residents to mark Jamaica’s 64th year of Independence. The flag-raising...

Public-sector wage deal sealed

AFTER TOUGH and sometimes stalled negotiations between the Government and unions representing public-sector workers, an agreement has been reached on wages for the threeyear period from April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2028. St Patrice Ennis, president of...

BACK TO AFRICA

TWO NOTED advocates have welcomed a proposal by President John Mahama of the Republic of Ghana to create a pathway to citizenship for people of African descent, describing it as a major step toward the long-sought right of return to Africa. Reviving...

Samuels brands emancipation declaration a scam

VETERAN ATTORNEY Bert Samuels has delivered a stinging rebuke of Britain, describing the Emancipation Declaration read at midnight on July 31, 1838, as “a scam” that deceived the formerly enslaved and whose legacy, he argued, continues to shape...

‘THAT’S NOT FRIENDSHIP’

FORMER PRIME Minister Bruce Golding has renewed his criticism of the United States’ (US) approach to Jamaica and the wider Caribbean, arguing that Washington’s recent demands and policies are putting smaller states under increasing pressure and do not...

BRAKES ON FIFA FORWARD

MICHAEL RICKETTS, president of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), said he is confident his directors will vote to reject FIFA President Giovanni Infantino’s ‘FIFA Forward Enterprise’ proposal when it convenes for an emergency meeting at midday...

LICENSED TO DEAL

THE GRANTING of Jamaica’s first casino gaming licence is expected to pave the way for additional integrated resort developments (IRDS), with at least three other investors, including for the proposed Hard Rock Hotel in St James, already expressing...