If Henrietta Adina Williams, popularly known as ‘Miss Heady’, divulges her age to those who do not know her personally, the disclosure could be met with gasps of denial as her physical appearance belies the century she has scored so far. Perhaps...
Twenty-one-year-old Jayanne Booth, a University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech) student, says the past two years of her life were a nightmare, marked by fear, uncertainty, and emotional distress after she was arrested, detained for 24 hours, and...
Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis has indicated that the actions of those behind the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) customs tax-evasion scandal served to facilitate private entities in dodging taxes, thereby diverting resources...
The Ministry of Health and Wellness has missed another deadline of November 2025 to clear a backlog of appropriation accounts dating back to 2013. Appropriation accounts spanning the fiscal years 2013-2014 to 2019-2020 with an approved budget of $...
The board of the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) has reported “specific matters” from a report on the procurement activities of the hospital to the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s Fraud Squad and the Jamaica Customs Agency. Following the...
Exposing a glaring practice by the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI), of utilising a retrospective process to validate procurements, Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis says this action by the institution served to corrupt the process...
Newly appointed Principal Director of the National Integrity Action (NIA), Dr Gavin Myers, has signalled that he intends to continue the strong advocacy of the organisation as it pushes for good governance and integrity in the public service....
Trade unionist Senator Lambert Brown has condemned the practice by some regional health authorities of diverting employees’ deductions – intended for standing order obligations – to other uses such as overtime payments. The issue was raised on...
A key sector leader has argued that despite the severe disruptions caused by Hurricane Melissa, which the International Monetary Fund estimates could depress economic output by between eight and 13 per cent in the short term, Jamaica’s...
Making a case for more meaningful support from the Government toward one of the country’s long-standing industries, Donald Salmon, president of the Jamaica Coffee Growers Association, says coffee farmers in the island have been facing a tough time...
For nearly three decades, Donald Berry has put his energy and passion into producing Blue Mountain Coffee, and has had setbacks in the past. However, with the passage of Hurricane Melissa, he thought long and hard about throwing in the towel after...
A prominent trade union leader has welcomed a recent move by the Industrial Disputes Tribunal (IDT) to publish its awards and related industrial relations resources on its website, describing the development as long overdue and highly beneficial to...
Hit with losses estimated at $1 billion from the devastating effects of Hurricane Melissa, the local coffee industry yesterday received 5,000 bags of fertiliser and other key agricultural inputs valued at $35 million from the Jamaica Agricultural...
State Minister for Finance and the Public Service Zavia Mayne has filed a lawsuit against the Integrity Commission (IC), asking the court to quash the ruling of the director of corruption prosecution that he should be charged for breaching Section...
Senior figures within Jamaica’s media landscape have strongly rejected a call from a government lawmaker to reinstate criminal libel, arguing that such a move would roll back hard-won press freedoms secured under the Defamation Act of 2013. Former...
A senior official in the Ministry of Education says community colleges heavily damaged by Hurricane Melissa have received interim clean-up grants to help remove debris from their campuses. With concerns growing over the disruption facing students...
The Ministry of Health and Wellness is reporting 11 cases of leptospirosis following the passage of Hurricane Melissa. According to Dr Karen Webster Kerr, principal medical officer and national epidemiologist, the cases are spread across St James,...
Damage to Jamaica’s agriculture and fisheries sector from Hurricane Melissa is estimated at nearly $30 billion. The Category Five storm, whose local death toll officials placed at 45 on Tuesday, tore through parishes that produce the island’s...
The Auditor General’s Department is conducting a real-time audit to assess the transparency and accountability of resources received and utilised under the Hurricane Melissa relief initiative. The Pamela Monroe-Ellis-led department is seeking to...
A leading disaster-mitigation specialist and a social-development specialist have both cautioned against placing the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) under the jurisdiction of the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM),...
At least one economist has indicated that the damage to the country’s infrastructure, spanning housing, water, electricity, telecommunications, and roads could reach an estimated US$16 billion (J$2.5 trillion) or potentially up to at least 75 per...
Almost a week after Hurricane Melissa delivered a catastrophic blow to sections of southern and western Jamaica, the Government reported yesterday that there are still 25 marooned communities. As the cry for food, water and other items of need gets...
Information Minister Dr Dana Morris Dixon has confirmed that Jamaica’s catastrophe bond has been triggered following the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa. The Government is expected to announce today whether there will be a full payout of US...
There was a pall of gloom hanging over Black River, St Elizabeth, yesterday, as four bodies, three men and a woman, were discovered after being washed up by floodwaters generated by the fury of Category 5 Hurricane Melissa. Many people were trapped...
The Government says it is ramping up its preparation efforts as Tropical Storm Melissa approaches Jamaica, with various state agencies and ministries working to ensure that essential services remain available to the public. Forecasters warn that...
