Albert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer

Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Desmond McKenzie, addresseing a special press briefing on Hurricane Melissa recovery at Jamaica House on November 26.
December 9, 2025 by Albert Ferguson

McKenzie: New building code coming next fiscal year

WESTERN BUREAU: Local Government and Community Development Minister Desmond McKenzie has said that the country’s new building code, which has been in gestation for nearly two decades, is scheduled for…
Local Government and Community Development Minister Desmond McKenzie (left) leading a clean-up session at the St Elizabeth Infirmary on Thursday.
December 9, 2025 by Albert Ferguson

Gov’t moving to rebuild, relocate infirmaries after hurricane

WESTERN BUREAU: Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie has issued his strongest warning yet in the wake of Hurricane Melissa’s catastrophic impact, declaring that “nowhere in Jamaica is safe…
The frame of Alson Hughes’s house in Darliston, Westmoreland, after Hurricane Melissa.
December 9, 2025 by Albert Ferguson

Hurricane Melissa wrecks Christmas for W’land families

WESTERN BUREAU For thousands of Jamaicans, the warmth of Christmas will be more than a memory this year. Hurricane Melissa, now recorded as the most violent storm ever to strike the island, has left…
Seiveright
December 9, 2025 by Albert Ferguson

Seiveright hails corporate Jamaica’s massive post-Melissa response

WESTERN BUREAU: Delano Seiveright, state minister in the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce, is applauding what he describes as “one of the strongest private-sector mobilisations in recent…
Keith Wellington, ISSA president and principal of the St Elizabeth Technical High School.
December 9, 2025 by Albert Ferguson

Not again!

WESTERN BUREAU: Principal of St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS), Keith Wellington, says the emotional toll of yet another disruption on students cannot be overlooked, especially for those…
Senator Aubin Hill (left), minister of investment, industry and commerce; Delano Seiveright, state minister in the Ministry of Industry, Investment, and Commerce, led by Gloria Henry, vice-president of the Port Authority of Jamaica, on a tour of the Monteg
December 9, 2025 by Albert Ferguson

Port Authority, BPO sector show resilience after hurricane

WESTERN BUREAU: The Port Authority of Jamaica and the Global Services Association of Jamaica (GSAJ), representing the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector, have been lauded for their rapid…
A section of a Hurricane Melissa-battered roadway in St Elizabeth.
December 9, 2025 by Albert Ferguson

‘Everything gone’

WESTERN BUREAU: Veteran fisherman Howard Moxam stood solemnly on the battered shoreline of Treasure Beach, St Elizabeth, his weathered gaze fixed on the restless sea that had stripped him of nearly…
Rosemarie Bent in a photo with persons using her home in Flagaman, St Elizebeth, as a shelter. Those persons had nowhere to go as they prepared for the Category 5 Hurricane Melissa which is expected to make landfall today.
December 9, 2025 by Albert Ferguson

Mother, son turn Flagaman home into sanctuary for persons fleeing Melissa

WESTERN BUREAU: In the hilly terrain of Flagaman, St Elizabeth, where the wind hums through sprawling melon fields and resilience grows as abundantly as the crops, melon vendor Rosemarie Bent has once…
Flagaman Community Centre in St Elizabeth, which is expected to be used as a shelter for residents in preparation for Tropical Storm Melissa which is expected to hit Jamaica over the weekend.
December 9, 2025 by Albert Ferguson

‘We’re not ready’

WESTERN BUREAU: As dark clouds gather once again over Jamaica’s southern plains, a sense of dread hangs heavy over the farming community of Flagaman, in St Elizabeth, as many residents who barely…