Janet Silvera/Gleaner Writer

The RIU team preparing water to be dispatched with food organised in collaboration with World Central Kitchen.
December 9, 2025 by Janet Silvera

RIU, World Central Kitchen serve thousands of hot meals to Melissa survivors

WESTERN BUREAU: When Category 5 Hurricane Melissa tore through Jamaica on October 28, thousands of families were left without electricity, gas, or clean water. In the storm’s aftermath, RIU Resorts…
Architectural designer and construction manager, Curtis Hylton, lead for the St James chapter of the Small Business Association of Jamaica.
December 9, 2025 by Janet Silvera

Container homes proposed as quick fix for hurricane homelessness

WESTERN BUREAU: Architectural designer and construction project manager Curtis Hylton believes that it is time for Jamaica to embrace a housing model once dismissed as “unconventional” - retrofitted…
Members of the Chinese community out of western Jamacia with Floyd Green, member of parliament for St Elizabeth South Western, during a visit on Wednesday to Parottee in St Elizabeth, one of the areas hit hardest by Hurricane Melissa
December 9, 2025 by Janet Silvera

Chinese community secures $100m in hurricane relief support for western Jamaica

Western Bureau: The Chinese community in western Jamaica has secured more than $100 million in aid support to help families left homeless by Hurricane Melissa, dispatching busloads of care packages…
Edmond Bartlett, minister of tourism. FILE
December 9, 2025 by Janet Silvera

Closed hotels set timelines for reopening after hurricane

Western Bureau: The powerful Category 5 Hurricane Melissa battered Hanover, Westmoreland, Trelawny, St Elizabeth, and sections of St James, forcing temporary hotel closures and displacing hundreds of…
Laura Littlebear, vice president, Greater Good Charities.
December 9, 2025 by Janet Silvera

Bees of hope

When Hurricane Melissa flattened crops and stripped Jamaica’s hillsides bare, few thought about the smallest victims – the bees. But for Laura Littlebear of Greater Good Charities, saving these…
Residents scramble to get gasolene for their vehicles, generators and the like at Total gas station, Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland, on October 31.
December 9, 2025 by Janet Silvera

Cash proves it’s king in aftermath of Melissa

WESTERN BUREAU: When Fernando Davis stepped out last Saturday morning, four days after Hurricane Melissa battered Jamaica, he thought recovery had begun…with money in his account, a charged phone, and…
Gregory McMichael at the S Hotel in Montego Bay, St James.
December 9, 2025 by Janet Silvera

Hotel gets ‘10-star’ praise amid hurricane

WESTERN BUREAU: When Hurricane Melissa howled through Montego Bay, St James, most of the tourism capital’s guests prayed for safety. Gregory McMichael got something more – comfort, care, and the calm…
The three top chefs at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis, headed by Executive Chef Rohan Leach (right), who is originally from Portland; Executive Sous Chef Akieme Evans (centre), and Senior Banquet Chef Pamela Daniels.
December 9, 2025 by Janet Silvera

J’can executive chef, Rohan Leach, serves up excellence in Atlanta

WESTERN BUREAU: When guests walk into the grand atrium of the Atlanta Marriott Marquis, few realise that behind the scenes of its bustling restaurants, banquet halls, and 5,000-seat ballroom is a…
Delicious jerk-marinated lamb chops with potato-pumpkin purée and garlic-buttered vegetables on display during a cooking class at the Hyatt Ziva and Zilara Montego Bay on Tuesday.
December 9, 2025 by Janet Silvera

Women stirring the pot of change at Hyatt Ziva and Zilara

WESTERN BUREAU: The scent of jerk spice filled the terrace at Hyatt Ziva and Zilara Montego Bay, but something far richer was simmering, a story of perseverance, empowerment, and Jamaican pride.…