Kimone Francis - Senior Staff Reporter

Rachel Martinez
September 13, 2026 Kimone Francis - Senior Staff Reporter

Fleeing Cuba, finding Jamaica

There is a quiet surge in the number of Cubans seeking temporary residence in Jamaica, with approvals by the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA) increasing by 60 per cent over the last five years. Official PICA data obtained by The Sunday Gleaner through the Access to Information (ATI) Act reveals that temporary residence permits granted to Cubans rose from 374 in the 2021-2022 financial year to 601 in 2025-2026. The steady upward trajectory was marked by 435 approvals in 2022-2023, 297 in 2023-2024, and 421 in 2024-2025.

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Chester Chambers, a former emergency medical technician.
06 Sep, 2026 0

Ambulance errors - Door opens to expose lack of inspections, questions over state of private emergency services

A botched emergency response at a multi-vehicle crash scene on Norman Manley Boulevard in Negril, Westmoreland, has led to the disclosure by the Ministry of Health and Wellness that the ambulance and…
Petersfield High School security guard Joan Forbes Scarlett is unsure how her children’s back-to-school expenses will eb met for them to start school next week. Having lost their home to Hurricane Melissa, her family now lives in an unfinished abandoned
30 Aug, 2026 0

‘Mi nuh have it’

For a year, her voice has been the steady authority at the gates of Petersfield High School in Westmoreland, shouldering the job of keeping hundreds of students safe behind the institution’s walls.…
Plastic bottles and other waste from other countries washed ashore in Holland Bay, St Thomas.
09 Aug, 2026 0

Plastic tide

A heavy influx of foreign plastic waste bearing Spanish and French labels is piling up along Jamaica’s eastern coastline, creating a severe environmental hazard that threatens marine life and the food…
06 May, 2026 0

Critical condition – UHWI review committee lists finances, governance structure among slew of woes crippling hospital
Prolonged governance failures at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) have left the type A teaching institution in an “intensive care unit” state, the Institutional Review Committee…
Executive Director of the National Solid Waste Management Authority, Audley Gordon.
26 Apr, 2026 0

No qualifications, no problem at NSWMA

An internal audit has uncovered irregular human resource practices at the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA), including the appointment of four senior directors who did not meet the…
National Solid Waste Management Authority’s head offices on Half Way Tree Road in St Andrew.
26 Apr, 2026 0

NSWMA hiring row sparks two-year tension between senior officials

An “irregular” recruitment exercise at the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) has triggered a two-year impasse between the entity’s executive director and its internal audit manager,…
The National Housing Trust’s head offices in New Kingston.
04 Apr, 2026 0

Banks to pocket billions from NHT mortgage outsourcing

The National Housing Trust (NHT) has funnelled $1.1 billion to private banks to subsidise its External Financing Mortgage Programme (EFMP), a move that effectively outsources its mortgage book to…
William Squier Gonzalez, UNOPS portfolio development adviser for Latin America and the Caribbean, speaking with The Sunday Gleaner at the newspaper’s North Street offices last Thursday.
29 Mar, 2026 0

No solo rebuild

The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) is warning that Jamaica’s recovery from the destruction of Hurricane Melissa will rise or fall on a single factor: Government, private interests,…
Transport Minister Daryl Vaz pours rum on one of the buses procured for the rural school bus programme during a blessing ceremony at Jamaica House in St Andrew in August 2025.
22 Feb, 2026 0

WARNING LIGHTS

The watchdog signed off — but not before it barked. Access to Information documents obtained by The Sunday Gleaner reveal that the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) warned the transport ministry…