Sashana Small/Staff Reporter

Onlookers view houses and motor vehicles that were left submerged on Gibson Close in Mandeville, Manchester, after the passage of Hurricane Melissa.
December 9, 2025 by Sashana Small

Firefighters save Mandeville residents from flooded homes

Residents of Gibson Close, off Ward Avenue, in Mandeville had faced flooding before, but never one severe enough to submerge their homes. On Tuesday, as Hurricane Melissa battered the area,…
Betty-Lyn Brown, a 60-year-old resident of Compound in Alligator Pond, Manchester, explains how a section of her house got washed awayed during the passage of Hurricane Melissa on Tuesday.
December 9, 2025 by Sashana Small

‘I’m homeless now’

Betty-Lyn Brown struggled to hold back tears as she recounted the horror she experienced on Tuesday when Hurricane Melissa tore through her coastal community in Alligator Pond, Manchester. The…
Floodwaters cover a section of Caledonia Avenue in Mandeville, blocking access to the entrance of the Mandeville Regional Hospital after Hurricane Melissa on Tuesday.
December 9, 2025 by Sashana Small

Hundreds seek shelter in Manchester amid flooding, power outages

Flooded streets, uprooted trees, and toppled light posts littered Mandeville, Manchester, on Tuesday as Hurricane Melissa unleashed its full fury in the mid-island parish. The central parish suffered…
A stranded Rupert Roach sits on a bench at the Mandeville Regional Hospital, where he will have to wait out the hurricane before returning home.
December 9, 2025 by Sashana Small

Mandeville braces for Melissa’s wrath

As heavy rain and strong winds from Hurricane Melissa battered Mandeville on Monday afternoon, Rupert Roach sat alone on a bench in the Accident and Emergency Department at the Mandeville Regional…
Naldy Edwards (left) and Donovan Edwards, coffee farmers in Mount Airy, St Andrew, express concerns about the fate of their unpicked coffee cherries in the field if Melissa hits the island as a tropical storm or hurricane this weekend.
December 9, 2025 by Sashana Small

Mount Airy coffee farmers rush harvesting ahead of storm

The approaching Tropical Storm Melissa has forced coffee farmers in Mount Airy, St Andrew, to speed up the harvesting of their coffee cherries in an attempt to minimise potential damage from the…
Lloyd Carney, chancellor of the University of Technology and recipient of membership in the Order of Distinction in the rank of Commander, with Governor General Sir Patrick Allen during the Ceremony of Investiture and Presentation of National Honours and A
December 9, 2025 by Sashana Small

Service over self

Jamaicans are being encouraged to place greater emphasis on service to country as a vital part of nation-building. The call comes from Lloyd Carney, who was one of more than 140 Jamaicans honoured…
Dr Adrian Stokes (left), chairman of the Education Transformation Oversight Committee, and Education Minister Dr Dana Morris Dixon in conversation at an ETOC press conference yesterday.
December 9, 2025 by Sashana Small

BACK TO TALKS

Consultations are set to resume on the Jamaica Teaching Council (JTC) bill next month in a bid to advance the legislation, which stalled earlier this year because of objections from certain groups.…
Dr Adrian Stokes, chairman of the Education Transformation Oversight Committee (ETOC), gives his update on the progress of the implementation of the recommendations from the Patterson Report at a press conference at the UWI Regional Headquarters in St Andr
December 9, 2025 by Sashana Small

ETOC reports steady progress on education reform

The Education Transformation and Oversight Committee (ETOC) says implementation of the Orlando Patterson Report recommendations remains on track, with a 32 per cent progression rate achieved so far.…
Dalton Fowles, country manager, Mastercard Jamaica, presents Mastercard’s new SME Digital Payment Study during a media roundtable discussion in the Blue Mountain Room of the AC Hotel in St Andrew yesterday.
December 9, 2025 by Sashana Small

SMEs see spike in business with adoption of digital payment systems

Jamaican small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that have embraced digital payments have seen significant growth in their businesses, a recent Mastercard study has revealed. The study, conducted…