Commentary

Judge Patrick Robinson
December 9, 2025

Patrick Robinson | Track and field athletics is number one

Jamaica has been placed in what is, perhaps, the weakest qualification group – Jamaica, Bermuda, Curaçao and Trinidad and Tobago – ever created in the history of the World Cup. If the Reggae Boyz do…
A house in Elderslie, St Elizabeth badly damaged by Hurricane Melissa.
December 9, 2025

Kristen Gyles | Better safe than sorry

Jamaica is very highly prone to natural disasters and specifically hurricanes, considering its position in the Atlantic hurricane belt. Although the last time we got a direct hit from a hurricane…
Damion Crawford, opposition spokesman on education.
December 9, 2025

Editorial | Melissa and voluntarism

The Gleaner notes, and supports, Damion Crawford’s renewed proposal that Jamaica establishes a department of voluntarism to register – and align skills to needs – people who want to volunteer their…
December 9, 2025

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva | COP30, the moment of truth

TODAY IN the Brazilian Amazon, the Belém Summit opens ahead of the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30). I have convened world leaders in the days leading up to the COP so that we can…
Members of the Jamaica Defence Force, aided by a volunteer from Australia, pull a downed concrete power pole from the roadway on October 29, after the passage of Hurricane Melissa.
December 9, 2025

Basil Jarrett | The need for a strong volunteer army

IT PAINS me, no, shames me to say this, but prior to the events of October 28, I had never heard of the Council of Volunteer and Support Services (CVSS). I know. I’m utterly embarrassed to admit this.…
Minister of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon (left), listens to Hidran McKulsky, principal of Manchester-based Holmwood Technical High School, while on a visit to the institution on Sunday to see the extent of the hurr
December 9, 2025

Editorial | Melissa, reading and rebuilding

T he Gleaner welcomes the appreciation by Education Minister Dana Morris Dixon of the urgency of placing children back into a learning mode after last week’s destruction by Hurricane Melissa,…
Rising underground water, which occurred after Hurricane Melissa in a section of Content, Williamsfield, Manchester, has flooded several houses and the roadway, making it impassable. On Wednesday, persons were drawn to the community to witness the strange
December 9, 2025

Elizabeth Morgan | After Melissa: Have we weathered the storm and passed the worst?

LAST WEEK in this column, we were anticipating the arrival of the unknown quantity for Jamaica, Category 5 Hurricane Melissa, and lamenting our national disregard for consistent, proper maintenance of…
EU Ambassador Dr Erja Askola delivers remarks during Monday’s handing over of emergency supplies following Hurricane Melissa. Foreign Affairs Minister Kamina Johnson Smith (right) and European partners look on.
December 9, 2025

John Azar | Transparent and inclusive approach needed to aid distribution

EVEN AS we give thanks that Kingston and other areas in Jamaica were spared the worst of Hurricane Melissa, the scale of devastation elsewhere is heartbreaking. It is far worse than even the most…
Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness. - File photo.
December 9, 2025

Editorial | PM should attend COP30

It would be understandable if Prime Minister Andrew Holness wants to remain at home, to directly oversee his government’s response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa a week ago. Not only…