The Government will be eliminating additional tuition fees at the HEART/NSTA Trust in an effort to broaden access to skills training. Prime Minister, Dr Andrew Holness, has announced that beginning in fiscal year 2026/27, fees for all programmes up to Level Five will be removed. He made the announcement during his contribution to the 2026/27 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives on Thursday,

A Portmore, St Catherine man who pleaded guilty to breaking into a church twice and stealing items was on Thursday sentenced to two years and six months’ imprisonment. Robert Barnett, otherwise called ‘Mogo’, was charged with one count of sacrilege and one count of housebreaking with intent. During sentencing, Senior Parish Court Judge Desiree Alleyne read his social enquiry report and described it as very unfavourable. It was noted that despite his mental health history, the report indicated that he was fit to plead.

Signalling that delays in the implementation of critical national investment projects will soon be a thing of the past, Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has indicated that his administration is advancing two powerful and complementary reforms – one aimed at building public infrastructure and the other focusing on accelerating and attracting transformational private investment. After making his contribution to the 2026-2027 Budget Debate in Parliament yesterday, the prime minister tabled legislation to establish the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA).

Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness’s assertion that gender is limited to male and female has sparked both backlash and praise, with critics contending that his remark points to a shifting global attitude towards the LGBTQIA+ community. “The comment is disappointing and unnecessary,” Glenroy Murray, executive director of Equality for All Foundation, told The Gleaner.

The Government has been ordered to pay almost $80 million to a man with dozens of fraud-related convictions after he languished in prison for six years and 11 months or 2,504 days in excess of his sentence mainly because of an administrative error by prison authorities. The Supreme Court yesterday ordered that Ray Morgan be paid $60 million or an average $23,962 per day in compensatory damages, $10 million in vindicatory damages, and $9 million in special damages, ending a lawsuit he filed against the State.

Veteran trade unionist John Levy has poured cold water on Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness’ announcement of a reduction in housing interest rates for some civil servants, arguing that the National Housing Trust (NHT) is being misused. Levy, general secretary of the Union of Clerical, Administrative and Supervisory Employees (UCASE), told The Gleaner yesterday that successive administrations have “tinkered” with the Trust in ways that satisfy only a limited group of the population.

Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has sought to counter a growing argument that Jamaica abandoned Cuba when his administration ended the 50-year medical cooperation programme earlier this month, insisting that the Government has stood up for its Caribbean neighbour. Speaking in the House of Representatives yesterday, while making his contribution to the 2026-2027 Budget Debate, Holness reiterated the Government’s position that aspects of the programme, including how medics were being paid, run counter to local laws and several international conventions.

Signalling that delays in the implementation of critical national investment projects will soon be a thing of the past, Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has indicated that his administration is advancing two powerful and complementary reforms – one aimed at building public infrastructure and the other focusing on accelerating and attracting transformational private investment. After making his contribution to the 2026-2027 Budget Debate in Parliament yesterday, the prime minister tabled legislation to establish the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA).

WESTERN BUREAU: Sandals Resorts International is turning disruption into opportunity, announcing a US$200-million (J$32.4-billion) investment to transform three of its flagship Jamaican properties in what executives describe as a rare chance to “dream bigger” following the impact of Hurricane Melissa. The sweeping redevelopment will see Sandals Montego Bay, Sandals Royal Caribbean and Sandals South Coast undergo a comprehensive ‘Sandals 2.0’ reimagination, with phased reopenings set for late 2026.

Just months after losing her entire pumpkin crop to Hurricane Melissa, 30-year-old St Elizabeth farmer Sherka Graham is facing the same predicament once again. This time, the culprit is a fungus, causing black rot to appear on the crop. It has destroyed the more than 8,000 pounds of pumpkin on her five-acre farm.

A forensic crime scene investigator (FCSI), called by the Crown as a witness in the ongoing Clansman Gang trial, yesterday gave brief testimony linking his role to the escorting of evidence in the murder case involving William Christian. Christian, a government worker and businessman, was killed in April 2020. Defendants Michael Wildman and Lamar Rowe are charged with Christian’s murder on count 19 of the 32-count indictment.

Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness comes to the proverbial wicket today to make his 11th contribution to the yearly Budget Debate at a time when the country is said to be transitioning from recovery to reconstruction post-hurricane Melissa. Jamaica also, like many other countries, now faces mounting threats to its fiscal targets with the intensifying conflict in the Middle East and its related impact on oil prices.

Outgoing Commissioner of Customs Dr Velma Ricketts Walker says one of the most important achievements during her tenure was the ongoing transformation and strengthening of the Jamaica Customs Agency (JCA) into a modern, professional, and resilient organisation. Over her near decade-long leadership of the JCA, Ricketts Walker said modernisation efforts were advanced, governance and integrity systems enhanced, intelligence-driven enforcement boosted, and trade facilitation processes improved to better support Jamaica’s economic growth and national security.

An older couple from the Norman Gardens community in Kingston is among many Jamaicans left frustrated and disappointed by the departure of Cuban medical personnel who have served on the island for five decades. “My husband is one of the beneficiaries of the Cuban medical professionals. He had one of his eyes done at St Joseph’s Hospital and was supposed to get the other one done, but when he went back, they sent him to KPH (Kingston Public Hospital) because the Cubans have gone home,” the man’s 61-year-old wife, who gave her name as Joy British, told The Gleaner.

WESTERN BUREAU: Retired Brigadier Radgh Mason, the commissioner of corrections, says a new rehabilitation programme for sex offenders, aimed at giving those individuals a chance to change their behaviour and making it easier for them to reintegrate into society, is set to launch this year. Mason, who was speaking at last week’s opening of the Montego Bay Probation Office, said the new facility would be crucial in safeguarding vulnerable members of society.

A sharp courtroom clash over the alleged videotaping of defendants set the tone for proceedings in the Supreme Court yesterday,before a police prosecution witness later identified two of the accused men in connection with the 2020 murder of William Christian. Tension first surfaced around claims that police officers were seen capturing images of the men as they were being transported from court last week, an issue defence attorney Tamika Harris insisted was both real and serious but which the prosecution dismissed as a “distraction”.

Opposition Leader Mark Golding is proposing a digital dragnet that he says could cut tax leakages and pump approximately $70 billion into the Government’s coffers while describing the Holness administration’s $18-billion tax package as “unimaginative”. Golding, who was making his contribution to the 2026-2027 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives, said yesterday that the proposal, which “urgently needs to be pursued”, is an alternative to the Government’s incoherent plan put forward to fund the Budget.

WESTERN BUREAU: Montego Bay Mayor Richard Vernon wants the Auditor General’s Department to provide an update on the post-Hurricane Melissa arrangement between the Government and the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) to restore electricity, citing concerns about the lack of working street lights in several sections of St James.

WESTERN BUREAU: Superintendent of Police Coleridge Minto, the commander for St Elizabeth, is raising concern about the fact that some 400 students from across the parish have not returned to school since the passage of Hurricane Melissa last October. According to Minto, who was addressing last Thursday’s monthly meeting of the St Elizabeth Municipal Corporation, the figure was derived from checks conducted by members of the police’s Community Safety and Security Branch at schools across the parish.

The absence of several defence attorneys in the fraud trial involving former Education Minister Ruel Reid and his co-accused forced an adjournment of the matter in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court yesterday. The case was scheduled to resume with the cross-examination of a senior Ministry of Finance official by attorney Hugh Wildman. However, when the matter was called up, none of the defence lawyers were present, prompting the court to briefly stand down to allow attempts to contact the attorneys.

A relative of slain businessman William Christian took the witness stand on Monday in the ongoing Clansman Gang trial, identifying items belonging to the deceased and rejecting suggestions that the former Ministry of Transport employee was involved in questionable activities. The evidence-in-chief surrounds count 19 of the 32-count indictment where Michael Wildman and Lamar Rowe are charged with the April 2020 murder of Christian. Both men pleaded not guilty.

Despite not being able to implement policy decisions from his position in Parliament, much is expected when Opposition Leader Mark Golding makes his presentation this afternoon in the 2026–2027 Budget Debate at Gordon House. Golding, the third speaker in the annual debate, will take the floor after Opposition finance spokesman Julian Robinson spoke last Thursday in response to Finance Minister Fayval Williams, who opened the debate last Tuesday.

It is costing Caribbean nations a combined US$190 billion to deal with the effects of crime and violence, an official at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has revealed. Jason Wilks, senior sector specialist at the IDB, says this accounts for 3.7 per cent of gross domestic product for countries in the Caribbean. Despite this, Wilks said Caribbean countries are spending “maybe US$15 billion to US$20 billion” on compliance.

WESTERN BUREAU: While environmental activists are seemingly not thrilled about Sandals International’s proposal to build overwater suites in proximity to its Sandals Montego Bay property, some residents of the nearby Flanker community have no issue with it.

Western Bureau: Lucea Mayor Sheridan Samuels, who is spearheading the call for a national response to the spate of recent floodings in Hanover, believes the dredging of the town’s harbour to address the build-up of silt is key to solving the problem. According to Samuels, who grew up in Lucea as a child, the regular flooding that is now taking place did not occur in former years; and while acknowledging the role of climate change in the weather pattern, and the fact that the town is below sea level, he believes dredging is at least a part of the answer to the problem.

Auditor General (AuG) Pamela Monroe Ellis says the Jamaican Government has laid a solid foundation for the country’s climate response, but is warning of the absence of climate legislation to create legally enforceable standards and oversight mechanisms. Her assessment was made in a 27-page report on Jamaica’s climate response, tabled in the House of Representatives last week.

Fiscal Commissioner Courtney Williams has sounded a warning that the geopolitical tensions in the Middle East are posing a material risk to the Jamaican economy, and that a prolonged conflict could lead to worsened terms of trade and amplified price pass-through effects, along with higher production costs, as well as dampened economic activity and confidence.

CMC A new report by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has highlighted progress in the adoption of front-of-package warning labelling systems for food products in the Region of the Americas, including the Caribbean, and has identified opportunities to strengthen these policies to protect public health.

Several food items imported from Jamaica for the United States (US) market have remained scarce since Hurricane Melissa, leaving restaurant operators and other consumers in the diaspora and beyond facing higher prices and potentially impacting business operations, as well as a connection to the traditional tastes and dishes from the island. Among the items in short supply are ackee, callaloo, Jamaican green bananas, Scotch bonnet pepper and yams.

The Government is aiming, within the next 24 months, to establish the single entity it has been touting to take charge of national roads in the country and which has been named the One Road Authority (ORA).

As global politics and international law are being redefined by current developments in the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Middle East, the issue of expanding geopolitical hegemony was among the matters raised at The University of the West Indies’ (UWI’s) Mona campus during presentations to a packed room of social scientists, academics, students, and current and past lecturers last Wednesday.

Their home is no longer a sanctuary – it’s a prison of fear. At any moment, their mentally ill relative could strike and, for Sharon Burgess* and her elderly mother, that day could be fatal. Burgess’ brother lives with them and, over the years, his violent outbursts have grown more frequent. Their house and yard has become his dumping ground. His rage-filled threats echo through the rooms, and police have been called multiple times to restore order.

WESTERN BUREAU: Garth Russell, who recently demitted office as the chief commissioner of the Scout Association of Jamaica, says he is leaving with “a heart full of gratitude and deep respect”, though his six-year tenure was marked by crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic and hurricanes Beryl and Melissa. According to Russell, the pandemic and the hurricanes not only tested the resolve of the movement but allowed scouts to practically demonstrate the Scout Law, which states that “a scout has courage in all difficulties”.

WESTERN BUREAU: A newly retrofitted probation office, which was officially commissioned into service in St James yesterday, forms a part of the Government’s continued push to strengthen rehabilitation within Jamaica’s correctional system. The commissioning was carried out by Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn, state minister in the Ministry of National Security and Peace.

Opposition Spokesman on Finance Julian Robinson has argued that meaningful growth in the Jamaican economy will remain elusive unless and until the Government takes concrete steps to unclog the bottlenecks that are preventing the full spend of the capital budget. In his contribution to the 2026-2027 Budget Debate on Thursday, Robinson contended that one of the clearest indictments of the Government’s management of the economy was the problem of the underspending of the capital budget.