Two St Ann homeowners have lost their bid for a larger payout after the Supreme Court upheld a $12-million compensation award for property acquired by the Government to facilitate the construction of Phase 2A of the Highway 2000 project.

WESTERN BUREAU: The St James Municipal Corporation (StJMC) last Thursday opened Montego Bay’s first automated car park, the first facility of its type in western Jamaica, allowing motorists who traverse the western city a location where they can park their vehicles using a modernised technological system.

The planned $58-million refurbishment of the Cross Keys Full Service Health Clinic in Manchester under the Ministry of Health and Wellness’ Operation Refresh programme has been hit by funding challenges, delaying completion and disrupting activities at the community centre where services are currently being provided.

Two members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) lost their lives, while three others were left nursing injuries following separate incidents across the island over the weekend. The incidents, which occurred in different parishes, have cast a pall over the force as investigations continue.

WESTERN BUREAU: A call has been made for Jamaicans at home and abroad to unite as a global community, speak out against injustices taking place internationally, and help strengthen their homeland. Reverend Rose Hudson-Wilkin, the suffragan bishop of Dover and Bishop in Canterbury of the Church of England, made the appeal while delivering the keynote sermon during a service held yesterday at Calvary Baptist Church in Montego Bay, St James, marking the start of this week's 11th Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference.

You are at the eve of your miracle. That is why things are getting extremely rough. Don’t give up now, please. Push on! You are about to break forth. Yes, most divinely appointed projects, dreams, visions and lives go through stages of extreme frustration. At times, it will seem as if that project will never be achieved.

Social protections as a gospel imperative ought to inform the praxis of Christian theology. We must weep and cry out for those who continue to suffer in a system that finds itself returning $770 million of the $1 billion (set aside for the Government’s Solidarity Programme) for debt reduction.

A partnership between New Broughton Primary School and the Cross Keys Branch Library in Manchester is producing encouraging results in improving children’s reading levels. The modest library building is tucked away from the town square on the road leading to New Broughton. Although traditionally associated with reading and research, the facility has evolved into a multi-purpose community resource centre, functioning as a computer café, homework centre, and a research and printing hub.

When a rare but deadly rodent-borne virus struck passengers on a cruise ship and seemed to be spreading, there were no treatments for those who fell ill and no vaccines to protect others. That was the case even though it wasn’t a novel germ that the world had never seen before, like the virus that caused the coronavirus pandemic.

Across Jamaica, service stations are increasingly serving as social gathering spots and informal taxi hubs, attracting crowds far beyond their intended purpose and raising concerns about public safety. As people congregate to socialise, await transportation or conduct business amid fuel pumps and heavy vehicular traffic, safety advocates warn that the combination of large crowds, moving vehicles and flammable fuels creates risks with potentially serious consequences.

A motorist who fled the scene of a deadly accident in Ocho Rios, St Ann, on Saturday morning was handed over to the police hours later. Reports are that the motorist was driving along Main Street about 6:10 a.m., when he lost control of the white 2014 Toyota Mark X, which ran across the roadway, mounted the sidewalk and mowed down a pedestrian before slamming into a utility pole.

A grieving family is demanding answers and the release of a post-mortem report following the death of their relative, 62-year-old Michael Neita, at Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) in Montego Bay, St James, on May 25. Neita, a tour bus operator from Tucker, Irwin in St James, was reportedly sitting on a chair in the hospital’s waiting area from May 24, when he went there complaining of abdominal pains, up to his death the following day.

WESTERN BUREAU: La Sonja Harrison, the president-elect of the Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA), is urging teachers to prepare themselves for renewed opposition to the proposed Jamaica Teaching Council (JTC) Bill, which she has described as “an ever-present danger”. 

With fraudulent social media accounts increasingly advertising homes and even purporting to offer National Housing Trust (NHT) houses for sale, members of the public are being urged to verify agents and property listings before parting with money or personal information.

Councillors at Thursday's general meeting of the St Catherine Municipal Corporation renewed calls for the construction of a new municipal building, arguing that the current facility is no longer suitable for effective governance and poses serious health risks.

WESTERN BUREAU: Andrea Purkiss, the opposition spokesman on tourism, is accusing the Government of presiding over a decline in Jamaica’s cruise tourism sector, arguing that the island is losing market share while competing Caribbean destinations enjoy record growth in passenger arrivals.

Residents of Cross Keys and more than a dozen surrounding districts are celebrating the return of their post office to the rural Manchester town after a temporary relocation to Knockpatrick left many struggling with increased travel costs and inconvenience. The facility has a long history in Cross Keys. It originally occupied a prominent position in the centre of the town square, a location that offered sweeping views of sections of Clarendon and nearby cays on clear days. 

WESTERN BUREAU: LaSonja Harrison, the president-elect of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA), on Thursday expressed disappointment with the current state of some of the schools in western Jamaica, which were impacted by Hurricane Melissa. "When I go around to the schools in the west, we still have colleagues who, when rainfall comes, are getting wet all over again, and education is expected to take place in those settings,” she said, while addressing the JTA’s St James Parish Association Annual General Meeting in Montego Bay.

Director General of the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) Dr Wayne Henry is suggesting that flexible, hybrid, and remote-work arrangements could help to manage fuel price shocks, reduce pressure on imports, and strengthen Jamaica’s economic resilience by reducing commuting activity and lowering fuel demand.

Residents of Retirement, in St James, wept openly yesterday morning as they angrily rubbished the police claim that four men who were shot and killed in an operation in the community had engaged them in a shootout.

A senior Government official has made an urgent appeal for a restart of the drawn out constitutional reform process that would remove the British Monarch as Jamaica’s head of state and urged lawmakers on the Opposition side to nudge their leader back to the negotiating table.

When the FIFA World Cup kicks off later today in Mexico, many Jamaicans in the Diaspora will be seated in front of their television sets watching the games rather than attending matches. The main reason, they say, is the high price of tickets. Allan Cunningham told The Gleaner that he would love to attend some of the matches being played in South Florida, where he lives, but the price of tickets makes that an impossibility.

Seven men were fatally shot in separate police operations across St Catherine, St Andrew and Clarendon on Tuesday, while a policeman was injured and at least five firearms were reportedly seized, in what appeared to be one of the deadliest days involving the security forces so far in 2026. The bloodiest incident unfolded shortly after 1:40 p.m. in the Bog Walk Gorge area of St Catherine, where police reported that officers came under attack and engaged armed men in a shootout. 

A performance audit has unmasked severe structural and financial challenges at the National Water Commission (NWC), revealing that the utility provider is buckling under a staggering $33-billion debt while failing to execute critical water and sewerage infrastructure upgrades.

NEW YORK: As the Caribbean communities across several states celebrate Caribbean Heritage Month, a number of planned events have been spread across the United States for June. But absent for the second straight year is a proclamation from the Trump Administration to herald the month.

Jamaicans who take over Government lands with a view to becoming owners are being warned that effective June 9, 2026, those  who squat on Crown lands will no longer be considered for a settlement programme.

Transport Minister Daryl Vaz said yesterday that he was awaiting a report about what transpired with an aircraft operated by the largest airline in Venezuela which was “forced” to land in Jamaica on Saturday.

WESTERN BUREAU: Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness wants the beneficiaries of the National Housing Trust's (NHT) Malvern service lot development in St Elizabeth to build their homes within their financial means, arguing that sustainable wealth is created gradually through responsible homeownership and careful financial planning.

Western Bureau: Hundreds of cannabis [ganja] farmers from communities across Westmoreland Western gathered in Orange Hill last Thursday for a registration drive aimed at helping them transition from the informal market into Jamaica's regulated cannabis industry.

Outgoing Jamaica Association of Principals of Secondary Schools (JAPSS) President Linvern Wright has been widely praised as a fearless advocate for education, but he says his six-year tenure was marked by major disruptions and persistent systemic challenges.

A Jamaican man is among 17 naturalised United States (US) citizens targeted by the Trump administration for denaturalisation proceedings. According to the US Department of Justice, the Jamaican national, who has not been identified, was convicted of wire fraud. The administration is seeking to revoke the citizenship of the 17 individuals, who also include persons originally from Haiti, Cuba, Colombia, Mexico, the former Yugoslavia, and the Philippines.

Another cohort of 20 celebrated a milestone after successfully completing the Conversations for Greatness (CFG) Online Programme, an eight-week course delivered by the JMMB Joan Duncan Foundation. Designed to empower individuals to unlock their full potential, Conversations for Greatness is a signature initiative of the Foundation that equips participants with practical tools to transform limiting beliefs, strengthen emotional intelligence, and lead values-based lives.

WESTERN BUREAU: Residents of the Estuary Meadows housing scheme in Irwin, St James, are up in arms over a sewage problem plaguing the community that has worsened since the passage of the Category 5 Hurricane Melissa seven months ago. Estuary Meadows, also known as The Estuary (Phase 2), is a sister scheme to the Estuary Housing Development in Friendship, St James. It was built in 2021 by construction company West Indies Home Contractors (WIHCON) and the National Housing Trust (NHT).

More than a year after their contracts were not renewed, two former University of the Commonwealth Caribbean (UCC) lecturers who believe they were unfairly dismissed are pressing the institution to reach a reasonable settlement and pay what they say they are owed.

WESTERN BUREAU:  Growing frustration over the protracted delay in carrying out infrastructure repairs at Godfrey Stewart High School in Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland, boiled over late last week as parents, school administrators and stakeholders staged a protest calling for the resumption of work on damaged buildings. The concerns centre on repair and reconstruction works being led by the National Education Trust (NET) following damage caused by Hurricane Melissa.