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Abeng — Jamaica news

Dragon boat ‘twins’ begin to make a name
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Dragon boat ‘twins’ begin to make a name

Kashane and Ashane might sound like names given to twins. However, it is sheer coincidence that a mere ‘K’ separates two professional bodybuilders of no relation who happened to make their dragon-boat debuts for Jamaica in The Bahamas two weekends ago.Kashane McFarlene and Ashane Gordon-Morrison turned heads and drove the fear of strength into other competitors at the May 2-3 Bahamas International Dragon Boat Festival, moving even rivals to share tips on technique, which, they assured, if mastered, would make Jamaica “unbeatable” with an athletic team featuring former footballer Rushaine Tyrell as well as martial artists Richard Stone, Akino Lindsay and Nicholai Reid.Introduced to the sport by a fellow gym enthusiast familiar with Jamaica’s dragon-boat captain, Jason McKay, Kashane and Ashane jumped at the opportunity to represent their country in a second sport.Both returned home as members of the team that lowered the mixed 200-metre with a time of 1:01.82.“The first time I tried dragon-boat racing, I was like, ‘Wow! This is a new experience’, something vastly different from anything I have ever done, my first time doing any watersport, first time paddling a boat,” said Kashane, who competes in men’s physique bodybuilding as an International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation (IFBB) pro.Ashane, who started competing locally in 2019 and was women’s physique champion from 2019-2024 before going pro in 2025, said she is now in love with dragon-boat racing.“I love it

Tufton announces $1b injection to create infrastructure maintenance facility; new fund to tackle social determinants of health
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Tufton announces $1b injection to create infrastructure maintenance facility; new fund to tackle social determinants of health

Amid ongoing complaints about the state of infrastructure in the health sector, the Government will, this year, be pumping $1 billion into the establishment of its Health Infrastructure Maintenance Fund (HIMF), through which a range of initiatives are to be established this year with the aim of addressing ongoing concerns about the rundown state of facilities in the health sector as well as tackle the social factors that play a role in determining the poor state of health of large segments of the Jamaican population.Chief among the initiatives announced by Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton yesterday is the pumping of $1 billion into completing the work needed ahead of full rollout of a new Health Infrastructure Maintenance Fund (HIMF) as well as the establishment of a $500-million Social Determinants of Health CARE Fund, which will focus on 10 specific areas impacting health.Making his contribution to the 2026-2027 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives yesterday, Tufton said preparatory work on the HIMF had already started under the Health Infrastructure Planning and Project Management Division in the ministry and that former regional director of the Western Regional Health Authority (WRHA) St Andrade Sinclair has been shifted to his ministry’s head office to develop this new function.“This fund will be financed through a percentage of the health budget dedicated to a process of routine and unexpected maintenance through a series of specific initiatives involving establishing baseline inventory logging, establishing routine maintenance schedules, and outsourcing the monitoring and maintenance of our health infrastructure, with a focus on mechanical, electrical, and plumbing and air conditioning or HVAC and elevator services,” Tufton said.Tufton said the intention is to develop operational manuals and terms of reference and performance criteria with critical success factors and outsource the routine maintenance of these specific functions for health facilities.“We expect to use this financial year to complete the work for full rollout next financial year based on a free pilot this year. Approximately J$1 billion has been earmarked in this year's budget for this new function