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So, finally, there is public admission of what we all knew from daily experience: that the government is unable to meet the cost of good education for everyone. What a deceitful charade this has been
The EDITOR, Madam:Fatherhood is often described as a journey of joy, pride, and responsibility. For me, becoming a father has been all of those things, but also a sobering lesson in the realities faced by working‑class families
There is a risk that the opportunity presented by Hurricane Melissa to address land tenure, fragile housing, and their wider social consequences will be missed. Jamaica Institution of Engineers’ post-Hurricane Melissa assessments suggest that informal housing was approximately 18 times more likely to suffer severe damage than formal housing
The EDITOR, Madam:The June 13 Gleaner editorial, Lessons from Cox's Bazar, deserves commendation for elevating a discussion that is too often (cynically) reduced to questions of border control, administrative convenience, by, I dare say, the billionaire-aligned expediency of the current Jamaican State.The plight of the Rohingya is indeed a stark reminder of the human consequences of statelessness. It is also a timely warning to the Caribbean
Wayne Henry’s endorsement of the idea of work-from-home and other flexible and staggered work schedules to save fuel intuitively, and on the basis of past evidence, makes sense.What Dr Henry and the agency he leads, the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), must now do is support the proposal with publicly available analytic data and centre concept in a broader public transportation policy.At the same time the PIOJ should also publicly share its analysis of the likely effect on commuting on the government’s decision to raise the weekly price cap - by 178 per cent - on the price of diesel, rather than apply the mechanism to all categories of automotive fuels. This policy, on its face, will primarily affect, or have its greatest impact on the drivers of large, diesel-powered sports utility vehicles, which are favoured by government ministers, and goods haulage public transportation
Proud I am that the only UN body that is headquartered in a developing country is in Jamaica. It is a big deal
Two statements by Delroy Chuck in Parliament last week are in need of clarification, and perhaps, with respect to the second, a correction of the record.In his contribution to the sector debates, Mr Chuck, the legal and constitutional affairs minister, addressed the old debate over whether Jamaica should leave the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC), and if it does, what should be the island’s final court. He expressed a preference for a domestic, or Jamaican final court.What is not absolutely certain is on whose behalf Mr Chuck spoke, also it is presumed that when ministers speak in these debates, they carry the imprimatur of their official positions and the weight of the collective responsibility of the Cabinet, although they also tend to veer constituency issues
‘Supporting oversight’ is how The Gleaner editorial of June 2, summed up former Prime Minister Bruce Golding’s remarks at a recent Jamaica Accountability Meter Portal symposium. Golding’s comments came during a time when public outrage and INDECOM’s speedy investigations prompted the quick laying of charges against the police officer implicated in Latoya Bulgin’s killing, at a time when the Constitutional Court overruled the prime minister’s grant of a mining permit to Bengal Development Limited and at a time when the government passed the NaRRA legislation without meaningful public consultation or adequate oversight
There are moments in a nation’s life when the air feels heavier than the headlines. Jamaica is in one of those moments now, a moment when the public can sense that something deeper than a policy dispute is unfolding even if they cannot yet name it
We are once again in the dreaded hurricane season. It begins on June 1 and ends on November 30 each year
Zeno Obi Constance is by far the best in the Caribbean and beyond. This article is part of an attempt to reach, teach and increase our knowledge and commitment to our development.Lord Melody (Fitzroy Alexander), was a Trinidadian calypsonian best known for ‘singles such as Boo Boo Man, Creature From The Black Lagoon, Shame & Scandal, Jonah and the Bake, Juanita, and Rastaman Be Careful
Small and medium-size states, from the most vulnerable island nations to more diversified middle-income economies, have always faced a difficult reality. They have to navigate a world in which power is unevenly distributed and in which the decisions of larger countries can have profound consequences for their security, prosperity, and independence.For decades, however, there was a degree of predictability in international affairs
It isn’t a name that’s familiar to the people of Jamaica, or the wider Caribbean –Cox’s Bazar.Cox’s Bazar is a 13 square kilometre tent city in Bangladesh. The people who live there, 1.2 million Rohingyas from Myanmar, are not without relevance to Jamaica and the Caribbean
Gatorade Jamaica has officially announced an exciting one-year brand ambassadorship with 19-year-old rising football star Jaileah McPherson. The standout captain of the Jamaica Reggae Girlz Under-20 team joins the Gatorade family as the face of the brand’s localized “No Shortcuts, Wi Sweat Hard” campaign
I remember clearly when the National Housing Trust (NHT) was established in 1976; I was in my 20s. In 1975 the total national budget was roughly J$800 million, and Jamaica had an acute housing shortage
There is a notable takeaway from the auditor-general’s (AuG) review of capital projects by the National Water Commission (NWC), which has thus far received little attention. Because it is unstated.The problems highlighted by the AuG were not ones of constraints in the government’s public procurement system, which has increasingly become the catch-all, or go-to excuse, for the failures of, or delays in, public projects
The last few weeks have been particularly rich for migration dialogues in the Caribbean. Moving between global, regional and national spaces, I’m encouraged by how they point in the same direction: migration is now firmly recognized as a development issue as the region is getting ready to move from commitment to action.At the International Migration Review Forum (IMRF), held at the UN General Assembly in New York from May 5–8, the strong presence of Caribbean delegations was noticeable, with 10 countries attending, including Ministerial representation from Barbados and Belize
Christopher Brown, the Opposition’s spokesman on science and technology, made compelling observations about the disengagement of Jamaicans from the political process and why legislators should be concerned about, and be at the forefront of efforts to stem, this retreat.Mr Brown reopened an issue that has been subjected to periodic but insufficiently sustained debate in Jamaica — at least not by the right people: practising politicians. In that regard, this is hopefully not a mere passing flash, driven by soundbites aimed at showcasing his appreciation of ‘big’ issues and grabbing headlines
Another FIFA World Cup competition is here. This is usually highly anticipated worldwide, and there is friendly rivalry among countries
Former Prime Minister Bruce Golding’s reminder that the impeachment bill he first tabled a decade and a half ago remains in legislative limbo and deserves a response from Prime Minister Andrew Holness on the current position on the issue.The idea is one of the several governance-related proposals on which Dr Holness campaigned ahead his Jamaica Labour Party’s return to office that have seen little or no movement in the decade since he has been in office. Term limits for prime ministers, for instance, is another of them.Mr Golding’s revival of the impeachment question as well as his separate recent intervention on the value of citizens’ oversight of government are likely to be good for the confidence of good-governance campaigners who often fall under searing criticism for public officials who feel themselves victimised.But more importantly, it will, hopefully, stir Prime Minister Holness to seriously engage the political opposition in the constitutional reform dialogue he promised at his swearing-in ceremony after last September’s general election
Road traffic crashes remain one of Jamaica’s most persistent and preventable crises. Every year, families bury loved ones who left home and never returned - not because of violence or illness but because of a collision that could have been avoided.The tragedy is not that we do not understand the problem
Jamaica may be experiencing a cultural shift that is transforming how learners engage with curriculum and pedagogy. Young people are quietly being taught that influence is more valuable than discipline, visibility more profitable than skill, and fast money more respectable than slow development
The flat rejection by Firearms Licensing Authority (FLA) chairman, retired judge Glenworth Brown, of the authority continuing to seek judicial review of the Integrity Commission’s (IC) report on alleged corruption at the authority places squarely on the table questions of how authority’s governors will deal with the commission’s findings. These include whether they continue to have confidence in the organisation’s management.The Gleaner’s editorial board presumes that Justice Brown spoke with the full authority of his board when he told Nationwide Radio last week that from his stand point, the FLA’s failure in its initial stab at engineering the review was “the end of the matter”.Further, on a full reading of Justice Brown’s interview, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to conclude that he - if not the entire board - was sceptical of the FLA’s possibility of a success in convincing a judge there were merits to its arguments for a judicial review
A few weeks ago, people found themselves having a conversation that stretched far beyond our shores. It was a conversation about language, but it was also a conversation about identity, history, and cultural confidence.What surprised me most was not the debate itself but where it travelled.What began in the Parliament quickly reached audiences in Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, Ghana
Often, there is a public clash between the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) and the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM). Commissioner Kevin Blake argues that officers deserve support when confronting dangerous criminals; INDECOM presses for stronger accountability measures and body-worn cameras
In 1950, the West Indies team won, for the first time, against the English! Immediately, one of the greats, the Lord Beginner (Egbert Moore), one of the great calypsonians, came up with one of his best songs ever, Victory Test Match. Interestingly, after so many years later, the female cricketers of the Caribbean are back in England for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026
Antigua and Barbuda is one of the smaller countries of the Caribbean. Yet, small states have often advanced ideas that have significance beyond their size
Christopher Tufton is right to place parenting among five critical pillars to be addressed as Jamaica seeks to reverse its stagnant - and declining - population growth.For the health minister suggested in his recent intervention in Parliament’s sectoral debate, success in any campaign for people to have more children without the supporting infrastructure, including the capacity to parent, is a likely recipe for social dysfunction.“The Government is not asking Jamaicans to have children or statistical reasons,” Tufton told legislators. “It is committed to building conditions where family formation is genuinely affordable, structurally supported, and celebrated.”In the 11 years between the previous census and the one completed in 2022, Jamaica’s population grew by only 2.8 per cent
