PNP councillor resigns in Westmoreland as Integrity Commission files annual report

The People’s National Party has lost a recently elected councillor in Westmoreland after Julian Chang tendered her resignation from the party with immediate effect. The move follows an internal dispute in which Chang reportedly threatened legal action against another member. Party insiders say her departure will leave a vacancy in the Savanna-la-Mar division. In a Monday release, the PNP thanked Chang for her service and said efforts to resolve tensions with constituency leadership through internal channels had failed.

The Integrity Commission has delivered its 2025/26 annual report to Parliament, meeting the statutory deadline under the Integrity Commission Act. The commission’s eighth report was handed over on Monday at 2:34 p.m., with hard copies going to House Speaker Juliet Holness, Senate President Tom Tavares-Finson and Clerk to the Houses Colleen Lowe, and a digital copy provided on USB. Officials say the document will stay confidential until it is tabled in Parliament and later published on the commission’s website.

Ascot Primary School in Portmore is under fire after some grade-six pupils were barred from wearing graduation gowns because of low Primary Exit Profile results. Reports say lower-performing students marched behind higher-performing peers and sat at the back. Principal Mark Jackson has expressed regret, saying the arrangement was meant to motivate pupils, not humiliate them. The Ministry of Education condemned the practice on Sunday, with Minister Dr. Dana Morris Dixon stating that no child should face humiliation or discrimination at school. Former Director of Public Prosecutions Paula Lugo-Llewellyn called the approach harmful to children, while Lieutenant Colonel Paul Scott, president of the Jamaica Association of Principals of Primary and Infant Schools, said principals would welcome national graduation guidelines.

Deputy Prime Minister and National Security Minister Dr. Horace Chang has again rejected claims that a property in Grand Pen, St. Mary, is being readied to house third-country migrants, warning that the rumours are endangering a retired public servant and her business. Opposition Senator Lambert Brown, speaking Monday, renewed calls for the government to release its memorandum of understanding with the United States on the transit of third-country nationals through Jamaica.

Protesters gathered at Crossroads in Kingston on Tuesday for the Stand for Jamaica demonstration, a non-partisan rally pressing for greater accountability and transparency on national issues.

In Westmoreland, police are investigating the alleged attempted suicide of a 35-year-old constable at his home on Saturday. Reports say his wife found evidence of an affair on his laptop, confronted him and indicated she wanted a divorce. He later crashed his vehicle after buying alcohol and was found in his car with self-inflicted injuries. Neighbours helped his wife break into the vehicle; he was taken to hospital in critical condition.

Meanwhile, the Jamaica Constabulary Force says it is scaling up policing in St. Thomas as the parish expands through new housing, businesses and roads. Area Five Commander Assistant Commissioner Howard Chambers said planning began years ago to meet emerging challenges, while St. Thomas Division head Deputy Superintendent Ruhan Richie credited community partnerships for a decline in major crimes and pointed to school and transport-hub strategies aimed at young people.