Jamaica health build-out, agriculture push, land titling drive headline mid-May 2026 bulletin

Thursday, 14 May 2026 — Jamaica’s government expects several large public-health capital works to finish in the 2026–2027 financial year as it tries to widen access to beds, diagnostics and imaging across the island.

Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton told Parliament on Tuesday, during his sectoral debate contribution, that the long-delayed Cornwall Regional Hospital and the Western Child and Adolescent Hospital in St James are among the projects slated for completion. He said three health centres and the two hospitals could together handle roughly 700,000 patient visits yearly in upgraded surroundings, with new diagnostic capacity and additional bed space. The western paediatric facility is to offer specialised care for children, including on the order of 220 beds plus services such as MRI and intensive care.

Tufton also said a six-storey wing at Spanish Town Hospital should be finished around the middle of next year, and that infrastructure work is planned at the University Hospital of the West Indies, Bellevue Hospital and Kingston Public Hospital.

Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining Minister Floyd Green used his sectoral presentation to outline a wide package for crops and rural resilience, citing global uncertainty and more frequent extreme weather. He said 30 scholarships would be offered this year and stressed support for small farmers, young people entering farming and export growth.

Green said the administration would put $50 million toward insurance cover for 5,000 farmers, prioritising agro-parks, youth and women, and argued that insuring crops against weather shocks would make farmers more creditworthy and speed recovery after losses. He announced $800 million to build 95 greenhouse structures across four parishes before year-end, including turning Manchester’s greenhouse cluster into a protected-agriculture zone with storage and a new farm road. Under the Green Climate Fund’s Adapt Jamaica work, he said engineers would design hurricane-hardened greenhouses and that more than $1.5 billion would be rolled out over five years for that greenhouse programme.

Green further said Rural Agricultural Development Authority facilities would be retooled toward incubator-style support, with expanded farmers’ markets to move surplus produce and connect growers with buyers, including additional ministry-run markets targeted for areas such as Negril, St James, Portland and Portmore. He called for closer public–private cooperation to spread technology and financing in the sector.

Separately, Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness urged Jamaicans occupying land without titles to begin formal registration with the National Land Agency, calling secure tenure a foundation for growth, lending and orderly inheritance. Speaking at the launch of the agency’s land-administration capacity enhancement project, he described a Korea-supported overhaul featuring new technology, training and a Land Administration and Innovation Centre at 84 Hanover Street in Kingston, on a property reacquired for the purpose. Holness acknowledged paperwork delays, joking that the NLA chief executive was wary of his public timetable, but insisted bureaucracies need external pressure to move. He said the state’s long-term aim is comprehensive titling and digital parcel records within roughly one to two decades, which he linked to better addressing, valuation and transfers. Officials said the project runs from 2025 through 2031.

In other news, chartered insurer and ICWI Group Limited founder Dennis Lee died on Wednesday night after an illness. Associates described him as a towering corporate figure who expanded ICWI across Jamaica and the region, with board service that included Air Jamaica, the Jamaica Association for the Deaf, the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Commission and the Jamaica Racing Commission. He received the Prime Minister’s Medal for business and sports in 1983, was appointed to the Privy Council of Jamaica in 1990, served on University of the West Indies governance bodies and led the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica as president from 1990 to 1992.

Visa said issuing banks can adopt “tap to confirm” and “tap to activate” tools developed with fintech partner Kino and Fidelity Bank Bahamas Limited so cardholders can use a physical Visa card inside an existing banking app as part of identity checks, routing authentication through the VisaNet network.

For the 13 May 2026 trading session, equity turnover was led by GraceKennedy Limited, Kentire Holdings Jamaica Limited and JMMB Group Limited 9.5 per cent preference shares, with brokers reporting continued interest in auto-finance and distribution names. Bank of Jamaica foreign-exchange data for the same date showed brisk dealing across major currencies as importers and other users managed payment timing.

Regionally, Barbados drew United Nations attention for technology in agriculture and fisheries resilience, including ITU-backed connectivity for small-scale fishers at sea, FAO-supported irrigation and water-management ideas, and recycling fish waste into farm inputs, discussed during the UN Barbados and Eastern Caribbean 2025 annual results launch at UN House. In Guyana, local-content secretariat director Michael Monroe warned that some companies use Guyanese nationals as nominal owners without true control, and said policymakers were examining how to tighten rules so local-content law delivers wider benefits.

In sport, Jamaica’s national ice hockey squad finished level at the top of its Challenger Series opening leg in Chicago at Fifth Third Arena from 7 to 9 May, sponsored by Mayabber Investments Limited at US$5,000, after two wins from three outings alongside Greece. Jamaica opened with a 7–5 win over defending champions Greece, lost 6–2 to Puerto Rico despite a late rally, then closed with a 6–2 victory over Lebanon.