Daily Observer (Jamaica)
HEALTH ALERT!
THE island’s health authorities on Sunday outlined some of the steps taken to prevent water-borne illnesses from spreading in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa and shared advice on how the public can help stave off their expansion. “Dead livestock,...
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RAPID CLEAN WATER RESPONSE
GREAT BAY, St Elizabeth — With many Jamaicans utilising rivers, streams, and any available water source for their domestic needs after Hurricane Melissa, Mission Mules, a Christian non-profit disaster response organisation, has deployed a reverse...
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‘DON’T BLAME GOD’
POPULAR clergyman Reverend Al Miller is urging Jamaicans not to blame God for the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa when it pummelled sections of the country last Tuesday, leaving a trail of death and destruction, but instead to see the disaster...
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Recovery in full gear
THE Government on Saturday announced plans to set up multiple field hospitals as Jamaica recovers from Hurricane Melissa, with the death toll climbing to 28. Hospitals in western Jamaica were particularly hard hit by the Category 5 storm last...
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HOSPITAL HORROR
HURRICANE Melissa’s assault on Black River Hospital in St Elizabeth is indelibly planted in Dexter Frue’s mind. “I went to the bathroom and I looked down to the sea and saw it coming. I had to just run,” Frue told the Jamaica Observer on...
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Final Adjustments
Insurance executive Sheraley Bridgeman (left) got her glam on with a quick touch-up from her daughter Sascha Magnus...
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Silent screams
THE pain in Dr Saphire Longmore’s voice was palpable as she reflected on the death of former Miss Universe Jamaica contestant Tyra Spaulding. “My immediate thought was: Why couldn’t or didn’t I see it before, to maybe help if I could? I know that I...
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WARNING TO TAX CHEATS
PARISH Court judge Justice Patichia Lopez on Monday urged business owners to file their proper returns as she warned tax cheats against cooking their books, stating: “There is no beating the system.” Lopez issued the caution while presiding over...
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LOST IN THE ‘RIDDIM’
Models storm the runway marking the finale of the Buzz x Theophilio NYFW runway show.
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CHASING 100M GLORY
TOKYO, Japan — Samantha Hall booked her spot in the Women’s Discus final and all six sprinters — Shellyann Fraser-pryce, Shericka Jackson, Tina Clayton, Kishane Thompson, Oblique Seville, and Ackeem Blake — secured safe passage to the 100m...
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FOR MY JAMAICA
TOKYO, Japan — Eighteen years since first representing the nation at a major international championship, iconic Jamaican sprinter Shelly-ann Fraser-pryce returns to the country of her christening for a farewell, with the podium and the Jamaican people...
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War of words
A week after Jamaicans voted in the country’s 19th general election since 1944, the two major political parties engaged in a verbal joust over the process that resulted in the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) being re-elected for a third-consecutive...
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‘BROWN MAN’ BAD LONG TIME
MANDEVILLE, Manchester — Dave Wilson, the murder suspect in Tuesday’s four-hour stand-off with the security forces here, served prison time in Canada for armed robberies and was reportedly deported at least three times. According to The Globe and Mail...
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STAND-OFF
MANDEVILLE, Manchester — A woman living at the Caledonia Road apartment complex here, which was the scene of a four-hour stand-off between the security forces and her armed neighbour, cowered in a corner of her bathroom as bullets flew from...
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POLICE BATTLE
Abattle is now brewing between Police Commissioner Dr Kevin Blake and Police Officers’ Association (POA) Chairman Senior Superintendent Wayne Cameron after the top cop on Monday directed that the chair of the POA be vacated and said the current holder...
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50 Not Out
Cheers to 50 years! Warren Ward celebrated his milestone birthday, raising a glass to life, health, and happiness.
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POLITICAL BET BUST
JAMAICA’S two leading betting companies have reported record wagers and tens of millions in payouts for the September 3 General Election, but the twist that stunned both punters and bookmakers was the upset defeat of the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP)...
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‘DADDY WOULD’VE BEEN PROUD’
DONOVAN Williams fulfilled a dream of his late father’s on Friday when just before 7:00 pm the official count of votes in the September 3, 2025 General Election confirmed him as the winning candidate for the battleground Kingston Central...
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WRONG TIME
HEAD of the Organization of American States (OAS) electoral observation mission (EOM) to Jamaica, former Prime Minister of Saint Lucia Dr Kenny Anthony has applauded Jamaicans for the way they conducted themselves on election day. Dr Anthony, who is...
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TIEBREAKER
IN the 18 general elections held locally since 1944 when universal adult suffrage was introduced, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the People’s National Party (PNP) have tasted victory nine times each.
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MINIMUM WAGE SQUABBLE
DEFENCE, criticism and caution have greeted Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness’s announcement of a gradual doubling of the national minimum wage to $32,000 weekly over five years if the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is returned to office on Wednesday. As...
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Election petition
SCORES of members of different churches in Jamaica, as well as Jamaicans not aligned to any particular faith, bowed their heads in prayer in Half-way-tree Square, St Andrew, Sunday evening, appealing to God for, among other things, the country to...
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ROLL CALL
WITH the new academic year set to start Monday, and facing much-needed repair to school plants, inadequate budgets, teacher vacancies, and the spectre of campuses being used as polling stations in the September 3 General Election, Meadowbrook High...
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Dangerous disruptions
Amajor high-level police probe is now under way as investigators try to find the person or people behind a series of bomb threats which crippled operations at several public and private sector entities across the island on Friday. At the close of the...
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MONEAGUE MOURNS
TUESDAY night’s murder of two baby brothers — ages three and one — in Swamp District, Moneague, St Ann, has not only left relatives and residents grief stricken but also puzzled. The two brothers have been identified as three-year-old Shamir Henry
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COURTSND READY FOR RECOUNTS
SENIOR Puisne Judge Justice Lorna Shelly-williams says the island’s courts are primed and ready to handle any issues that may arise in the pending highstakes general election which will see 189 candidates duking it out for the 63 parliamentary seats.
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PARALYSED PURSE
FISCAL Commissioner Courtney Williams has raised significant concerns regarding the Jamaican Government’s chronic failure to execute its capital expenditure budget, warning it directly undermines the country’s economic growth strategy. Provisional...
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INCOME TAX BATTLE
THE ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) on Sunday dangled income tax break promises before the electorate two days before both parties lock horns in the highly anticipated debate on economic matters. Dr...
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PNP edge JLP on social issues, says commentator; others did not watch
THERE are mixed reviews among political commentators as to whether the first of three political debates between the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) on Saturday passed muster with Professor Canute...
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POLITICAL GAMBLE
TWO companies taking bets on the September 3 General Election say thousands of wagers have already been received. At the same time, one of them believes its betting data could be used to predict which political party will form Jamaica’s next...
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DEBATES FERVOUR
KAMINA Johnson Smith, Pearnel Charles Jr, and Matthew Samuda of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) will face off tonight against Damion Crawford, Sophia Frazer Binns, and Raymond Pryce of the People’s National Party (PNP) in the first of what is expected...
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AT ODDS
THE governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), which is going for a third-consecutive term in Government, and the People’s National Party (PNP) have stepped up efforts to convince Jamaicans that they are on the road to victory in the September 3 General...
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Kartel case lesson
HEAD of Jamaica’s judiciary Chief Justice Bryan Sykes on Monday highlighted dancehall artiste Adidja “Vybz Kartel” Palmer’s murder case as the poster child for “how internal inefficiencies can affect justice” and stressed that time standards...
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Jailbreak fear
RESIDENTS of Cassava Piece in St Andrew expressed concern on Tuesday about possible threats to their safety and peace of mind following the escape of nine men from the nearby Constant Spring Police Station lock-up. On one hand they are fearful because...
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189 CHASING 63
POLITICAL pomp and good-natured rivalry were the order of the day Monday as nine independents, 54 representatives of two minor parties, and 63 each from the two major parties threw their hats into the ring for a chance to serve the people of Jamaica in...
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Quick sprint to September 3
THE race to form the next Government moves into a short sprint today as approximately 180 people are expected to contest the September 3 General Election. The governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the People’s National Party (PNP) are expected to...
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CAMPAIGN DANGER!
WITH just over two weeks to go before Jamaicans head to the polls in the country’s 19th general election, utility poles lining the length and breadth of the island have seemingly become standard-bearers of campaign paraphernalia as the two main...
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Education gains
AFTER years of learning loss caused by challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic, Jamaican students who sat this year’s Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exams have bounced back, posting improved pass rates in core subjects and...
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‘HEART OF A PATRIOT’
LONG before former Senator Don Wehby’s passing he was hailed by many as a patriot. On Thursday, Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness again highlighted that quality in the late business titan while emphasising that Wehby, whose undying devotion to Jamaica...
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LAND TUSSLE
IT’S a classic land dispute. For more than 30 years individuals have occupied land in Kettering, near Duncans in Trelawny, despite being given multiple eviction notices and relocation offers. Now the land is designated a hazard zone by Trelawny...
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COUGARS ON THE PROWL
GREEN ISLAND, Hanover — Children’s Advocate Diahann Gordon Harrison is urging parents and coaches to be on the lookout for women who frequent sporting events and prey on young boys for gratification. While Gordon Harrison told the Jamaica Observer it...
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‘We are elated!’
THE announcement by Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) that it will provide dedicated bus services to the campuses of The University of the West Indies (The UWI), Mona, and University of Technology (Utech), Jamaica is being hailed by student leaders...
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GIVE GOD THE PRAISE
FIREBRAND preacher Bishop Rowan Edwards is insisting that the Government should not take all the credit for the huge decrease in murders as the Church has been playing a major role through prayer.
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JLP KICKS OFF CAMPAIGN
THE ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) significantly stepped up its bid for a third term on Wednesday by blanketing the country with a list of what it describes as 256 “solid achievements”. It’s another indication that the general election is...
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JPS customer blues
THE decision by Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) to close 10 of its 15 commercial offices across the island between 2020 and 2021 has resulted in many of its customers incurring up to $1,000 in additional transportation costs and 50 minutes of...
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‘CHOOSE THE LESSER EVIL’
THEOLOGIAN Peter Espeut says Christians will have to decide which of the island’s two major political parties “will be the least of the two evils” when deciding how to vote in the upcoming general election. Espeut, the dean of studies at St Michael’s...
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SHATTERED DREAM
EIGHT years ago Valerie Roberts answered the call for Jamaicans in the Diaspora to invest in the island with a bold vision to purchase and transform 112 acres of lush river-adjacent land in Broadgate, St Mary, into an eco-tourism haven. However, that...
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SWEET RELIEF
FOUR-YEAR-OLD Allicia Samuels is now in recovery after a successful heart surgery on Wednesday at Bustamante Hospital for Children. And while her parents say they’re not fully at ease just yet, they are breathing easier now that the most critical stage...
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Heart of hope
WITH fear and hope in equal measure, the parents of fouryear-old Allicia Samuels were on tenterhooks as they prepared for their daughter to do a heart surgery at Bustamante Hospital for Children’s Cardiac Centre on Wednesday. But despite their worry...
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SMOKING UNDER FIRE
JAMAICANS may soon be forced to ask for a list of available tobacco products whenever they feel the urge to inhale. Lawmakers on Tuesday, during a sitting of a joint select committee (JSC) of Parliament examining the Tobacco Control Act, 2020,...
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OLD-AGE CRISIS LOOMS!
ARMED with data showing that over 70 per cent of Jamaicans have no form of life insurance, and more than 80 per cent of private sector workers are not enrolled in an approved pension scheme, experts in both sectors are warning that the country is...
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UNITED NATIONS APPEAL
AUnited Nations (UN) official has urged the Jamaican Government to carefully consider the key policy actions recommended in a just-released study showing that the island could generate up to 8,000 new jobs and nearly one per cent gross domestic product...
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CRUEL IRONY
THE granddaughter of the surgeon who performed Jamaica’s first kidney transplant — 25-yearold Taylor Douglas — says her family never imagined that decades later, she, her father, and her uncle would all need the very surgery her grandfather, Professor...
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DIRTY OLD MAN!
A72-year-old St Catherine farmer who initially denied raping his three step-grandchildren — ages 6 to 11 — but recanted, was on Thursday handed an accumulated 60 years prison sentence for those crimes but will effectively spend only 10 years behind bars.
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PERVERT CABBIE’S SICK OBSESSION
THE probation aftercare officer assigned to prepare the social enquiry and antecedent report of the 44-year-old St Catherine-based taxi driver who will spend over three decades behind bars after pleading guilty to routinely raping and trafficking his...
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DUTTY MAN!
A 44-year-old St Catherine-based taxi driver who pleaded guilty to routinely raping and trafficking his underage daughter and stepdaughter over several years will spend more than three decades behind bars for those crimes. He was also slapped with a...
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‘I SAT EXAMS DURING LABOUR PAINS’
NEW YORK, USA — Tesha Allison’s life experience is the stuff of which movie scripts are written. Forced to drop out of high school after becoming a teenage mother at 15, she would thereafter face a mountainous climb out of excruciating...
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US VISA SCRAMBLE
MORE Jamaicans are reaching out to travel agents with inquiries and for appointment bookings as they scramble to apply for a United States non-immigrant visa ahead of a newly announced fee hike set for next year.
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Good luck!
Angelina Shirley of Richmond Park Preparatory School gives West Indies cricketer Alzarri Joseph a high five for good luck during a training session on Friday at Sabina Park in Kingston, where the West Indies will host Australia in the third and final...
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BIG WIN FOR JAMAICA
JAMAICA and Barbados were on Wednesday removed from the European Union (EU) list of ‘highrisk’ third countries with deficiencies in their anti-money laundering and countering financing of terrorism regimes, a day after Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness...
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