Jamaica Gleaner
$5m AIRBNB PAYDAY
PROPERTIES LISTED for short-term rental in St Ann are generating the highest average revenue in Jamaica at around $5 million a year, with Kingston hosting the most active listings on the market, data indicate. Short-term rentals appeal to a growing...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
NO FIRING FIX
HEALTH AND Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton says the removal of individual heads at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) will do little to cure a “dysfunctional culture” that has metastasised within the institution for decades. His...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘UNGODLY, CRUEL’
REVEREND LEON Paul Golding, head of the Anglican Church in Jamaica, has condemned recent actions taken by the United States (US) against Cuba as “ungodly”. Addressing the opening service of the 155th Synod of the Diocese of Jamaica and the Cayman...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Utech president wants end to TVET stigma
WESTERN BUREAU: DR KEVIN Brown, president of The University of Technology, Jamaica (Utech), has joined calls for an end to the stigma that currently exists against technical and vocational education and training (TVET) subjects in Jamaica’s education...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Rastafari community receives land titles in restorative justice move
IN A landmark act of restitution, the Government of Jamaica on Friday handed over land titles to the Rastafari community in Albion Heights, St James, securing property intended for a cultural centre and elders’ home. The titles for two properties...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Easter HOPE
ON THE most important weekend in Christianity, which should have been filled with polished pews, floral arrangements, and the echo of choirs beneath sturdy rooftops, many Jamaicans are instead gathering under tarpaulins, in classrooms, or beneath the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Student in wounding case to face JC board
IN KEEPING with the Education Regulations of 1980, the Jamaica College (JC) student charged with wounding a classmate lasttuesday is to face the personnel committee of the school’s board, principal Wayne Robinson has revealed. Following a statement...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘WE TRIED’
JAMAICA COACH Rudolph Speid said his team lost concentration on one play and that made the difference in their FIFA Intercontinental World Cup Playoff final against the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), after the Reggae Boyz’s 2026 World Cup dream...
Read Full Story (Page 2)
LAST SHOT
IT SHALL be now or never for the Reggae Boyz, when they take their final kick at qualifying for this summer’s FIFA Men’s World Cup against the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) today. Match time is 4 p.m. Mexico’s Akron Stadium in Zapopan,...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘DAY OF RECKONING’
DECLARING THAT no act of violence will go unanswered, Pastor Adolphus Smith yesterday warned that there will be “a day of reckoning” as he addressed mourners at the funeral of slain Denham Town shopkeeper Kerrio ‘Boyu’ Pinnock. “All those who believe...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
TRUE BLUE
THE 116TH ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships (Champs) were all blue, as Edwin Allen dethroned defending champions Hydel to secure their 11th title, while Jamaica College got the better of defending champions Kingston College to...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
TESHA MILLER EYES PRIVY COUNCIL
TESHA MILLER’S legal team is weighing the possibility of taking his case to the Privy Council, after the Court of Appeal quashed his convictions for accessory to murder but ordered a retrial. The appellate court, in a judgment delivered yesterday,...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
TANK-WELD FLAGGED
TANK-WELD METALS (TW), the leading supplier of steel products in Jamaica, is “likely abusing its dominance in the market by harming rivals and customers”, a report by the country’s fair competition watchdog has concluded. The report is based on an...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
GUIDED TO GREATNESS
IT WAS the guidance of a mentor that led Dorrette Rhoden Henry into the teaching profession and, 30 years later, that influence continues to shape her approach to teaching and learning. After graduating from the Mary Mount High School in St Mary,...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
TAX TWEAK
THE GOVERNMENT has adjusted its tax policy in relation to the Special Consumption Tax (SCT) on non-alcoholic sweetened beverages and the Environmental Protection Levy on domestic goods, but the measures will remain revenue neutral. In closing the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
DOCTORS IN DEPARTURE LOUNGE
AS THE curtain falls on more than half a century of medical cooperation with Jamaica, highly trained Cuban specialists will begin exiting the island this Thursday, departing on four chartered flights from Kingston to their homeland, which has been...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
HEADING HOME WITH A HEAVY HEART
REGARDED AS part of the‘dream team’ of specialist ophthalmologists at St Joseph’s Hospital, Dr Roberto Mirales has spent years restoring sight to patients once condemned to darkness. Affectionately called ‘Dr Roberto’, the Cuban doctor has worked in...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
3D PRINTER CLAMPDOWN
CUSTOMS OFFICIALS have implemented a new policy that mandates employees to detain all threedimensional or 3D printers imported into Jamaica, pending an internal verification of the enduser, a leaked internal memo has revealed. The move by the Jamaica...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
INSPECTORS ON DECK
FUTURE LEADERS in the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) are being warned to rethink the popular view that “knowledge is power”, as approaching leadership in this way can be dangerous and risk failing those they are meant to serve. Instead, drawing on...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
HOLNESS PRESSING FAST-FORWARD
SIGNALLING THAT delays in the implementation of critical national investment projects will soon be a thing of the past, Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has indicated that his administration is advancing two powerful and complementary reforms – one...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
HOLNESS IN THE HOT SEAT
PRIME MINISTER Dr Andrew Holness comes to the proverbial wicket today to make his 11th contribution to the yearly Budget Debate at a time when the country is said to be transitioning from recovery to reconstruction posthurricane Melissa. Jamaica also,...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
LEAKAGE LOCKDOWN
OPPOSITION LEADER Mark Golding is proposing a digital dragnet that he says could cut tax leakages and pump approximately $70 billion into the Government’s coffers while describing the Holness administration’s $18-billion tax package as...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
GOLDING’S MOVE
DESPITE NOT being able to implement policy decisions from his position in Parliament, much is expected when Opposition Leader Mark Golding makes his presentation this afternoon in the 2026–2027 Budget Debate at Gordon House. Golding, the third speaker...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
WEIGHT OF WAR
FISCAL COMMISSIONER Courtney Williams has sounded a warning that the geopolitical tensions in the Middle East are posing a material risk to the Jamaican economy, and that a prolonged conflict could lead to worsened terms of trade and amplified price...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
NIGHTMARE AT HOME
THEIR HOME is no longer a sanctuary – it’s a prison of fear. At any moment, their mentally ill relative could strike and, for Sharon Burgess* and her elderly mother, that day could be fatal. Burgess’ brother lives with them and, over the years, his...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘BITTERSWEET’ JUSTICE
NEARLY FOUR years after the disappearance of social media influencer Donna-lee Donaldson shocked the nation, a judge yesterday ordered that her boyfriend, former Police Constable Noel Maitland, serve a life sentence and spend more than three decades...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
BIG BUDGET COUNTERPLAN
THE PARLIAMENTARY opposition has outlined a raft of measures it says would spare taxpayers the $18 billion in new taxes announced by the Government for the 2026-2027 fiscal year. The Opposition has also urged the administration not to extract the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
THREE HOURS MISSING
MINUTES BEFORE 5 p.m. on Tuesday, a 17-year-old student of a school in the Corporate Area took a taxi in the busy commercial district of Cross Roads, St Andrew, expecting what should have been a routine trip to extra classes minutes away in Half-way...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
CRUDE CU$HION
FINANCE AND the Public Service Minister Fayval Williams has sought to allay fears that rising oil prices on the global market would affect Jamaica’s ability to import the essential product, arguing yesterday that the country has strong Net...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
CUBAN EXIT BACKUP PLAN
THE MINISTRY of Health and Wellness is making a plea for the public’s patience and cooperation as it assesses the islandwide impact, and implements contingencies to mitigate disruptions caused by the impending severance of ties with Cuban health...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
FORGOTTEN LEARNERS
MONTHS AFTER Hurricane Melissa tore through western Jamaica, administrators and students at several special-needs institutions remain in a desperate battle for survival, grappling with a sluggish recovery that threatens to derail the education of the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
LEFT BEHIND
JAMES HARVEY*, 54, still moves as though he is standing behind a towering sound system. Sometimes he rocks from side to side, blurting intros to dancehall hits as if the speakers are still thumping behind him. Nearby, Keith Dempson*, 62, straightens...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘JUSTICE WAS DONE’
THE FAMILY of Melissa Silvera say they are not pleased with the possibility that her widower, former Member of Parliament (MP) Jolyan Silvera, could be eligible for parole after being sentenced to nearly 21 years for her death. “We were a bit...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
DIET DRINK DILEMMA
MEMBER OF Parliament for St Catherine South East Dr Alfred Dawes is raising concern that the special consumption tax on non-alcoholic sweetened beverages will also affect diet drinks, which are a healthier substitute for consumers. “You are taxing...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
FROM RECOVERY TO RECONSTRUCTION
THE RECOVERY phase triggered by the devastation wrought when Hurricane Melissa ripped through western Jamaica last October is officially coming to an end, with focus now set to be shifted to reconstruction. Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness made the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
THUNDER OVER DUBAI
A JAMAICAN man who awoke to the sound of “thunder-like” explosions in Dubai on Sunday, following a United States (US)Israeli attack on Iran and its retaliation, says much of what is happening in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is not being...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Caribbean states react as US, Israel go to war with Iran
AT LEAST three Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries have expressed concern at the escalation of hostilities in the Middle East after the United States (US) and Israel launched military attacks on Iran that resulted in missile attacks by Iran...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
CELLBLOCK HORROR
A MAN who says he was falsely arrested has claimed in a lawsuit that he contracted a sexually transmitted infection after being assaulted inside a police lockup. The assault, which lasted approximately 30 minutes, happened in 2014 after John Brown*...
Read Full Story (Page 2)
PATH CLEARED FOR GUN FIGHT
THE COURT of Appeal has cleared the way for a high-profile judicial review, after setting aside a ruling by the Supreme Court and allowing a licensed firearm holder to challenge the Firearm Licensing Authority’s (FLA) power to seize his weapon without...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘Nobody can dictate to judges’
THE HEAD of the judiciary took a swipe at Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Delroy Chuck yesterday, saying nobody – “regardless of the office they hold” – can “dictate” to judges how the law should be interpreted. Chief Justice Bryan...
Read Full Story (Page 2)
T&T BACKLASH
EVEN AS Washington, DC in the United States (US) has reportedly eased conditions allowing individuals to apply for licences to supply Cuba with Venezuelan oil, one of the Caribbean’s leaders has been condemned to the “dustbin of history” for her...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
CUBA PIVOT
PRIME MINISTER Dr Andrew Holness has signalled a pivot in Jamaica’s diplomatic stance toward Cuba, calling for a “principled realism” that balances traditional regional solidarity with a demand for democratic reform and open-market...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
GRIEFDOUBLES
CHILDREN MOURNED openly at the Edward Seaga Infant School in Kingston on Monday following the death of three-year-old student Jace Pinnock, who was murdered in Denham Town last Saturday. Jace was shot dead by gunmen who attacked his home on Nelson...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
DEBT TO CUBA
RETIRED FORMER Prime Minister P.J. Patterson is calling for African and European nations that have benefited from Cuba’s decades of international solidarity to now stand in support of the Caribbean island as it confronts a deepening fuel...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
WARNING LIGHTS
THE WATCHDOG signed off — but not before it barked. Access to Information documents obtained by The Sunday Gleaner reveal that the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) warned the transport ministry against handpicking contractors even as it endorsed the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
NO INSTANT RELIEF
JAMAICAN TEAS CEO John Mahfood, while welcoming the United States (US) Supreme Court’s decision to strike down tariffs imposed by the Donald Trump administration, has warned that he does not anticipate any immediate impact on Jamaican exports to the US...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
LITERACY SOS
PEMBROKE HALL High School Principal Reverend Claude Ellis is calling on the Government to redirect its resources into the primary and early childhood sectors to address educational gaps being identified in students at the secondary level. Ellis, whose...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
MEDIATION MUDDLE
AT THE completion of a courtordered mediation in May last year, a judge at the Trelawny Parish Court dismissed four criminal charges laid against a businessman by two policemen who claimed he assaulted them. Rayon Bell was found not guilty of assault...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘Death knell for small hotels’
AS JAMAICA’S tourism sector continues its post-hurricane Melissa recovery, small hotel operators are warning that new tax measures slated for implementation in April 2027 could destabilise locally owned properties and weaken the island’s...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Tufton: Jamaica hammering out new health MOU with Cuba
JAMAICA IS renegotiating its long-running medical cooperation programme with Cuba amid renewed pressure from the United States. Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton confirmed that while the previous memorandum of understanding (MOU) has...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
READING REVIVAL
LESS THAN a year after a literacy crisis at Pembroke Hall High School drew national attention, the institution has reported a landmark academic turnaround. Internal assessments have shown that 76 per cent of grade-seven students have advanced by two...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
STUDENTS IN LIMBO IN CUBA
CAUGHT BETWEEN failing infrastructure in Cuba and what they described as a wall of diplomatic silence at home, Jamaican medical students are urging the Government to establish a formal bridge to local universities to safeguard their academic...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
DIASPORA DIRECTION DEBATE
THE CONTINUING oversight of the Global Jamaica Diaspora Council (GJDC) by the Government has sparked fierce pushback from some members of the Jamaican diaspora in the United States, with a former Diaspora Advisory Board member calling for change. At...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
SWEET SIN TAX
THE GOVERNMENT’S 2026-27 Budget has sparked a stark divide between public-health advocates celebrating a new sugary drink levy and industry leaders warning that it will hit low-income consumers hardest. The Budget will lean on eight revenue measures...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
REASONABLE FORCE
THE SUPREME Court has ruled that police personnel acted lawfully in self-defence during an armed confrontation that left 18-yearold Jerome Lee dead on Ramsay Road, St Andrew, in August 2004, dismissing a civil claim against the State. “The court is...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
COSTLY DOG ATTACK
A MANCHESTER maintenance contractor who was mauled by two pit bull terriers at a company’s premises in August 2010 has been awarded $1.2 million in general damages, plus interest and special damages, after the Supreme Court found the company...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Witness: Sergeant, corporal denied firing weapons at Acadia scene
TWO OF the six policemen on trial in the Home Circuit Court in connection with the January 2013 fatal shooting of three men along Acadia Drive, St Andrew, had reported that they did not fire their weapons during the deadly encounter. A detective...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
100-bed medical dome aimed at easing pressure on CRH
A 10,000-SQUARE-FOOT medical dome capable of housing up to 100 hospital beds is to be installed at the Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) in Montego Bay, St James, providing critical interim relief as the long-delayed reconstruction of the facility...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
FOUR BANKS, $352m HIT
AMAN, allegedly using a fictitious identity, got a total of $352 million in mortgage loans from four financial institutions over a one-month period in 2024, the proprietors of a privately owned firm have charged in a lawsuit. The loans were made to...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
US ARMY VET BOOTED TO JA
GODFREY WADE, the 65-year-old United States (US) Army veteran who was detained in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility for months, has been deported to Jamaica. Wade arrived in the island on Thursday. Wade’s attorney, Tony Kozycki, who...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Public-sector workers lead on sexual harassment complaints
FIFTY ALLEGED cases of sexual harassment – mostly involving public-sector workers – have been referred to the tribunal established under the Sexual Harassment (Protection and Prevention) Act to hear and adjudicate complaints. The disclosure was made...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
RED-TAPE GRIDLOCK
JAMAICA’S ABILITY to develop at a faster pace is being hampered by “excessive bureaucracy”, Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness is arguing. Holness, who was speaking at the official handover ceremony of the Essex Valley AgroProcessing Facility and...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Johnson Smith urges Haiti to respect Feb 7 red line on transition amid council turmoil
DAYS BEFORE Haiti’s transitional government is set to expire, Foreign Affairs Minister Kamina Johnson Smith has warned that any move away from the February 7 deadline would risk further fragmentation, insisting that the agreed-upon date must be the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
SCHOOL FLUNKS AT CARING FOR CHILD
A TEACHER’S failure to intervene in a verbal dispute between two Norman Manley High School (NMHS) students, before it turned physical and left one of them bloodied and missing a tooth, is a “clear breach of the duty and standard of care” the...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
‘I DID NOTSEE’
AGRICULTURE MINISTER Floyd Green yesterday admitted in the Home Circuit Court that, while he witnessed parts of a 2013 police operation along Acadia Drive, St Andrew, he did not see the actual killing of three men during the incident. During cross...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
CRY FOR DEANS
JAMAICA TEACHERS’ Association (JTA) President Mark Malabver has reiterated his call for every school in the island to have a dean of discipline, expressing disappointment that both the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance have failed to...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
CALL FOR UNITY
PRIME MINISTER Dr Andrew Holness is calling for an end to the era of isolated markets, urging his regional counterparts to abandon fragmented national agendas in favour of a singular, united hemispheric goal. Holness, who was speaking on day one of...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
Union roots bear fruit for Jamaican farm workers in NY
JAMAICAN SEASONAL farm workers at Wafler Farms in upstate New York are beginning the new crop season with higher wages and expanded labour protections under a new union contract negotiated by United Farm Workers (UFW). The Wayne County apple orchard...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
DPP fast-tracks SSL case to Home Circuit Court
THE ATTORNEY for one of the founders of Stocks & Securities Limited (SSL), the investment firm that collapsed amid allegations of a $4-billion fraud, has cautioned that the criminal charges laid against his client“do not relate to any stealing of...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
SOUTH CAMP TRAFFIC ALARM
SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS in the immediate environs where a new 5,000-squarefoot Pricesmart location is earmarked for opening by the end of this calendar year, are viewing with some concern how the development will impact the area. Pricesmart, the largest...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
FAKE IDs, STOLEN TITLES
FIVE FINANCIAL institutions have been fleeced of more than $600 million through an elaborate and complex fraudulent scheme allegedly involving an upper St Andrew medical doctor and two accomplices, using a litany of fictitious documents, law...
Read Full Story (Page 1)
ESTUARY ON EDGE
WITH THE 2026 hurricane season just months away, some residents of Phase Two of the Estuary Housing Scheme, in St James, are worried about the slow pace of the rehabilitation work on a section of their community, which caved in during the passage of...
Read Full Story (Page 1)