MELISSA RELIEF UNDER SCRUTINY Nearly a year after Hurricane Melissa devastated sections of Jamaica, a new Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CAPRI) report has raised questions about the country’s ability to turn disaster donations into timely assistance. The report cited delays in spending relief funds, gaps in roof-repair records and prolonged disruption to schools and essential services.
Petersfield High still feeling effect of bad shelter management experience Western Bureau: Nearly a year after Hurricane Melissa battered western Jamaica, students at Petersfield High School are still attending classes just twice a week, leaving parents worried about lost learning time and prompting calls for a rethink of how schools are used as emergency shelters. Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) President Beanchor Crigland-Crooks said the school’s prolonged disruption had left students and teachers struggling to recover, particularly those preparing for external examinations.
Children in the crossfire Children involved in crime may themselves be victims of human trafficking, but the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) says no suspected child trafficking case brought to its attention is specifically identified as involving minors forced into gang activity. The agency, which says children reported to it are screened for possible human trafficking, including exploitation into criminal activity, also has no figures to provide on children reported for gang involvement over the past three years.
GROUNDED - PNP questions fiscal restraint amid travel ban, NaRRA Spending The People’s National Party (PNP) is questioning whether the Government’s ban on official overseas travel is a genuine cost-cutting measure or a public relations exercise, given millions of dollars committed to the newly established National Agency for Reconstruction and Resilience (NaRRA). The moratorium, announced in an October 21 memorandum from Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness to government ministers and ministers of state, took effect immediately and will remain in place until March 31, 2027.
... But Bartlett takes flight - Excluded by ban, tourism minister embarks on five-city campaign in Canada Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett left the island on Friday for a five-city tour of Canada aimed at wooing more Canadian visitors to Jamaica in the upcoming winter tourism season. Bartlett will visit Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Montreal as he targets some 400,000 Canadian airline seats for the 2026-2027 winter tourism season. He is being accompanied by Director of Tourism Donavan White and representatives of the Jamaica Tourist Board.
8 parishes on alert as rains trigger landslides, flooding Heavy rainfall triggered a major landslide that left 15 students and several teachers stranded at Johnson Mountain Primary School in St Thomas on Friday, as blocked roads, fallen trees and flooding disrupted sections of the parish and the Meteorological Service issued a flash flood watch for eight parishes. The watch, which remains in effect until 5 p.m. on Sunday, covers low-lying and flood-prone areas of St Ann, St Mary, Portland, St Thomas, Kingston, St Andrew, St Catherine and Clarendon.
PATHWAYS MURDER TRIAL | Second JP backs claim Ruddock was not forced to give statement A second justice of the peace (JP) on Friday testified that Andre Ruddock voluntarily gave police a statement in which he allegedly confessed to cutting Taneka Gardner’s throat. The witness corroborated earlier testimony from a colleague that Ruddock was not forced, threatened or harmed, nor offered any inducement to give the caution statement, on October 18, 2021 – a day after Gardner was killed in an alleged sacrificial ritual at Pathways International Kingdom Restoration Ministries in St James.
Morgan wants criminal sanctions for defamation Government senator Marlon Morgan has called for the reintroduction of criminal sanctions for defamation in Jamaica. Making his contribution to the State of the Nation Debate in the Upper House on Friday, Morgan took aim at the parliamentary Opposition and those he referred to as their surrogates and supporters on social media, blasting them for tarnishing people’s reputation. He warned that the misinformation and disinformation being peddled by these persons serve to undermine the country’s democracy.
Barnswell applies to join Clarendon MC court battle The People’s National Party (PNP) has taken another step in the legal battle over the leadership of the Clarendon Municipal Corporation (CMC), filing an application in the Supreme Court to have Councillor Scean Barnswell joined as a party to ongoing proceedings involving Mayor Joel Williams and Deputy Mayor Clive Mundle. In a statement issued Friday, the PNP confirmed that the application was filed on October 21, 2026, as the party seeks to challenge the legal intervention that has prevented councillors from moving to change the corporation’s leadership.
What to know about AI-detected Internet security bug AP: The language that’s known as the backbone of the Internet is now subject to what experts describe as one of the most notable vulnerabilities in recent memory. PHP is a widely used general-purpose scripting language that is geared toward web development, and thus, it powers the majority of websites around the world. When the organisation behind the language and the Federal Bureau of Investigations’ cyber division warned Wednesday of significant vulnerabilities in the language, government agencies, corporations and other organisations were sent into a flurry.