Harvest heartbreak For Angella Jones, the hardest part of farming is not the work. It is putting everything she has into the ground, watching crops fail repeatedly, and then having to find the money to start all over again. Jones shared that reality during an interview with The Sunday Gleaner on Tuesday as she sat beneath a mango tree, struggling to keep her tears at bay while describing the toll months of drought and extreme heat have taken on her farm in Flagaman, St Elizabeth.
Farmers facing price squeeze A veteran farmer is pushing back against the perception that farmers are responsible for the high prices consumers pay for food. Angella Jones, a 53-year-old from Flagaman with more than 30 years experience in agriculture, says farmers often have little or no control over the price at which their produce is sold. “When you hear them, when you watch the news now, you hear the consumers say, ‘Oh, the farmers make the price so expensive’. It’s not true,” Jones said.
Drought pushes NIC to pump more water The National Irrigation Commission Limited (NIC) says it is pumping and distributing more water than usual to farmers as the prolonged drought continues to put pressure on agricultural production across St Elizabeth and other farming parishes. “We at the NIC know that this is a very difficult period for our farmers. The drought has continued for some time, and we are seeing the effect on both our surface-water sources and some of our wells,” the NIC said.
‘We are not struggling’ - Schools see strategic success as they hold out against drought The once-lush green lawn at the front of Spring Garden Primary and Infant School in St Thomas is now a deep brown. At neighbouring White Hall Primary School, vegetation on the school grounds has dried up, presenting stark evidence of the drought now plaguing the island. However, despite being in one of the most severely impacted parishes, principals at both institutions say they are managing well and that water shortages have not yet caused any major disruptions to their operations.
NHT STANDOFF An “emergency” meeting has been scheduled with the Ministry of Labour for Monday after industrial action, which began on Thursday, continued for a second day at the National Housing Trust (NHT). Scores of employees from levels one to four (ancillary, clerical and administrative) again called in sick on Friday following a reported failure by NHT’s management to supply salary data requested by their union to wrap negotiations.
Holness pitches Jamaica’s rebuild to global capital WESTERN BUREAU: Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has pitched Jamaica’s post-hurricane reconstruction and growth agenda to a group of international investors representing, according to organisers, hundreds of billions of US dollars in assets under management.
Residents dispute police’s shootout claim in Westmoreland man’s death WESTERN BUREAU: Anger erupted in Seaford Town, Westmoreland, on Friday as residents reacted angrily to the death of 35-year-old businessman Jordon Perry Smith, who was killed in an alleged confrontation with the police about 3 a.m. While efforts to get an official version of the incident from the police were unsuccessful, a police source, who spoke to The Gleaner on condition of anonymity, said a targeted operation was carried out at Smith’s home.
How to know if you can trust an AI's answer to your question Leo S. Lo/Contributor THE CONVERSATION: I recently typed a simple question into Google search: How much screen time is too much for teenagers? Instead of presenting links, as Google had been doing for many years, it gave me an AI-generated answer. The artificial intelligence agent cited a number, then complicated that reply, noting that quality and balance of time could matter more than the number of hours, and that "too much" time could depend on a teenager's sleep, exercise, school demands and mood.
Sept 30 deadline to get on year-end voters’ list Eligible Jamaicans are being reminded that September 30 is the deadline for registering to be included on the November 30, 2026 voters’ list. The Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ) is encouraging persons aged 18 years and older who are Jamaicans or Commonwealth citizens residing in Jamaica for at least 12 consecutive months to visit any Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) constituency office to complete the registration process.
FATAL FAITH Pathways International Kingdom Restoration Ministries member Corey James on Thursday said he was convinced that the now-deceased church leader could have brought back his former church sister, who was killed in an alleged sacrificial ritual five years ago. “I honestly thought Kevin [Smith] would have been able to bring her back to life,” he said in the Home Circuit Court after prosecutor Latoya Bernard asked him what he was thinking after witnessing the killing.