TOUGH ROAD AHEAD Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness says a report on the status of the economy has indicated that there are “headwinds” ahead even as recovery from Hurricane Melissa takes shape. Holness, who was speaking at a ceremony where the European Union, through the World Bank, gave a €5 million grant to the National Reconstruction Implementation Support Project on Tuesday, said Middle East tensions, high energy costs, and reported drought have created additional challenges for the country.
‘You are playing with fire’ - Golding suggests retro levy bill leaves loophole for legal claims, Gov’t dismisses concerns The parliamentary Opposition’s protest that a bill giving retroactive effect to the environment protection levy from June 2007 to the present does not go far enough to protect the Consolidated Fund and public officials who imposed the tax from legal action was brushed aside on Tuesday. Opposition Leader Mark Golding said the tax collected over the period was done without legal authority and urged the Government to introduce an amendment to the Environment Levy Act to validate and indemnify public officials who collected the revenues.
NET calls for FAA Act changes to fast-track payment for emergency school repairs Jamaica’s legislators are being urged to amend the Financial Administration and Audit Act (FAA Act) to enable faster payments to contractors engaged in emergency construction such as the repairing schools damaged in Hurricane Melissa. Executive Director of the National Education Trust (NET), Latoya Harris Ghartey said while the Procurement Act has been revised to allow for emergency mobilisation, its intent is being hampered by payment delays to contractors.
14 students left at Somerset Primary as enrolment plummets Somerset Primary and Infant School was void of the usual bustle and sounds that accompany a school day last Thursday, mirroring the quietness of the surrounding rural St Andrew community. A student peeking through the gate as the Gleaner vehicle pulled up provided the only initial sign of life. “If they see a vehicle, you see everybody peeping, even though we tell them not to do that. They tend to do that because they see a vehicle coming. They don’t see that quite often,” grade-six teacher Sherell Dixon Brown later explained.
Gang violence takes toll on Tavares Gardens Primary The impact of gang violence in Payne Land, St Andrew is being felt in the classrooms of Tavares Gardens Primary School, where only 80 students are enrolled at an institution built to accommodate 415. Principal Terriann Nisbeth said repeated clashes between warring factions have left some parents afraid to send their children to school and, in some cases, unable to collect them after dismissal.
Holness defends $1.2b spend on container home foundations Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has defended his administration’s $1.2 billion spend to construct foundations for semi-permanent container houses, arguing that the bases are designed to give storm-hit Jamaicans a launchpad to permanent, resilient homes. The Government is facing sharp public criticism, including from the opposition People’s National Party (PNP), over the high price tag of the site preparations.
AI could decide whether and how travellers vacation in Jamaica WESTERN BUREAU: Jamaica is moving to make its tourism industry ready for a future in which artificial intelligence could help determine not only whether a traveller visits the island, but where that visitor stays, eats, explores, and spends. The Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) has begun examining the country’s tourism information infrastructure as AI-powered assistants increasingly move beyond answering travellers’ questions towards recommending destinations, building itineraries, and, eventually, completing bookings.
Heavenly fire The late leader of the Pathways International Kingdom Restoration Ministries had reportedly claimed to be the prophet ‘Elijah’ and tried to summon heavenly fire before shooting at cops during a bloody 2021 service at the church. “Mr [Kevin] Smith started to say he was Elijah and just as Elijah called down fire from Heaven to consume the army. [He said,] ‘If I be a prophet of God and the word from my mouth is true, I call down fire from Heaven to consume the 50,” a former member of the church testified.
‘I will never get weary doing good’ - UHWI chief Dr Carl Bruce found not guilty of assault charge Dr Carl Bruce would not admit he was worried that Monday’s judgment in an assault case could have prevented him from keeping a promise to his deceased mother to “never get weary doing good”. A guilty verdict would also have been damaging to the reputation he spent years building after fulfilling his dream of becoming a doctor. He believed he would also have let down his grandmother, another of the strong women in his life, who told him to “live good with people”.
‘I used to say, ‘Good job, police’, but now I feel it’ Relatives of 35-year-old businessman Jordon Perry Smith took their grief and anger to the streets of Seaford Town, Westmoreland, on Monday, demanding answers over his fatal shooting during a police operation. The protest came three days after Smith was killed at his home in an incident police sources have described as a shoot-out, while his relatives continue to reject that account and accuse members of the Constabulary Force of executing him.