THIRSTY FOR CASH The Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) has confirmed that it received an application from the National Water Commission (NWC) for a 51 per cent increase in tariff over a five-year period. The NWC’s senior management told a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) at Gordon House on Tuesday that the utility had applied to the regulatory body last Friday, putting its approximately 500,000 customers on notice. In a release yesterday, the OUR said the tariff application covers the period 2026-27 to 2030-31.
US pledges renewed Caribbean focus Positioning the United States as a true “Caribbean nation”, US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau says Washington under the Trump administration is actively reorienting its foreign policy back to its immediate neighbourhood after years of relative neglect. “For far too long, we have been looking at things that are happening halfway across the world, and we have been ignoring things that are happening right in our own neighbourhood,” Landau told a gathering of Caribbean leaders at a US-Caribbean Dialogue last Thursday.
MP: JLP support remains strong in May Pen North, Clarendon Central Clarendon Central Member of Parliament Delroy Williams has pushed back against suggestions of discord within the constituency, insisting that the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) machinery remains united despite the defection of Councillor Tanyalee Williams in the Clarendon Municipal Corporation. MP Williams also said that the support for May Pen Mayor Joel Williams is undiminished amid allegations of internal conflict following the defection of May Pen North Division councillor last week.
Defence wants two senior officials as prosecutors drop 13 witnesses Two senior public officials are among 13 people who prosecutors no longer intend to call as witnesses in the fraud trial involving former Education Minister Ruel Reid, defence attorneys have revealed. Their names are being withheld because the media has been asked not to reveal the names of witnesses in the trial. They were among more than 90 witnesses listed on the indictment. However, Linda Wright, the attorney representing Reid, revealed in court on Tuesday that she and the other defence attorneys in the case have been notified of the change by prosecutors.
‘I never felt fearful’ As Susan Higgins stepped onto the dais at King’s House on Monday to receive the Badge of Honour for Gallantry for assisting in the capturing and handing over of a man who raped and murdered an eight-year-old girl, her thoughts were with the child’s mother, with whom she has formed a quiet bond in her heart despite never meeting.
‘I was hoping to deliver a triplet’ Myda Trail has delivered more than 3,000 babies in her native community of Clarksonville, St Ann, and its surrounding areas. Reflecting fondly on over 40 years as a midwife serving the small, rural village, she only has one regret. “I was hoping that I would be able to deliver a triplet, but I didn’t get any triplet,” she told The Gleaner with a chuckle, adding that instead, she delivered three sets of twins.
JCF gets more vehicles to boost security in resort areas The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) has received seven vehicles valued at $20 million to strengthen the operational reach of its Resort Areas Division. The vehicles – two all-terrain vehicles, four motorcycles, and a pickup truck – were handed over by Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett through the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo). They bring to 18 the number of vehicles provided through the TPDCo to support the division’s mobility and responsiveness and strengthen security in tourism areas.
Honourable finale - Vaz believes OJ membership perfectly timed to cap public service career Certain that he is in the twilight of his political career, Transport Minister Daryl Vaz said his appointment to the Order of Jamaica (OJ) was perfectly timed and a fitting way to cap his life in public service. “The stars have aligned for me, and I could not want or ask for any better in terms of my leaving public service on the highest note possible,” he told The Gleaner after receiving the honour at yesterday’s annual National Honours and Awards Investiture Ceremony, held on the lawns of King’s House in St Andrew, where 140 Jamaicans were recognised.
One tyre between life and death - Six policemen honoured for daring Hurricane Melissa rescue WESTERN BUREAU: Three tyres were already hanging over the edge of a gully. A fourth, caught against a concrete kerb, was all that stood between Police Constable Horace Bryan, a terrified 75-year-old woman and the raging floodwaters threatening to sweep them into the Caribbean Sea. Bryan prayed. He sang Christian songs until he could remember no more. And when he saw a fire truck turn back, unable to reach them through the treacherous waters, he feared he might never see his family again.
US$340m Caribbean push - Blake urges greater focus on resilience in the United States’ regional investment plan The Trump administration says it is investing more than US$340 million in the Caribbean following talks with CARICOM countries at a US-Caribbean Dialogue hosted by the State Department on Friday. The meeting was reportedly attended by Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau and “high-level” delegations from Jamaica, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.