Commentary

It seems that the only interests that went home happy after the 30th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 30) that wrapped up last Saturday in Belém, Brazil, were the oil-producing countries....

Hurricane Melissa did more than devastate homes, infrastructure, and livelihoods across Jamaica. It exposed a weakness we have ignored for far too long. Our highly centralised system of government cannot keep pace with the principles of sustainable...

With markets uncertain about the company’s continued control of Jamaica’s power grid, the Government’s decision to lend Jamaica Public Service (JPS) US$150 million to help pay for the post-Melissa rebuilding of its electricity transmission and...

ON MONDAY morning with the announcement of the death of one of Jamaica’s most outstanding reggae music pioneers, Jimmy Cliff, the temptation was to focus on his career, his achievements, including his many international hit songs, and his starring...

ZOHRAN MAMDANI, a self-declared democratic socialist, has achieved what many thought was impossible: he defeated the Democratic party’s old guards, including Andrew Cuomo, to become New York’s mayor. Mamdani’s victory is a political earthquake. It...

In 2017, the Jamaica Yellow Pages produced a telephone directory with a cover featuring a painting depicting a dancehall session. However, a church lobby group, the Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society (JCHS), led a campaign against the cover,...

The authorities’ confirmation of an outbreak of leptospirosis is not, in the circumstances, particularly surprising. Surges in infectious and communicable diseases often happen in the aftermath of natural disasters. What the Jamaican health...

The question of whether or not there should be fixed election dates has been one of long and intense debate. Section 64(2) of Jamaica’s Constitution provides that Parliament continues for five years after its first sitting following a general...

The visit to hurricane-ravaged western Jamaica last week by a muster of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders was meant as a demonstration of regional solidarity. But, beyond the symbolism, the presence of the heads of government – Gaston Browne,...

After the massive destruction it caused in the west of the island in late October, the most powerful story of Hurricane Melissa is not bureaucratic. It is of something deeply human upon which Jamaica can, and should, build. The category 5 storm...

Thank God some of us still have roofs over our heads and accessible supplies of food and water. A privilege set have electricity, and doubtless, much to be grateful for. A long and slow recovery ahead, we need an active workforce. Yet, those of us...