Commentary

Trinidad and Tobago’s new government should be extremely cautious in proceeding with its plan for a stand-your-ground self-defence law, lest it unleashes grave and unintended consequences. Indeed, this newspaper suggests to Prime Minister Kamla...

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) should take note. Even as some members engage in bilateral discussions with the United States on Donald Trump’s tariffs, and the group moved to expand partnerships with other blocs, including China, the...

Contrary to Matthew Samuda’s recent rants the health of all citizens in Kingston and St Andrew (KSA) is very much Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation’s (KSAMC) responsibility and concern. Samuda’s gross over-reaction (which, as we all know...

The Gleaner supports Mercia Fraser – Mario Deane’s mother – in urging Jamaicans to serve as jurors – at least once. “I realise people are timid to do it, especially on a murder charge, but it would be good to have the experience,” she said. But of...

The University of the West Indies (UWI) is not Harvard, which is rated fourth in the world among the world’s thousands of universities. Neither is it any of America’s other Ivy League institutions with their giant endowments, top-rated faculty...

At the launch of yet another middle-income housing scheme, the prime minister dismissed starter homes as ‘matchboxes’ and ‘ovens.’ But in a country where just 2,400 homes are built annually to meet a demand of over 15,000, the crisis cannot be...

When the December 2023 oil spill occurred in the Rio Cobre, it was the latest in a long history of pollution incidents affecting this major river in Jamaica. The National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) identified the source as a...

Last Sunday I attended the World Family Doctor Day (WFDD) 2025 virtual conference. It was part of the annual celebration to honour and highlight the important role that family doctors play in healthcare systems across the globe. This year’s theme...

This newspaper is surprised that Richard Vernon, the chairman of the St James Municipal Corporation (SJMC), is engaging in a legal quibble with the political ombudsman over the ombudsman’s right to question his authority to order the removal of...

What devours all and can kill a king, destroy a town, and crushes mountains down? Time. According to the experts, it started in the past, keeps on going into the future, and never, ever stops. It keeps on keeping on and on. What makes it even more...

We can learn a lot from China’s infamous one-child policy. It was certainly well-intentioned, but as some say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Coming out of the Great Chinese Famine in the early 1960s, China’s economy suffered...

Since my column last week, where I argued that Jamaica’s population crisis is mostly a result of our chronic failure to properly invest in our boys, I’ve heard from just about everyone. In that piece, I suggested that our declining fertility rate...