The Jamaica Council of Churches (JCC) has added its voice to the recent public debate over Transport and Telecommunications Minister Daryl Vaz’s dismissal of an auditor general’s report which found that he breached the procurement law by bypassing...
If donating a pint of blood can save the lives of three persons, then Sonya Binns-Lawrence, the country’s leading blood donor, is just 10 shy of perhaps saving the lives of 400 of her fellow Jamaicans. The phlebotomist, who is celebrating her 60th...
The Government has allocated nearly $42.8 billion in the 2026-2027 Estimates of Expenditure as contingencies to cover new rates, retroactive salaries and adjustments in allowances that may result from public sector wage settlements during the...
Economist Keenan Falconer says he was not expecting the administration to introduce new tax measures at this time, arguing that the conventional approach in the aftermath of a crisis is to either reduce or remove some taxes to spur economic...
The Government is expected today to table in Parliament the Estimates of Expenditure along with several Budget-related documents, detailing how more than a trillion dollars of taxpayers’ money will be spent in the upcoming financial year. However,...
National Integrity Action (NIA) Principal Director Dr Gavin Myers wants the Government to urgently roll out critical anti-corruption legislative reforms such as the long-proposed unexplained wealth order (UWO) regime. His call comes at a time when...
Fifty alleged cases of sexual harassment – mostly involving public-sector workers – have been referred to the tribunal established under the Sexual Harassment (Protection and Prevention) Act to hear and adjudicate complaints. The disclosure was...
The National Disaster Fund Committee (NDFC), which has the critical responsibility of managing the National Disaster Fund (NDF) and signing off on sums to be allocated for relief and other purposes in the wake of a natural disaster, has been non-...
Craig Beresford, executive director of the Integrity Commission (IC), says the anti-corruption body has challenges retaining highly skilled staff and attracting new talent due to the level of remuneration they receive when compared with their...
If Henrietta Adina Williams, popularly known as ‘Miss Heady’, divulges her age to those who do not know her personally, the disclosure could be met with gasps of denial as her physical appearance belies the century she has scored so far. Perhaps...
Twenty-one-year-old Jayanne Booth, a University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech) student, says the past two years of her life were a nightmare, marked by fear, uncertainty, and emotional distress after she was arrested, detained for 24 hours, and...
Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis has indicated that the actions of those behind the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) customs tax-evasion scandal served to facilitate private entities in dodging taxes, thereby diverting resources...
The Ministry of Health and Wellness has missed another deadline of November 2025 to clear a backlog of appropriation accounts dating back to 2013. Appropriation accounts spanning the fiscal years 2013-2014 to 2019-2020 with an approved budget of $...
The board of the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) has reported “specific matters” from a report on the procurement activities of the hospital to the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s Fraud Squad and the Jamaica Customs Agency. Following the...
Exposing a glaring practice by the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI), of utilising a retrospective process to validate procurements, Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis says this action by the institution served to corrupt the process...
Newly appointed Principal Director of the National Integrity Action (NIA), Dr Gavin Myers, has signalled that he intends to continue the strong advocacy of the organisation as it pushes for good governance and integrity in the public service....
Trade unionist Senator Lambert Brown has condemned the practice by some regional health authorities of diverting employees’ deductions – intended for standing order obligations – to other uses such as overtime payments. The issue was raised on...
A key sector leader has argued that despite the severe disruptions caused by Hurricane Melissa, which the International Monetary Fund estimates could depress economic output by between eight and 13 per cent in the short term, Jamaica’s...
Making a case for more meaningful support from the Government toward one of the country’s long-standing industries, Donald Salmon, president of the Jamaica Coffee Growers Association, says coffee farmers in the island have been facing a tough time...
For nearly three decades, Donald Berry has put his energy and passion into producing Blue Mountain Coffee, and has had setbacks in the past. However, with the passage of Hurricane Melissa, he thought long and hard about throwing in the towel after...
A prominent trade union leader has welcomed a recent move by the Industrial Disputes Tribunal (IDT) to publish its awards and related industrial relations resources on its website, describing the development as long overdue and highly beneficial to...
Hit with losses estimated at $1 billion from the devastating effects of Hurricane Melissa, the local coffee industry yesterday received 5,000 bags of fertiliser and other key agricultural inputs valued at $35 million from the Jamaica Agricultural...
State Minister for Finance and the Public Service Zavia Mayne has filed a lawsuit against the Integrity Commission (IC), asking the court to quash the ruling of the director of corruption prosecution that he should be charged for breaching Section...
Senior figures within Jamaica’s media landscape have strongly rejected a call from a government lawmaker to reinstate criminal libel, arguing that such a move would roll back hard-won press freedoms secured under the Defamation Act of 2013. Former...
A senior official in the Ministry of Education says community colleges heavily damaged by Hurricane Melissa have received interim clean-up grants to help remove debris from their campuses. With concerns growing over the disruption facing students...
