Commentary

Minister of Finance Fayval Williams opening the Budget Debate in Parliament on March 10.
Published 15 hours ago

Editorial | Waiting for transformation

The 2026/27 Budget Speech by Minister Fayval Williams was to a large extent an update on the post Hurricane Melissa recovery plans. It told a good story about surviving a great shock, restoring stability, and finding the money to rebuild. The achievement since Hurricane Melissa on the economic front should not be underestimated. But Jamaica should also be clear-eyed about the tremendous amount of work that lies ahead in moving from recovery to reconstruction.

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Published 15 hours ago

Ronald Thwaites | Weak foundations

Last Thursday, I met Bobby at Newell High School in St Elizabeth. After two years in a basic school and six years at primary level, Bobby was placed in Grade 7 at Newell, 20 miles away and a $800…
Representational image of bribing.
Published 15 hours ago

Lloyd Barnett | Combating corruption

Corruption has a corrosive influence on the machinery of government. For several decades, the issue of corruption in public offices has received widespread public attention and frequent intense…
Leroy Fearon, lecturer, multi-disciplinary researcher, author, geography specialist, and columnist
Published 6 hours ago

Leroy Fearon | Our storms, their emissions

Across the Caribbean and parts of South America, the sound of approaching storms has become all too familiar. For many young people in these regions, climate change is no longer an abstract discussion…
David Comissiong, a Citizen of the Caribbean Community
Published 5 hours ago

David Comissiong | United we stand, divided we fall

In recent times we have been hearing the curious notion being peddled that it is not necessary for Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member states to have agreement or convergence on their foreign policy…
Prime Minister Dr. Andrew Holness (right) with Fayval Williams, minister of finance and the public service at the 2026/27 Budget Debate at Gordon House.
March 15, 2026

Editorial | Matters for the prime minister

When Prime Minister Andrew Holness speaks in the Budget Debate this week, there are two issues which this newspaper wants him to place on his list of priorities to be addressed. And, preferably, he…
March 15, 2026

Garth Rattray | Inhibitions to being fruitful and multiply – Part 2

The greatest contributing factors to our falling total fertility rate (TFR) are economic hardship and little or no expectation / hope for a better future.
March 15, 2026

Jaevion Nelson | New commitment to end AIDS in Jamaica

In 2024, one thousand one hundred people contracted HIV and around 25 per cent of them were young people between 15 and 24 years. Consequently, Jamaica is one of four countries contributing to 90 per…
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March 15, 2026

Orville Taylor | Get ‘red’ of it

Not a piece of bloody cloth; the Jamaican flag has no red. More than 15 countries, including 11 African nations, have some modality of the red, green, and gold. With black and white as a base colour,…
In this 2019 photo, diver Lenford DaCosta is seen cleaning up lines of staghorn coral at an underwater coral nursery inside the Oracabessa Fish Sanctuary, in Oracabessa, Jamaica.
March 15, 2026

Eric Falt | Beneath the sea

Last week, UNESCO, in partnership with the Jamaican Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, and with the financial support of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation…