Commentary

Olga Isaza (right), representative, UNICEF Jamaica, talks with 12-year-old Antwane from Rocky Hill, St Elizabeth about the impact of Hurricane Melissa.
December 9, 2025

Basil Jarrett | World Children’s Day and a broken Jamaica

IF YOU grew up in the ‘90s, you remember them. Those heart-breaking UNICEF ads that just seemed to ambush your conscience as you settled in for some mindless Fresh Prince of Belair or WWE Smackdown.…
A flooded farm in Bog Hole, Clarendon, days after Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica.
December 9, 2025

Monique Oates | Replanting hope: Feeding Jamaica after Hurricane Melissa

Hurricane Melissa did more than upend lives, destroy the housing stock and sever the road network, she uprooted Jamaica’s food security. The once-fertile parishes of St Elizabeth and Manchester, long…
A work crew clearing downed trees and other debris from a section of the Mandela Highway in St Catherine on October 29, following the passage of Hurricane Melissa the day before.
December 9, 2025

Editorial | Melissa clean-up brigades

The emergence of several cases of leptospirosis and tetanus in western Jamaica since the passage of Hurricane Melissa underlines the need for fast action by the Government to head off a potential…
Businessman Yucheng Tao (right) is seen distributing care packages to residents of Shrewsbury Logwood in Westmoreland.
December 9, 2025

Wang Jinfeng | Standing together in solidarity to overcome difficulties

HURRICANE MELISSA has left a trail of casualties and extensive property losses in Jamaica, a situation that has brought deep concern and sorrow to us all. Sharing Jamaica’s pain, China extended its…
Activists march at a climate protest during the COP30 UN Climate Summit in Belem, Brazil, on November 17.
December 9, 2025

Elizabeth Morgan | Living in troubling times

EVERY CENTURY comes with its cataclysmic events which are recorded in history and will be discussed, written about and studied for generations to come. The 20th century had quite a few of those which…
A teacher interacts with students in a classroom at Seaside Primary School in Hectors River, Portland.
December 9, 2025

Editorial | Climate crisis and education

While maintaining its policies to reduce the amount of Earth-heating gases Jamaica spews into the atmosphere, the Government should underpin these efforts by making climate change – and how to be…
Nicola Gowdie and Oliver Stewart sift through the debris of their home in Crane Road, St Elizabeth, which was destroyed by Hurricane Melissa.
December 9, 2025

Michael Abrahams | How hurricanes affect our health

Hurricane Melissa departed our shores three weeks ago. The death toll, at the time of writing this article, stands at 45, but this figure does not fully reflect the devastating effect the storm has…
This file photo shows a flock of Turkey Vultures (John Crows) at a section of the gully in Waterhouse.
December 9, 2025

Gordon Robinson | It’s cuckoo!

I’ve heard it said (and it’s true I’m sure) that, sometimes, we mus’ tek seruss t’ing mek joke. That must’ve been journalist Zahra Burton’s intent when, at one of Government’s post Melissa briefings,…
From left: Shericka Jackson, Marie-Josee Ta Lou, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, and Elaine Thompson-Herah compete in the 100m women’s finals at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
December 9, 2025

Editorial | Dodgy Olympics women’s 100m plan

World Athletics’ decision to schedule the three rounds of the women’s 100 metres race for the opening day of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics is a coup for marketers. For, as Sebastian Coe, the president…