News

Angella Jones, farmer in Flagaman district, St Elizabeth, looks at crops that have been blighted in the field by an ongoing drought and extreme heat.
Updated 11 hours ago by Tanesha Mundle - Staff Reporter

Harvest heartbreak

For Angella Jones, the hardest part of farming is not the work. It is putting everything she has into the ground, watching crops fail repeatedly, and then having to find the money to start all over again. Jones shared that reality during an interview with The Sunday Gleaner on Tuesday as she sat beneath a mango tree, struggling to keep her tears at bay while describing the toll months of drought and extreme heat have taken on her farm in Flagaman, St Elizabeth.

Read more
Angella Jones, a farmer in Flagaman district, St Elizabeth, gives water to one of her goats.
20 Sep, 2026 0

Farmers facing price squeeze

A veteran farmer is pushing back against the perception that farmers are responsible for the high prices consumers pay for food. Angella Jones, a 53-year-old from Flagaman with more than 30 years…
The National Irrigation Commission Limited’s facility in Essex Valley, St Elizabeth.
20 Sep, 2026 0

Drought pushes NIC to pump more water

The National Irrigation Commission Limited (NIC) says it is pumping and distributing more water than usual to farmers as the prolonged drought continues to put pressure on agricultural production…
Middleton Primary School in St Thomas.
20 Sep, 2026 0

‘We are not struggling’ - Schools see strategic success as they hold out against drought

The once-lush green lawn at the front of Spring Garden Primary and Infant School in St Thomas is now a deep brown. At neighbouring White Hall Primary School, vegetation on the school grounds has dried…
News
20 Sep, 2026 0

As schools ration water, farmers struggle to earn enough to keep children in class

The prolonged drought gripping St Elizabeth is reaching beyond the parish’s farms, disrupting family incomes and putting pressure on schools to conserve water while keeping classes in session. In some…
20 Sep, 2026 0

$11m passport penalty - Government ordered to pay as Supreme Court rules confiscation of passport violated businesswoman’s rights

The Supreme Court has ordered the Government to pay a Westmoreland woman over $11 million after it found that immigration authorities violated her constitutional rights when they took her off an…
Dr Dayton Campbell, general secretary of the People’s National Party.
20 Sep, 2026 0

Gen sec: PNP, newcomers ‘shone’ despite challenges

As supporters of the People’s National Party (PNP) head to western Jamaica today for its 88th annual conference, General Secretary Dr Dayton Campbell has given his party a positive assessment of its…
Christopher Benjamin, director of Jamaica's Promise.
20 Sep, 2026 0

$10m handed out to keep Jamaica's Promise to 25 students

Twenty-five Jamaica Independence scholarships, together valued in excess of J$10 million, have been awarded to final-year tertiary students by Jamaica's Promise, a United States (US) non-profit…
A woman shares Jehovah’s Witnesses’ literature with a passerby in downtown Pittsburgh on November 13, 2023.
20 Sep, 2026 0

Jehovah’s Witnesses allow blood-derived products

The Jehovah’s Witnesses have partly eased their longstanding prohibition on the medical use of donated blood, allowing members to receive products derived from blood but maintaining a ban on…
Byron Edwards at Prospect Beach in St Thomas.
20 Sep, 2026 0

Jamaica belongs to Jamaicans... with a permit

In St Thomas, the coastal economy is integral to the lives and livelihoods of many residents. With several beaches in the parish, fishing, beach vending, small-scale farming and other informal…