Commentary

(From left): Jaxen Mitchell, Jacob Wong and Gia Whyms-Stone, members of Reach Academy robotics team, assembling a robot that won gold in the World Robotics Competition in 2024.
14 Feb, 2026 0

Editorial | Opening doors for girls in science and technology

In Jamaica, girls, as they do almost every sphere of education, outperform boys in maths and science in primary and high school. By age 15 – according to the OECD’s Programme for International…
This photo shows steelpan performance at the Trinidad and Tobago carnival
14 Feb, 2026 0

Tony Deyal and Zeno Constance | Pan and Kaiso

I was just over four-years old and was heading to the village standpipes with two of my young neighbour’s carrying “pans” or buckets to go to the village standpipe when we heard big men shouting,…
Africka Stephens
14 Feb, 2026 0

Africka Stephens | When will unchecked power in our schools be addressed

Recent reports, from a primary school in Spanish Town, St Catherine, where students’ jackets were reportedly confiscated by school administrators during a cold weather front, have ignited public…
Mayor of Kingston and St. Andrew is Andrew Swaby
13 Feb, 2026 0

Editorial | Fix local government divisions

Moral and ethical considerations notwithstanding, there is little doubt that the People’s National Party (PNP) members of the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC) were on sound legal…
Marcus Garvey
13 Feb, 2026 0

Peter Espeut | Marcus Garvey, black history-maker

Much is publicly known about The Rt Hon Marcus Mosiah Garvey ONH (1887-1940) – Jamaica’s first National Hero, so in this article I will focus on what I think are not so well-known details of Garvey’s…
Kristen Gyles writes: Traffic congestion is not just a matter of personal inconvenience. It has a ripple effect on society in numerous ways.
13 Feb, 2026 0

Kristen Gyles | Public sector now leading the way

I think it would be fair to say the public sector now sets the standard. The public sector wage restructuring exercise which saw public sector salaries increasing by as much as 300 per cent in some…
12 Feb, 2026 0

Editorial | No joy in corruption index

If there is a positive take away for Jamaica from Transparency International (TI) latest Perception Corruption Perception Index (CPI), published this week, is that nothing has changed. Jamaica’s…
Presidential Council Chair Laurent Saint-Cyr speaks during a ceremony marking the end of the transitional council’s almost two-year rule, in Port-au-Prince, Saturday, February 7.
12 Feb, 2026 0

SSP Diaries | 2026 – another year of questions without suitable answers?

At the beginning of 2025 I examined several situations under the caption ‘2025 – Another year of questions without suitable answers.’ This article revisits the past and looks also at other incidents…
Dr Rohan Maharaj  is a senior lecturer in family medicine and a fellow of the Caribbean College of Family Physicians. He is the alcohol policy advisor, The Healthy Caribbean Coalition. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com
12 Feb, 2026 0

Rohan Maharaj | Alcohol and the commercial determinants of health

‘He’s a real rum head, he doesn’t know when to stop.’ All too often, we blame others for their lack of self-control – for not stopping after “just one” alcoholic drink. Our medical models reinforce…