Latest News
December 9, 2025
King Charles ‘profoundly saddened’ by devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa to Jamaica
Jamaica’s King, Charles III, says he is profoundly saddened to see the catastrophic damage caused by Hurricane Melissa in the country and across the Caribbean. In a message on Wednesday, he said he…
December 9, 2025
Non-essential gov’t offices reopen following Melissa, no loss of vacation days for employees unable to report to work
Non-essential public sector employees who cannot report to work due to being impacted by Hurricane Melissa will not lose vacation days for their absence. All non-essential government offices were…
December 9, 2025
Flash flood watch discontinued
The Met office has discontinued the flash flood watch for low-lying and flood-prone areas for all parishes. The agency says the significant feature is a Trough across Jamaica, which was induced by…
December 9, 2025
Increased criminality is a result of missing fathers
THE EDITOR, Madam: The Caribbean has been repeatedly rocked by incidents of mass killing without progress by society in dealing with the root causes. No government reviews, budget allocations or…
December 9, 2025
Kristen Gyles | We survived the unsurvivable
One foreign news reporter described the hurricane as being ‘unsurvivable’. But here we are, almost three million strong, having survived one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes on record. No, not…
December 9, 2025
Peter Espeut | Hoping for a good breeze-blow
I monitored Melissa on-line as she passed well to the south of Kingston on Sunday night, and rejoiced that the capital was spared the worst. And then she didn’t turn north when expected, and I hoped…
December 9, 2025
Standing with Jamaica in this hour of crisis
THE EDITOR, Madam: Many years ago I spent ten days with my young daughters in Negril, a town in the Hanover and Westmoreland Parishes at the western extremity of Jamaica. The people were welcoming…
December 9, 2025
Letter of the Day | Breadfruit and hope after the storm
THE EDITOR, Madam: In the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, our beloved Jamaica mourns. The wind’s roar has subsided, but in its silence, the cries of families who have lost their homes, livelihoods,…
December 9, 2025
by Karen Madden
Melissa revisits trauma on Halse Hall family
Haunted by memories of their matriarch who they lost during flood rains in 2021, a family in Bottom Halse Hall, Clarendon was forced to flee their home as flood waters from a nearby pond, swollen by…