WESTERN BUREAU: While St James currently holds the dubious title as Jamaica’s murder capital, with over 100 homicides this year, the mayor of the capital city Montego Bay, Councillor Richard Vernon, is promising that come 2025, the tourism hub will...
WESTERN BUREAU: Montego Bay Mayor Richard Vernon says several traffic changes are to take place in the western city during the Christmas season, and additional spaces granted to vendors to ply their wares during the highly anticipated Grand Market...
WESTERN BUREAU: The St James Municipal Corporation (StJMC) formally said goodbye to its outgoing parish disaster coordinator, Tamoy Sinclair, during her final official attendance at the corporation’s monthly meeting last Thursday, which precedes...
WESTERN BUREAU: The St James Health Department has discovered a crocodile carcass at a food establishment in Montego Bay, St James, sparking concerns about its intended use. While the department has declined to disclose the name of the...
WESTERN BUREAU: Tamika Williams, a public relations officer at the St James Combined Association, is calling on parents to re-educate boys in how to treat women and girls. Williams, a survivor of sexual violence, made the call in the aftermath of...
WESTERN BUREAU: Audrey Budai, the coordinator for the National Task Force Against Trafficking in Persons, says there is no stipulated profile to easily identify human traffickers, noting that in some cases, the ones participating in this illegal...
WESTERN BUREAU: Public Defender Carolyn Reid-Cameron is urging Jamaicans to familiarise themselves with the Constitution to have a full understanding of their basic human rights to guard against human trafficking. She was speaking at Tuesday’s...
WESTERN BUREAU: Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Malike Kellier, and Audrey Budai, the coordinator for the National Task Force Against Trafficking in Persons, say the victims of human trafficking who do not get counselling may be resistant...
WESTERN BUREAU: Amid a strike by Jamaica’s junior doctors on Monday to protest compensation issues, Dr Delroy Fray warned that western public hospitals would not be able to cope with the resulting disruptions for more than 24 hours. But the doctors...
WESTERN BUREAU: The highly anticipated verdict in the trial of British national Kay-Ann Anderson, who allegedly attempted to smuggle one kilogram of cocaine disguised as patties, has been postponed to December 13. Anderson appeared in the St James...
WESTERN BUREAU: Joseph ‘Gio’ McKenzie, who was once on the St James most wanted list, was remanded until January 8 next year when he appeared in the St James Parish Court on Wednesday to answer to two counts of murder. St James Parish Court...
WESTERN BUREAU: Kevina Atkins, one of the two persons charged in the ongoing $17-million HEART/NSTA Trust fraud investigation, was, yesterday, offered bail following a successful application by her lawyer, who cited the welfare of her infant child...
WESTERN BUREAU: Psychologist Dr Leahcim Semaj is recommending that emotional intelligence be incorporated into the school curriculum to assist students, and the wider society by extension, in learning the value of having empathy for others. Semaj...
WESTERN BUREAU: Some lawyers are of the view that the fines and sentences that are being handed down to foreign nationals caught smuggling cocaine are not serving as a deterrent, as the number of offenders is constantly increasing. On Wednesday,...
WESTERN BUREAU: Kay-Ann Anderson, the British woman who has been on trial for allegedly trying to smuggle one kilogram of cocaine inside a box of Tastee patties on May 10, 2023, is maintaining her innocence ahead of her trial’s scheduled verdict on...
WESTERN BUREAU: Legal and Constitutional Affairs Minister Marlene Malahoo Forte says the recurring issue of poor road conditions should be blamed on years of mismanagement by individuals and government agencies. Malahoo Forte, who was speaking at...
WESTERN BUREAU: Based on the testimony of a children’s officer from the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA), all was not well at the controversial Qahal Yahweh compound in Montego Bay, St James, when it was raided by the police on...
WESTERN BUREAU: Sancia Bennett Templer, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce, says the Jamaica Special Economic Zone Authority (JSEZA) will launch several initiatives in 2025 to streamline the authority’s...
WESTERN BUREAU: British national Rachael Quayle, who was allegedly caught with cocaine valued at J$45 million stashed in assorted food items at the Sangster International Airport (SIA) in Montego Bay on August 21, is to stand trial in the St James...
WESTERN BUREAU: Unhappy with the poor state of their roads, residents in several St James communities brought traffic to a standstill on Tuesday morning, mounting blockades to draw attention to their plight. Police and fire personnel were kept busy...
WESTERN BUREAU: District Officer O’Neil Kerr, the Jamaica Fire Brigade’s (JFB) fire investigator for St James, wants stricter fire-safety measures to be put in place at the Old Shoe Market in downtown Montego Bay, which has experienced three fires...
WESTERN BUREAU: Councillors in the St James Municipal Corporation (StJMC) are calling for greater enforcement from the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) in punishing individuals who illegally dump in their divisions, particularly in...
WESTERN BUREAU: The ongoing trial of the 16 members of the controversial Montego Bay-based Qahal Yahweh religious group, who are charged with breaching the Child Care and Protection Act and the Education Act, was adjourned to November 22 due to...
WESTERN BUREAU: With a KFC outlet among 16 food establishments in Montego Bay shuttered by the authorities on Monday, Sherika Lewis, the acting chief public health inspector for St James, has warned operators who fail to renew their licences that...
WESTERN BUREAU: Attorney-at-law Dalton Reid, who represents Constable Juliana Clevon, one of three police officers charged in connection with the death of Mario Deane, has welcomed the decision to transfer the trial to Westmoreland. Deane, 31,...
