It is a tumultuous period from diagnosis to mastectomy, a dreadful life-changing journey for some of the hardest-hit breast cancer patients. For them, it requires resilience, a tightly knit support system, and a calm head – steady in faith, and...
Some are rat nests. Some are havens for pigeons, frogs, bats, and termites. These classrooms reek of the animals’ faeces, rendering them grossly unsanitary for students’ occupation. The problems existed long before the passage of Hurricane Beryl,...
He was still a student when Hurricane Gilbert hit Jamaica, but teacher Devon Wilson still remembers the devastation and sacrifice at Happy Grove High School in Portland, which became home to droves of residents in its wake. The memories came back...
One household. Eighteen mouths, including those of eight children to feed; and a Jamaica Public Service (JPS) electricity bill for some $37,000 after the passage of Hurricane Beryl. Then there are the back-to-school expenses that must be met –...
Monique Grant-Facey, principal of the Happy Grove High School in Portland, walked the school’s corridors last Friday, annoyed, frustrated, and on the brink of “losing it”. It was 2:45 p.m. and still, a contractor assigned to the school by the...
They started their formal education with lockdowns and online schooling as COVID-19 pummelled the education system four years ago. Now, as they enter their final primary school years, they face another daunting setback in the wake of Hurricane...
Despite having over a decade of teaching experience and numerous commendations and awards to his name, Coswell Barnett has been unable to secure a full-time position for the past four years. And he believes it is because he is blind. With just 25...
They lit a bonfire last Friday evening, hoping its flame – if even symbolically – would burn the ghastly memories of two Sundays ago when their lives changed forever. Eighteen persons were shot, eight of them killed, among them fellow residents...
There were many acts of heroism as the Cherry Tree Lane massacre unfolded in Four Paths, Clarendon, last Sunday. From residents who opened their doors to those scampering for cover to others who, without hesitation, bloodied their vehicles to...
The lack of land ownership titles and funds for rebuilding materials are the main hurdles keeping over two dozen people in shelters across Clarendon, Manchester, and St Elizabeth – three of the parishes hardest hit by Hurricane Beryl. The Category...
Except for the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) or the St Ann’s Bay Regional Hospital going against regular protocol to deploy one of their vehicles, there is no public ambulance to respond to road accidents in the island’s largest parish. The situation...
The police in St Ann are urging motorists travelling in the parish during the party-heavy holiday weekend into Tuesday to exercise caution, paying attention to particular hotspots that have accounted for a rise in crashes, especially after festive...
Jodi-Ann Nelson was brought to tears as she read the second lesson at her father’s funeral yesterday but later composed herself enough to deliver a fitting tribute to the man she hailed as her hero. Her father, Job Nelson, a veteran journalist,...
Relatives of Shankar Maragh are worried sick. They have not seen the 36-year-old, a deportee from the United States who battles mental illness, since April 2020. They hope he is still alive; his twin sister Shakeera is the most faithful, but with...
A fallout between the National Housing Trust (NHT) and one of its contractors is being cited as the primary factor jeopardising the completion deadline of an overnight stay facility for parents at the Bustamante Hospital for Children in Kingston....
For the past eight years, Kingsley Bennett* has endured an emotional rollercoaster due to his daughter’s mother, who he alleges has consistently defied visitation orders from the Family Court, striving relentlessly to undermine his relationship...
With hundreds of deaths and an almost-crippled economy, Jamaica’s brush with the COVID-19 pandemic has revolutionised the country’s employment and economic landscape, and its leadership should take note and adapt. This was a charge issued by Dr...
The spotlight on social-intervention tactics in crime-ravaged neighbourhoods, controlled by gangs with unchecked violence, is glaring. While some critics and security stakeholders support these methods, others remain critical, citing their...
The University of the West Indies (UWI) last week launched its revamped sexual harassment policy, which it said will add a total of $14 million to its salary bill to battle a scourge at least four alleged victims believe is beyond control. In fact...
Almost 60 students and staff at an elementary school in Dumfries, Virginia in the United States, erupted in excitement when the Supreme Court last week found businessman Omar Collymore guilty of plotting the murder of his wife and, consequently,...
Two pink poui trees shed their flowers by the hundreds in the front yard of the St Andrew Primary School but Denis Reid doesn’t mind; he sweeps them with pride. At 70 years old, he has finally found purpose. And this is it. He is a groundsman –...
They were fêted, appreciated, and loved, and for most of them, the feeling was unusual. In fact, it’s quite rare for school security guards and ancillary staff, “the real heroes on the ground”, to be treated with such regard – and for some, it...
Only 12 persons have been brought before the courts for breaches of the Wildlife Protection Act in the last four years – an unacceptably low number, according to wildlife experts who have cited the decimation of the crocodile population as one...
Educators at Effortville Primary School in Clarendon regard the institution as a trendsetter, moulding ‘STARS’ bent on improving themselves, parents and a community plagued by social ills and gang warfare. A trendsetter, they said, because...
They enjoy protected status and pride of place atop Jamaica’s coat of arms – a symbol of unending resilience and the strength of the Jamaican people. Yet over decades, their habitats have been decimated to make room for development, and their...
