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The Sydney Pagon STEM Academy in Elim, St Elizabeth, has been struck by criminals for the third time in recent years, with armed thieves stealing seven valuable goats worth approximately $500,000 Jamaican dollars. The incident occurred Monday night as the agricultural institution continues to recover from extensive damage caused by Category 5 Hurricane Melissa three months ago.

According to Principal Milbert Miller, the thieves fired two shots to intimidate security personnel during the brazen operation. The stolen livestock included five bucks and two does, with one pair having been recently donated by Jamaica’s Ministry of Agriculture to improve the school’s breeding stock. The loss represents a significant setback to both the educational program and nutritional initiatives that benefit students.

The academy, situated on over 200 acres just miles from Santa Cruz, specializes in agricultural education alongside STEM subjects. The goats, sheep, and rabbits maintained on the property serve dual purposes: providing hands-on learning opportunities for students who often apply these skills at home, and supplying protein for the school’s nutritional program.

Principal Miller expressed particular concern about the theft of their ‘service buck,’ which will severely impact their breeding capabilities. The school has suffered approximately $1.5 million in total losses from repeated thefts in recent years. Miller cited the lack of electricity in the area as enabling criminals to operate under cover of darkness and appealed for enhanced security measures including armed personnel and surveillance cameras to protect the vulnerable institution.

ANNATTO BAY, St. Mary — A transformative initiative is bringing legal electricity and renewed dignity to residents of rural Jamaica through the government’s Rural Electrification Programme (REP). The program, implemented through a partnership between the Ministry of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport and the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), is regularizing previously unauthorized connections while installing proper electrical infrastructure.

Sixty-year-old Kerron Buchanan, once disconnected from the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) grid due to unaffordable accumulating bills, now watches with anticipation as certified electricians install a new breaker box at his Cargill Lane residence. “I maintained monthly payments, but the carried-over balances became insurmountable,” Buchanan recounted, describing the financial strain that led to his disconnection.

Buchanan is among more than 70 Annatto Bay residents who received complete household rewiring on January 21, marking a significant step in normalizing their electrical access. The emotional impact was palpable as Buchanan shared his immediate plans: “The first thing I will do is play some music and clean up the place.”

Local cosmetologist Malika Murray expressed profound relief at transitioning from an illegal connection to authorized service. She described the constant anxiety of living with unauthorized electricity: “When you see a JPS vehicle, your heart leaps because you don’t know if they’re coming with police to your house.” Murray praised the utility’s initiative and committed to maintaining regular payments, encouraging fellow community members to embrace legal connections. “No more hide and seek. Legal light, and it feels good,” she beamed.

The current initiative continues work that began in 2023 under former Member of Parliament Dr. Norman Dunn, with Annatto Bay representing the first phase in St. Mary South Eastern where over 100 households were previously regularized. REP liaison officer Omar Love confirmed the program’s expansion across the constituency, with more than 300 residents slated for regularization.

Established with a mandate to extend electricity access to rural regions, REP supports the government’s broader objective of island-wide power availability to stimulate economic development. The institutional framework was strengthened in 2006 when JSIF signed a memorandum of understanding with REP and JPS to facilitate household regularization across 12 inner-city communities. The program encompasses complete household wiring and certification of contractor-performed electrical work.

Jamaica’s national electricity provider has declared a comprehensive underground power grid financially unfeasible despite growing political pressure for storm-resistant infrastructure. The Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) presented this assessment during a parliamentary committee hearing that examined grid resilience strategies following recent devastating hurricanes.

JPS President and CEO Hugh Grant, drawing from his experience with New York’s extensive underground network, informed Parliament’s Public Administration and Appropriations Committee that subterranean systems typically cost ‘north of 15 times’ more than overhead lines. While acknowledging the superior reliability of underground infrastructure, Grant emphasized that burying Jamaica’s entire electrical network would impose an overwhelming financial burden on the nation.

The debate emerged amid heightened concerns about climate resilience after Hurricane Melissa’s October 2025 devastation, which caused extended blackouts across multiple parishes. Lawmakers specifically questioned whether Jamaica’s overhead grid could withstand increasingly severe weather events and seismic activity, with St Mary Central MP Omar Newell querying earthquake preparedness and underground alternatives.

Instead of nationwide conversion, JPS is advancing a strategy of ‘selective undergrounding’ that prioritizes critical infrastructure. This targeted approach would focus protection on essential facilities like hospitals, tourism corridors, and other high-priority zones rather than attempting complete grid overhaul. Grant confirmed the company has obtained preliminary pricing for such targeted projects, noting they remain ‘extremely expensive’ but offer more achievable resilience benefits.

The discussion reflects Jamaica’s broader ‘build back better’ initiative following repeated storm seasons that have exposed vulnerabilities in overhead transmission systems, particularly in rural and coastal communities most susceptible to weather-related damage.

Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) CEO Hugh Grant has confirmed to parliamentary officials that an arrest has been made in connection with extortion attempts targeting customers awaiting power restoration after Hurricane Melissa. The disclosure came during Tuesday’s session of the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC) where legislators grilled utility executives about allegations that residents were being solicited for illegal payments to expedite electricity reconnection.

Grant expressed profound disappointment regarding these exploitative practices, stating: ‘When you say that workmen request to be paid, that hurts my heart during this unprecedented time of hardship.’ He emphasized the company’s zero-tolerance stance toward such activities and revealed that swift action had been taken upon discovering the scheme.

The JPS president outlined comprehensive countermeasures implemented since the hurricane devastated Jamaica’s power infrastructure last October. These include enhanced monitoring systems, public awareness campaigns through town criers and text messages, and deployment of security personnel to affected areas. ‘We have done town criers, we have done texts, we have also sent out our security forces in many operations,’ Grant detailed during the committee hearing.

Importantly, Grant clarified that the apprehended individual was not employed by JPS, though the company continues to collaborate closely with law enforcement agencies to identify and prosecute additional offenders. The arrest comes amid widespread public frustration over prolonged outages that left tens of thousands of customers without electricity for extended periods across multiple parishes following Hurricane Melissa’s destructive path.

The utility executive urged affected communities to report any solicitation attempts immediately, promising robust response measures: ‘Give me a lead and I guarantee you we will have our security forces out there and we will ensure that we do right by the law.’

Jamaica’s Parliament has ushered in a new regulatory era for gated communities with the introduction of the transformative Shared Communities Act 2026. Tabled in the House of Representatives, this comprehensive legislation establishes a rigorous legal framework to govern the nation’s rapidly expanding private residential developments.

The Act mandates the creation of legally recognized Community Corporations for all registered shared communities. These corporations, governed by elected executive committees of property owners, will bear significant responsibilities. Their duties encompass maintaining detailed proprietor registries, ensuring common property upkeep, implementing long-term maintenance strategies, and managing community funds for administrative and insurance purposes.

A pivotal aspect of the legislation empowers the Real Estate Board as the primary regulatory authority. The Board will process community registrations, issue operational certificates, maintain official records, and facilitate dispute resolution between proprietors and community corporations. Its extensive powers include ordering the removal of non-compliant animals from properties and invalidating improperly passed corporation resolutions.

To address chronic issues of fee delinquency, the law establishes formidable enforcement mechanisms. Community corporations can now pursue property seizure and sale against owners with outstanding maintenance fees, following strict notification procedures supervised by the Real Estate Board. Prior to sale, corporations may obtain court orders for property possession, enabling them to rent out delinquent units and apply rental income toward owed contributions.

Financial penalties reach unprecedented levels, with courts authorized to impose fines up to $1 million Jamaican dollars for by-law violations. The legislation additionally allows for interest accrual on unpaid contributions and enables parish courts to adjudicate collection cases without monetary limits.

Recognizing that many proprietors reside abroad, the law requires non-resident owners to appoint local agents to fulfill their obligations. Although introduced by Prime Minister Andrew Holness’s administration, the bill was presented by Minister Robert Montague. Opposition Parliamentarian Julian Robinson has called for further legislative scrutiny through a joint select committee, highlighting the bill’s profound implications for property rights and community governance.