A sudden tire blowout on a Jamaica police service vehicle has left two law enforcement officers receiving medical care and triggered hours of traffic chaos on one of the island nation’s busy commuter corridors. The incident unfolded on Wednesday afternoon along the Long Hill main road in St. James, involving officers assigned to the nearby Hanover Police division, local law enforcement sources confirmed. According to initial investigative reports, the two officers – one woman and one man – were en route along the roadway when the front tire of their marked service vehicle suffered an unexpected blowout. The sudden loss of air pressure left the driver unable to maintain control of the vehicle. The out-of-control SUV veered off the paved surface, climbed a steep roadside embankment, and flipped completely over before coming to a stop. Emergency first responders were dispatched to the scene within minutes of the crash being reported via 911 calls from passing motorists. The female officer sustained a deep laceration to her forehead during the rollover, though her injuries are not believed to be life-threatening. She was quickly stabilized at the scene by paramedics before being transported to a nearby regional hospital for urgent treatment and observation. Her male colleague was also taken to the same medical facility for a full preventative medical examination, to rule out any hidden internal injuries from the impact. Following the clearing of the injured parties, a heavy-duty wrecker was called to remove the overturned police vehicle from the accident site. However, the process of extracting the wreck and clearing the roadway took more than an hour, resulting in a massive traffic pileup that stretched for several kilometers along the already heavily traveled commuter route. Commuters traveling between St. James and Hanover faced extensive delays, with many forced to find alternate rural routes to reach their destinations, leading to further travel disruptions across the region Wednesday evening. Local traffic authorities have reminded motorists to regularly check the condition of their vehicle tires, particularly during periods of fluctuating temperature that can increase the risk of sudden blowouts on high-traffic roadways.
作者： admin
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‘Bunny’ Shaw’s Man City win WSL title
In an unexpected turn of events that has reshaped the final standings of England’s top-flight women’s football, Manchester City has claimed the 2023-24 FA Women’s Super League championship without kicking a ball in their final match, following Arsenal’s dramatic 1-1 draw away to Brighton & Hove Albion on Wednesday. This title ends a 10-year drought for the Manchester side, while also bringing an end to Chelsea’s dominant six-year consecutive title streak.
Arsenal, who finished the campaign in third place, entered Wednesday’s fixture with everything to play for. Fresh off a crushing exit from the UEFA Women’s Champions League at the hands of Lyon at the weekend, the Gunners held three games in hand on league-leading Manchester City, giving them a clear path to overtake at the top of the table. Manager Renee Slegers went into the Brighton match fully aware that nothing less than three points would keep their title hopes alive.
The opening 45 minutes saw Arsenal take an early lead through Japanese midfielder Fuka Tsunoda, who netted her first half opener to put the Gunners on track for the win they needed. But Brighton refused to fold, and in the 62nd minute, forward Friday Maanum equalized for the home side. Despite late pushes from Arsenal’s attacking line, they could not find the decisive winning goal, leaving the score locked at 1-1 when the final whistle blew.
The result immediately confirmed Manchester City as league champions, marking a fairy-tale first season in charge for manager Andree Jeglertz. This is City’s first WSL title since their 2016 victory, capping a consistent season that saw the side grind out results through every challenge. In an interview following the title confirmation, Jeglertz expressed his overwhelming pride in his squad, saying that steering the club to the championship would be a memory he carries forever. He praised his players for confronting every obstacle head-on throughout the campaign, noting that their unity through both high and low moments was the key to their success — a hallmark of all great championship sides.
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How mentorship shaped Jamaican-Canadian scholar’s journey
Against the backdrop of a year defined by both professional triumph and personal grief, 31-year-old Kayonne Christy has emerged as one of the most promising rising sociologists in North America, recently inducted into Yale University’s elite Edward A. Bouchet Graduate Honor Society. Her path from a first-generation university student uncertain of her calling to an acclaimed doctoral researcher exploring diaspora, culture and identity has been shaped far more by collective support than individual achievement, she says.
Christy, currently a sociology PhD candidate at the University of Michigan, did not start her academic career aiming for the social sciences. As the first member of her family to pursue higher education, she enrolled in McMaster University’s life sciences program with plans to attend medical school. For a time, she dismissed her lingering dissatisfaction as a normal part of university life, telling herself that post-secondary study was not meant to be an enjoyable experience. But a persistent pull toward questions of systemic inequality and social justice, nurtured through campus organizing and community engagement, eventually led her to rethink her trajectory.
That turning point came when she gained a spot on a qualitative research project examining the social determinants of health. There, she discovered she could merge her foundational scientific training with her deep curiosity about how social structures shape individual lived experiences, sparking a lasting passion for sociology. Like every step of her journey, this professional shift was not navigated alone: Christy cites a network of supportive mentors as the backbone of every milestone she has reached.
Among the most influential of these guides was Juliet Daniel, a Barbadian-born cancer biologist at McMaster University and the first Caribbean woman with a PhD Christy ever met. Daniel passed away on the same day Christy sat for an interview about her career, adding a layer of poignancy to her reflections on her path. “Seeing someone who looked like me, who shared a similar background, made me believe that [a PhD] was possible. That mattered more than I can explain,” Christy said of Daniel. She also credits additional mentors including Dr. Lawrence Grierson, Dr. Meredith Vanstone, and Dr. Gerry Veenstra for opening doors and encouraging her through moments of uncertainty. “If it weren’t for them, I don’t know if I would be doing a PhD right now,” she added.
A suggestion from one mentor led Christy to a graduate program at the University of British Columbia, where she worked alongside Veenstra, one of Canada’s leading scholars on racial health disparities. There, she grew to appreciate sociology’s flexibility: the discipline allowed her to pursue overlapping interests in race, power, health and inequality while staying rooted in the social justice questions that first drew her away from medicine. That focus eventually led her to the University of Michigan, home to one of the world’s top-ranked sociology departments.
For Christy, her research is not just an academic pursuit—it is deeply personal. Though born in Canada, her connection to her Jamaican roots deepened in her early 20s, when a family reunion trip made her realize the island felt like home. Today, she is based in Kingston for her fieldwork, studying how Jamaican diaspora members contribute to the city’s growing cultural and creative economy, and how that engagement shapes urban development.
“Culture is such a central part of the Jamaican diasporic experience,” she explained. “As Kingston moves toward culture-led development, there are new opportunities for the diaspora to engage and contribute. But there are also challenges, and I want to understand both.”
Christy adheres to the philosophy of “lifting as you climb,” a value shaped by her own experience of receiving support from a community of mentors, family and educators. “Anything I’ve done is a product of people who poured into me,” she said. “Mentors, family, and community made this possible.” With her PhD on track for completion in 2027, Christy remains focused not just on finishing her dissertation, but on carrying forward the legacy of support that made her success possible.
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UWI recognises excellence in teaching with distinguished award ceremony
KINGSTON, JAMAICA – In a ceremony celebrating the quiet backbone of higher learning across the Caribbean, the University of the West Indies (UWI) gathered last Thursday to fête 37 exceptional educators, an event organized by the institution’s Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) in partnership with the Office of the Deputy Principal.
At the apex of this year’s honorees was Ethnie Miller Simpson, who claimed the prestigious UWI Distinguished Teaching Award for the 2023–2025 cycle, a recognition reserved for academics who demonstrate extraordinary commitment and innovation in the classroom. Accepting the honor with characteristic humility, Miller Simpson drew heavily on insights shared by keynote speaker Dr Rohan Jowallah, Senior Instructional Designer at the University of Central Florida, to frame her own reflections on modern education.
One core concept from Jowallah’s address struck a particular chord with the award recipient: “the productive struggle of learning.” Miller Simpson argued that this idea perfectly encapsulates the dual journey of students and educators alike. For learners, it describes the challenging but rewarding work of pushing through complex material to earn a degree, while for teachers, it demands constant adaptation of teaching strategies and course content to keep lessons relevant, engaging, and aligned with a rapidly shifting world.
Going beyond classroom practice, Miller Simpson outlined a forward-looking agenda for Caribbean education. She emphasized that educators must continuously refine their approaches to ensure that learning translates directly to solving real-world challenges, while keeping pace with shifts across Jamaica, the broader Caribbean region, and the global economy. Most notably, she drew attention to the urgent conversation around “Assessment, Equity and AI: Governance in Caribbean Education,” identifying the meaningful integration of artificial intelligence into teaching as one of the defining challenges for the sector from 2026 onward.
Miller Simpson stressed that education in the AI era must move far beyond the superficial “cut-and-paste” work that has become increasingly common with generative AI tools. For both students and instructors, she argued, the responsibility now is to foster creativity and practical, applied understanding that delivers value beyond exam scores, preparing learners to contribute meaningfully to workplaces and communities across the region. She also posed a provocative question for regional stakeholders: should the Caribbean prioritize building and retaining ownership of its own homegrown AI systems, rather than relying on foreign-developed tools, to shape the region’s educational and economic future?
The recognition of these 37 educators comes as the University of the West Indies retains its long-held reputation for academic excellence, holding a spot among the top 3.6 percent of universities worldwide.
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PSG knock out Bayern to set up Champions League final with Arsenal
In a tense, rain-soaked semi-final second leg at Munich’s Allianz Arena on Wednesday, defending champions Paris Saint-Germain held firm to secure a 1-1 draw against Bayern Munich, booking their spot in the 2025 UEFA Champions League final against English Premier League leaders Arsenal with a narrow 6-5 aggregate victory across the two legs.
Luis Enrique’s squad carried a narrow 5-4 advantage into the second encounter from a thrilling first leg in Paris a week earlier, and they wasted no time extending their lead against the six-time European champions. Just three minutes after kickoff, Georgian winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia cut a low pass back across the Bayern penalty area, finding Ousmane Dembele, who drilled a clinical strike into the top corner of the net to put PSG two goals up on aggregate.
Bayern, who last lifted the Champions League trophy when they defeated PSG in the 2020 Lisbon showpiece, struggled to create clear-cut chances for most of the match, leaving their attacking line largely toothless despite the home crowd’s roaring support. The German side grew increasingly frustrated with first-half refereeing calls, a controversy that added tension to an already high-stakes fixture but failed to shift the momentum of the game in their favor.
Bayern captain and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer kept his side in the tie with two outstanding saves in the second half, first denying Kvaratskhelia and then turning away a shot from substitute Desire Doue to prevent PSG from putting the result beyond doubt earlier. As the clock ticked into the fourth minute of stoppage time, England captain Harry Kane, who has enjoyed a breakout first season at Bayern, drilled home his 14th Champions League goal of the campaign to level the score on the night. But the late strike came too late to power a Bayern comeback, with the final whistle blowing just moments after kickoff resumed.
The result means PSG will advance to their second consecutive Champions League final, where they will face Arsenal on May 30 in Budapest. The Allianz Arena already holds special significance for the French giants: it was the site of their maiden Champions League title win over Inter Milan last season. If PSG can defeat Arsenal in Budapest, they will become only the second club to win back-to-back Champions League titles since 1990, joining Spanish giants Real Madrid in achieving that rare feat, and are currently installed as pre-tournament favorites heading into the showpiece fixture following their resilient defensive display against Bayern.
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Venezuela insists ICJ does not have jurisdiction to hear border dispute with Guyana
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — In ongoing high-stakes oral arguments at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Venezuela has reaffirmed its long-held stance that the United Nations’ highest court for state-to-state disputes lacks authority to rule on its centuries-old territorial conflict with neighboring Guyana. The dispute centers on the resource-rich Essequibo region, a 61,600-square-mile territory that makes up nearly two-thirds of modern Guyana, which Venezuela claims as its own sovereign land.
Speaking as Venezuela’s second representative to the ICJ, Professor Makane Moise Mbengue pushed back against Guyana’s core argument that the 1899 Arbitral Award — which originally set the disputed border between the two nations — is legally valid and binding. While Mbengue acknowledged that the 1899 award provides historical context for the conflict, he emphasized that it should not block a genuine negotiated resolution between the two South American nations. Both Mbengue and lead Venezuelan representative Samuel Moncada displayed pins showing Essequibo as part of Venezuelan territory during their presentations.
Moncada opened Venezuela’s arguments earlier this week by rejecting what he called Guyana’s “erroneous and misleading narrative” surrounding the dispute. He stressed that the 1966 Geneva Agreement, reached by both parties to settle the conflict after Venezuela declared the 1899 award null and void in 1962, remains the sole binding legal framework governing the issue. Unlike a court-imposed ruling — which inevitably leaves one side victorious at the other’s expense — Moncada noted the Geneva Agreement was crafted as a peace pact that prioritizes direct bilateral negotiation to reach a practical, mutually acceptable outcome. He added that the agreement is explicitly designed to help the two nations move past the harmful legacy of colonialism, which created the dispute in the first place.
Guyana first brought the case to the ICJ in 2018, asking the court to formally affirm the legal validity of the 1899 border award. The territorial dispute lay dormant for more than 60 years after the award was issued, until Venezuela revived its claim to Essequibo in 1962. Following the 1966 Geneva Agreement, which established formal mechanisms for peaceful negotiation, years of bilateral talks failed to produce a resolution, leading the United Nations Secretary-General to refer the dispute to the ICJ. The ICJ previously ruled that it has jurisdiction to hear the case, clearing the way for the current merits hearings, where both sides are presenting their full legal arguments.
During opening arguments that began Monday, Guyana maintained that the 1899 award permanently and definitively settled the border, and that it remains legally binding and entitled to international recognition. But Mbengue countered that the 1899 award is a discredited artifact of British imperialism, and that the ICJ’s earlier jurisdiction ruling did not validate Guyana’s underlying claim. He argued that the ICJ panel failed to account for Venezuela’s core legal position in its initial jurisdiction ruling, and that any lasting resolution must center on the terms of the 1966 Geneva Agreement, not the 1899 award.
“The real issue is the pursuit of a mutually satisfactory agreement to the controversy generated by the 1899 award, a solution that consign this artifact of British imperialism to the past where it belongs and to chart a way forward — this is the only proper meaning of the Geneva agreement,” Mbengue told the court, noting that Guyana has failed to offer any alternative interpretation of the pact that aligns with the parties’ original goals. He urged the ICJ to examine every provision of the Geneva Agreement, rather than limiting its review to Guyana’s narrow claims. “The court should not be constrained by the allegations that Guyana made,” Mbengue argued. “In particular, it must carefully ascertain whether Guyana’s request remains within the bounds of what the parties to the Geneva agreement sought to resolve. Guyana’s claims cannot exist within the framework established by the Geneva agreement, nor can the court decide on those matters as framed by Guyana.”
The first round of oral arguments is scheduled to run through three-hour sessions over multiple days, wrapping up next Monday.
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Spain says hantavirus ship evacuees need new plane to leave Canaries
An international public health emergency centered on a hantavirus outbreak aboard a Dutch cruise ship took an unexpected turn Wednesday, when a flight carrying evacuees from the vessel was forced to divert to Spain’s Canary Islands and later grounded by a critical technical fault, Spain’s national health ministry has confirmed.
The crisis began late last week, when three passengers aboard the MV Hondius, a cruise ship sailing off the coast of West Africa, died from what public health officials suspect is hantavirus—a rare rodent-borne pathogen that spreads through contact with infected animals’ urine, droppings, or saliva. The World Health Organization was alerted to the outbreak over the weekend, triggering a multi-nation effort to evacuate remaining passengers and crew.
Two flights carrying a total of three evacuees departed Cape Verde, where the ship had been anchored, en route to Amsterdam. One of the aircraft, which was originally scheduled to refuel in Morocco, was denied landing permission by Moroccan authorities, forcing it to divert to Gran Canaria Airport in the Canary Islands for refueling. During the unscheduled stop, the medical team onboard reported a failure in the electrical system that powers life support for a patient being evacuated.
Spanish health ministry officials confirmed the patient remains onboard the grounded aircraft, connected to external power from the airport while awaiting replacement aircraft to continue the journey to the Netherlands. Officials emphasized that the isolated patient poses no public health risk to people on the ground and will remain contained until the situation is resolved, though no timeline for a new flight has been released.
Regional authorities in the Canary Islands have taken a harder line, however, confirming that no passengers will be allowed to board or disembark the grounded plane. Regional officials say the patient’s isolation bubble, designed to prevent potential transmission of the virus, was compromised during the unscheduled stop.
Flight tracking data from Flightradar24 shows the plane was originally scheduled to make a second stopover in Malaga, southern Spain, before reaching its final destination in Amsterdam. The remaining evacuees from the MV Hondius face further uncertainty as well: Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia confirmed the ship itself will dock in Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands, by Saturday to allow for mandatory medical screenings and coordinated passenger repatriation.
The decision to bring the ship to the archipelago has already sparked political tension, with Canary Islands regional authorities rejecting the plan and calling for all medical care and repatriation operations to be carried out from Cape Verde, where the ship was originally anchored.
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Mexico threatens World Cup ban for no-show players
With just five weeks remaining until Mexico kicks off its 2026 World Cup campaign on home soil, a high-stakes dispute between the Mexican Football Federation (FMF) and domestic club sides has thrown the nation’s final preparations into chaos. In a sharp, unprecedented ultimatum issued Wednesday, national team leadership announced that any domestic-based player who fails to report for the scheduled pre-tournament training camp in Mexico City will be immediately excluded from the final World Cup squad.
The conflict stems from a scheduling conflict that violates FIFA’s official international match calendar framework: the FMF scheduled the three-day preparation camp outside of the governing body’s designated international window, leaving clubs facing critical continental and domestic fixtures with a direct conflict of interest. The most high-profile dispute centers on Liga MX side Toluca, which is set to host Los Angeles FC in the decisive second leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup semi-finals Wednesday. The match is scheduled to kick off just 30 minutes before the formal opening of Aguirre’s training camp, leaving two of Toluca’s star Mexico internationals — Alexis Vega and Jesus Gallardo — caught between club and country obligations.
Multiple local Mexican football reports confirm that Vega and Gallardo trained with their Toluca teammates on Tuesday, and Toluca head coach Antonio Mohamed has publicly signaled his intention to start both players in the critical continental semi-final clash. The pair’s decision to prioritize club commitments has already sparked a ripple effect across Liga MX, drawing fierce pushback from another top Mexican side, Chivas de Guadalajara. Chivas had initially agreed to release five of its called-up internationals to the national camp despite the club preparing for a decisive Liga MX playoff quarter-final fixture this coming weekend. After seeing Toluca refuse to release its stars, Chivas president Amaury Vergara reversed course and recalled all five of his club’s players from the national camp: Raul Rangel, Luis Romo, Brian Gutierrez, Roberto Alvarado and Armando Gonzalez.
In a public post on social platform X, Vergara emphasized the importance of collective adherence to previously struck deals, writing, “Agreements are valid only when all parties respect them.” All 20 players called to this training camp are currently based in the Mexican domestic league, and the camp is being hosted at the FMF’s state-of-the-art High Performance Center in Mexico City. The current standoff contradicts a deal reached back in February between the FMF and Liga MX club owners, which stipulated that clubs would release their players after the conclusion of the domestic regular season and the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup semi-finals.
The pre-World Cup training camp is a precursor to three critical warm-up matches Mexico has scheduled ahead of the tournament: against Ghana on May 22, Australia on May 30, and Serbia on June 4. Mexico is set to open its World Cup Group A campaign at the iconic Estadio Azteca in Mexico City on June 11, with a opening group stage clash against South Africa.
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Dominica PM expresses support for Barnett’s reappointment as Caricom secretary general
Amidst a growing public rift across the Caribbean Community (Caricom) over the reappointment of Belizean economist Dr. Carla Barnett as the bloc’s secretary-general, Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit has publicly thrown his full weight behind the move, confirming his government’s endorsement of the outcome of the regional vote.
Speaking at a press briefing held in Roseau on Wednesday, Skerrit made clear that from his administration’s perspective, Barnett’s reappointment is a settled matter. “As far as I’m concerned, Dr. Carla Barnett has been reappointed as secretary-general, and in Dominica’s style, we are team players, we support the decision and we move on,” Skerrit told reporters. He added that while he would not object to reopening discussions if the Caricom Bureau or Conference of Heads of Government chooses to do so, the existing process already followed proper procedure, delivered a clear majority in Barnett’s favor, and should be respected as the final outcome.
The controversy surrounding Barnett’s second term dates back to February’s Caricom summit hosted in Basseterre, St. Kitts and Nevis. In March, Caricom chairman and St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr. Terrance Drew released a short statement confirming that Barnett had secured the “required majority” of regional leader votes to earn reappointment. However, the process has been challenged by several high-profile regional leaders ever since.
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar of Trinidad and Tobago, who was absent from the closed-door retreat where the vote was held, has openly questioned the legitimacy of the procedure. She has rejected Drew’s claim that Trinidad and Tobago was not uninvited to the meeting, and is demanding access to official meeting minutes, documentation of Barnett’s performance appraisal, and records of the 2021 appointment process to verify that current procedures align with the rules established for that cycle. Though Trinidad and Tobago first called for a special regional leaders’ meeting to debate the dispute, it did not attend a virtual heads gathering held to address the issue in April.
Last month, the debate escalated when Sir Ronald Sanders, Antigua and Barbuda’s ambassador to the United States and the Organization of American States, publicly called on Barnett to step down. Speaking on ABS Television, Sanders argued that the ongoing controversy created a barrier to regional integration progress. “If I were the secretary general of Caricom and I’m being quite serious here and this had occurred, I would have resigned and I would have resigned because I would have said I must not stand in the way of Caribbean integration and the movement forward,” Sanders said.
Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness has meanwhile pushed for a full special heads of government meeting to resolve the deadlock, noting that public discourse around the dispute has sown widespread unease across the bloc. Speaking to the *Trinidad Guardian* in New York in April, where he was honored by the American Foundation for the University of the West Indies, Holness said behind-the-scenes talks are already underway to organize direct engagement between all regional leaders. “I think it is distressing for a lot of persons within the region regarding what is being said in the public domain, but I know that all the heads are working behind the scenes to have this matter resolved,” he said, adding that further diplomatic consultations are imminent, including a planned conversation with Persad-Bissessar as part of the process.
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Three-year PIOJ/Honey Bun study to focus on MSME growth
KINGSTON, Jamaica — A new collaborative effort between Jamaica’s top planning agency and a local private foundation is set to unlock growth potential for small community-based businesses across the island, launching a three-year pilot study designed to strengthen Jamaica’s entire micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) ecosystem.
The Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) and the Honey Bun Foundation formalized their partnership with a signed memorandum of understanding (MOU) on April 30, marking the official start of the public-private partnership (PPP) focused on targeted support for under-resourced community enterprises. In an official statement released Wednesday, PIOJ outlined the core scope of the ambitious new project.
Over the course of the pilot, the partnership will track the growth and development of 50 nano, micro, small and medium enterprises selected through the government’s Community Renewal Programme (CRP). All selected businesses have been identified as requiring customized support to scale their operations, connect to critical industry resources, and build a competitive edge within Jamaica’s fast-evolving MSME landscape.
Beyond direct support to the 50 pilot enterprises, the initiative will also conduct a comprehensive mapping of Jamaica’s national entrepreneurial ecosystem. This landscape analysis is designed to give business owners clearer guidance at every stage of their company’s development, cutting through bureaucratic and logistical friction to accelerate sustainable growth.
All monitoring, data analysis and ecosystem mapping will be carried out using The GAPP App, the Honey Bun Foundation’s proprietary business diagnostic platform. Currently, the application helps small and nano enterprises identify operational gaps in their workflows and connect owners to tailored support services. For this pilot project, the tool will be updated with new functionality to pinpoint where each participating business falls within the standard business life cycle.
Dr. Wayne Henry, Director General of the PIOJ, explained that understanding a business’s position in its life cycle is a foundational step for delivering targeted, effective support. “It is recognised that if we are to provide targeted support to these community businesses, understanding the stages in the business life cycle is necessary and significant, as it allows for proactive risk management, optimised funding strategies and effective strategic planning,” Henry said.
He emphasized that the cross-sector collaboration aligns with core missions of both organizations: building an enabling, accessible business environment that empowers MSME owners to unlock their full potential. “This collaboration between the PIOJ and the Honey Bun Foundation is vital and is being executed within the context of both entities’ defined roles to create an enabling business environment that will empower the MSME sector and position it to continue contributing to the growth of the Jamaican economy,” Henry added.
Michelle Chong, founder of the Honey Bun Foundation, echoed the sentiment, highlighting that strategic public-private collaboration is a key driver of inclusive national development. “Through strategic partnerships, innovation and a strong community focus, we can create sustainable pathways for entrepreneurs to thrive,” Chong said. “This initiative is about equipping businesses with the tools, guidance and opportunities they need to grow, compete and contribute meaningfully to Jamaica’s economic future.”