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KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica’s peak civil society coordinating body, the Council of Voluntary Social Services (CVSS), has kicked off a three-day targeted training workshop series for civil society organizations (CSOs) across the country’s western region, running from May 12 to 14. Centered on the theme “From Idea to Impact – The Project Cycle,” the initiative is crafted to address longstanding operational gaps among community-focused groups.

Funded through the European Union’s AIM Programme, this intensive capacity-building effort aims to elevate the role of local community-based organizations (CBOs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as effective drivers of inclusive governance and national development, CVSS outlined in an official public statement.

CVSS Executive Director Nancy Pinchas explained that the workshop curriculum was not developed arbitrarily. Following months of widespread consultations with CSOs across western Jamaica and systematic needs assessments, the training series was customized to directly tackle the most pressing capacity gaps that local organizations identified: weaknesses in project design, end-to-end management, and regulatory accountability.

The workshop is structured into four hands-on, interactive sessions, each led by a seasoned industry specialist with deep roots in Jamaica’s non-profit sector. Social transformation expert Damion Hylton leads the session on Community Engagement and Prioritization, which focuses on centering community voices in project planning. Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) — a core competency for demonstrating impact — is facilitated by leading MEL specialist Zahra Miller. Seasoned non-profit advisor Sannia Laing Sutherland delivers a two-part deep dive into Project Proposal Writing, covering everything from aligning proposals to donor requirements to articulating clear community outcomes. Gender equity expert Carla Moore facilitates the “Gender and Human Rights: Change G.E.A.R.S.” session, which integrates inclusive practices into project design and delivery.

Pinchas emphasized that every facilitator brings decades of on-the-ground experience in Jamaica’s civil society space, ensuring that learning outcomes are practical, context-specific, and focused on tangible results. She added that data collected from pre-training and post-training assessments of earlier workshop iterations held across the country confirm that participants leave with measurable gains in both technical knowledge and professional confidence across all core project management competencies.

“ We see every day that CSOs across Jamaica have the passion and the creative ideas to transform the communities they serve, but too many lack the targeted technical support to turn those ideas into structured, sustainable initiatives that deliver long-term impact,” Pinchas said. “This training series exists to bridge that gap — it’s about equipping organizations with the practical tools they need to design robust projects, measure their social impact accurately, and uphold consistent accountability to the communities that rely on their work.”

Looking ahead to upcoming regulatory changes for Jamaica’s non-profit sector, Pinchas noted that capacity-building initiatives like this are more critical than ever. As the country prepares to implement a new legislative framework for non-profits, these trainings ensure local organizations are prepared, operationally resilient, and well-positioned to make meaningful contributions to national development goals.

This Montego Bay-based workshop series is part of CVSS’s ongoing commitment to decentralizing access to professional development, bringing critical training directly to grassroots organizations outside of the capital, Kingston. It builds on the success of similar training sessions held in Kingston earlier this year, and forms part of a broader national push to equip CSOs across all regions of Jamaica with the skills to design, implement, and sustain impactful initiatives that advance social inclusion, transparent governance, and community-level resilience.

The workshop is scheduled to conclude on the afternoon of May 14, with a collaborative networking lunch that will include closing remarks, a celebration of participant achievements, and opportunities to build connections across western Jamaica’s civil society community. Beyond the core project management curriculum, the event also includes a dedicated discussion session on upcoming sector legislation, ahead of the planned rollout of Jamaica’s new Non-Profit Organisations (NPO) Act in October 2026.

The proposed new legislation is designed to modernize the country’s outdated regulatory framework for non-profit groups. Once implemented, it will directly impact thousands of organizations across Jamaica that deliver essential services in areas including disaster response, social protection for vulnerable populations, and local community development.

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ) has issued a public advisory confirming that all motor vehicle registration-related transactions are currently unavailable across every tax office in the country, as well as through the agency’s online eServices portal. The service suspension, which is temporary, stems from unplanned system disruptions that have knocked offline the core platform used to process these high-demand automotive transactions.

The outage has impacted a full range of registration services, leaving Jamaican motorists unable to complete routine and new transactions alike. These include new vehicle registration applications, annual registration renewals, vehicle ownership transfers, and purchases of new official registration plates.

Fortunately, the disruption has not spread to all TAJ services, and two key automotive-related payment services remain fully operational. Drivers can still submit payments for motor vehicle certificates of fitness and settle outstanding traffic ticket fines both through the TAJ eServices online platform and in-person at any local tax office across the island.

TAJ confirmed in its Monday statement that its in-house technical team and third-party service partners have already mobilized to diagnose and resolve the root cause of the system outage. The agency said crews are working around the clock to full restore all affected services as quickly as possible. In closing, TAJ apologized to the public for the unplanned inconvenience, and expressed gratitude to Jamaican motorists for their patience, understanding, and cooperation while the agency works to bring all systems back online.

A devastating incident at a Colombian monster truck exhibition has left three people dead and more than 40 injured, after a performance vehicle veered off its designated track and crashed into a crowd of spectators on Sunday, local authorities confirmed Monday. Among the fatalities was 10-year-old Hellen Velarde, who had been attending the event in Popayan, a city in southwestern Colombia, as a special birthday treat.

Local media reports confirm a second minor girl and a young adult woman also lost their lives in the crush. Footage shared widely across social media platforms captures the vehicle lifting into a wheelie stunt before it swerved off course, smashing through the concrete barriers that were supposed to separate spectators from the driving track.

In the immediate aftermath of the collision, widespread chaos broke out as hundreds of attendees scrambled to escape the path of the out-of-control truck, pushing past one another to reach safer ground. The Popayan local fire department confirmed that more than 40 people were hurt in the incident, with several suffering life-threatening critical injuries. Multiple children are included among the wounded, local media has reported.

Hellen’s grandfather, Miller Velarde, harshly criticized event organizers for the lack of basic safety protocols, saying the exhibition operated with “practically no safety measures” — a failure he described as nothing short of a “crime.” Another of Velarde’s grandchildren remains in intensive care following emergency surgery to treat a severe head injury sustained in the crash.

Popayan Mayor Juan Carlos Munoz has launched a full official investigation into the tragedy, releasing a public statement saying the preventable disaster “should never have happened” and promising to hold any responsible parties accountable for the deaths and injuries. The incident has sparked widespread public anger across the country over inadequate event safety regulation.

KINGSTON, Jamaica — As violent clashes continue to claim lives across the island nation, Jamaica’s top law enforcement leader is pushing for collective action from citizens, while doubling down on the police force’s official commitment to reducing tension during public interactions. In his weekly address published as a newspaper column, Police Commissioner Dr. Kevin Blake sounded the alarm over a recent string of fatal violent incidents that have shaken communities across the country.

“Unfortunately, we continue to see a number of violent confrontations where some have resulted in lives being lost,” Blake shared in the column, opening with a candid reflection on the current state of violent encounters between police, criminals and members of the public. The commissioner made explicit that the core mission of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) in every interaction with the public, particularly high-stakes confrontations, is to defuse tension before it escalates into harm.

“Our main objective in any confrontation involving ourselves and the public is to de-escalate,” he emphasized. Beyond outlining the force’s internal protocols, Blake extended a urgent public appeal to all law-abiding Jamaicans to take shared responsibility for preventing unnecessary deaths. He asked residents to join law enforcement in urging the violent offenders that officers target on a daily basis to avoid resorting to deadly force during encounters with police.

Blake stressed that fatal outcomes are never the intended goal of JCF operations, pushing back against any narrative that frames lethal shootings as an acceptable end to police work. “Fatal shootings do not benefit anyone. It is never a desired end state,” he added. The commissioner also highlighted that internal discipline within the force is a non-negotiable pillar of the JCF’s approach, noting that every serving officer is required to operate within the force’s established operating guidelines at all times.

“In addition to our obligation under the use of force policy, I expect every single member to exercise discipline of self,” Blake said. For the JCF, centering de-escalation tactics, professional conduct, and unwavering adherence to the rule of law remains central to its broader strategy to cut down on violent crime and protect both citizens and officers across Jamaica.