分类： politics

Political interference in Jamaica’s flagship multi-million dollar road infrastructure initiative is triggering costly project delays and rising financial risks, top government infrastructure officials have warned. The caution came from National Works Agency (NWA) Chief Executive Officer EG Hunter during a recent appearance before Parliament’s Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC), where he outlined growing challenges plaguing the Shared Prosperity through Accelerated Improvement to our Road Network (SPARK) programme.

China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), the lead contractor heading SPARK which includes 27 local and international sub-contractors, formally documented the issue in correspondence shared with NWA. In the letter, CHEC detailed that repeated disruptions from political actors, ranging from sitting Members of Parliament to local partisan representatives, have held up segments of road projects for months at a time. Contractors frequently face demands to alter pre-approved road alignments and design plans, which were settled through earlier public consultation processes, forcing work stoppages while disputes are resolved.

Hunter emphasized that these unplanned changes do not just slow progress — they almost always lead to formal cost adjustment claims from the contractor, driving up public expenditure for the programme. To maintain legal clarity and project accountability, he noted that the Jamaican government, as the client, only maintains a formal working relationship with the lead contractor, not outside third parties seeking to alter project terms. He laid out a clear formal channel for concerns from elected representatives: all issues should first be directed to a constituency liaison officer, a role for which each MP was previously invited to nominate a representative. Unresolved concerns can then be escalated to project engineering staff, and ultimately to Hunter himself, who also serves as SPARK’s chief engineer.

When contacted for further comment, Minister of Works Robert Morgan confirmed the government has already taken formal action to address the growing problem, tabling a formal Ministry Paper in Parliament outlining binding guidelines to curb unregulated third-party interference. Morgan specifically called out newly elected Opposition Members of Parliament, who have increasingly pushed to alter pre-selected road routes that were finalized through public input, creating contractual conflict between the government and CHEC. Since contractors have signed fixed-price agreements to deliver specific pre-approved work, outside interference that changes project scope puts the government in a legally and financially vulnerable position, he explained.

Morgan pushed back against claims from some MPs that they were unaware of the new guidelines, noting that the document was properly presented to Parliament during sitting, and that MPs who missed the notification simply failed to pay attention to official business. He added that many elected officials have been directly engaging with contractors outside the approved governance framework, exposing the government to avoidable legal and financial risk.

The formal guidelines, titled *Guidelines governing the involvement of third parties in the implementation of road infrastructure projects*, outline clear boundaries for all external stakeholders — a group that includes MPs, councillors, community residents, civil society groups, private businesses, and non-prime contractors. The framework is designed to align all third-party engagement with Jamaican law, improve transparency, protect project integrity, and eliminate unauthorized political influence.

Under the new rules, third parties are permitted to participate in public sensitization meetings, represent constituent needs related to local infrastructure, and flag implementation challenges. MPs are also guaranteed formal notification of all contractual work taking place in their constituencies, with cross-constituency projects triggering notifications for all affected representatives. However, the rules explicitly prohibit third parties from participating in any stage of procurement or contract administration, including attempts to influence contract awards, which could constitute violations of procurement standards and criminal offenses under the Integrity Commission Act. All procurement decisions are reserved for official procuring entity leadership, accounting officers, the Public Procurement Committee, and Cabinet as appropriate. Third parties are also barred from managing project funds, signing contracts, approving payments, or overseeing project financial administration.

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Facing a growing trend of more intense extreme weather events across the Caribbean, the Jamaican government has set aside $246 million in targeted funding to carry out pre-hurricane mitigation work across the island ahead of the 2026 Atlantic Hurricane Season. The bulk of the planning and investment centers on clearing clogged drainage systems and complementary flood-reduction projects that officials say will cut potential damage when storms arrive.

In an official public statement released Tuesday, the responsible ministry outlined how the total budget will be distributed across administrative and national levels. On average, each of the island’s constituencies will receive approximately $2 million to deploy for drain clearing operations in high-risk, priority communities. This 2026 funding allocation matches the increased budget levels rolled out last year, a policy shift that boosted local parliamentary capacity to lead community-level mitigation work ahead of hurricane season, allowing for faster, more targeted action at the neighborhood level.

The remaining portion of the total $246 million budget will go to Jamaica’s National Works Agency, which will take on large-scale, specialized mitigation projects that exceed the scope of constituency-level drain clearing. These national projects include interventions in areas that require specialized technical expertise, heavy industrial construction equipment, or landscape modifications that cross local administrative boundaries.

Robert Nesta Morgan, the minister with oversight for public works, emphasized that the early, consistent funding reflects the current administration’s commitment to proactive disaster planning, practical resilience-building, and reducing the impact of storms on Jamaican communities. “We are acting before the storms come,” Morgan explained. “Last year, the Government increased the allocation to constituencies for pre-hurricane mitigation, and this year we have maintained that strengthened level of support. This will allow critical drain cleaning to continue in communities before the peak of the hurricane season.”

Morgan went on to note that Jamaica has already seen a clear increase in the intensity of rainfall events in recent years, putting unprecedented strain on existing drainage infrastructure, gullies, roads, bridges and other critical public assets. This pre-hurricane mitigation programme, he added, is just one part of a broader, government-wide resilience strategy that includes ongoing road repairs, bridge retrofitting, gully stabilization projects and improved inter-agency coordination to respond to weather events.

Under the terms of the current programme, local members of parliament will work in close consultation with municipal authorities and technical engineering teams to map out priority drainage sites and critical areas that require urgent clearing. All projects will prioritize communities that face the highest risk of flooding, repeated drain blockages, and inadequate stormwater runoff management.

While routine drain maintenance rarely draws major public attention, Morgan stressed that it is one of the most cost-effective, impactful measures the government can take to cut flood risk, protect private and public property, and limit storm damage during periods of extreme rainfall. “We cannot prevent hurricanes, but we can reduce the damage they cause by preparing properly,” he added.

Beyond government-led infrastructure work, the administration is calling on Jamaican residents to support the mitigation effort by changing harmful waste disposal habits. Officials warned that dumping of household garbage, bulky waste, construction debris and other discarded materials in drains, gullies and natural waterways remains one of the leading causes of preventable flooding during heavy downpours.

Morgan closed by reaffirming that the government will continue collaborating with parliamentarians, municipal corporations, the National Works Agency and other key stakeholders to ensure all mitigation work is targeted to the highest-need areas and completed well ahead of the 2026 hurricane season peak.

Nearly eight months after blocking new user access to its adult platforms in the United Kingdom over age verification requirements, Cyprus-based adult content conglomerate Aylo — owner of major platforms including Pornhub, YouPorn and Redtube — announced a limited rollback of its restriction on Tuesday.

The company confirmed it has reopened access to Pornhub exclusively for eligible UK-based adult users who complete Apple’s new native age verification checks, a rollout limited to users with Apple iPhones and iPads that have been updated to the latest iOS 26.4 operating system.

Aylo framed Apple’s new tool as a groundbreaking development in digital safety for minors: the Cupertino-based tech giant has rolled out what it calls the world’s first device-integrated age verification system for UK users, which automatically applies strict default safety settings to accounts belonging to children, teens, and any adult users that have not completed formal age confirmation.

Aylo called the launch “a major first step toward a global solution that stands to better protect children everywhere.”

The original UK-wide block was implemented back in February, when Aylo pulled access citing its obligation to comply with the UK’s landmark Online Safety Act, which mandates that all pornographic platforms implement robust age checks to block underage users. Platforms that fail to comply face severe financial penalties.

From the start, however, Aylo has criticized the UK regulation, arguing that forcing compliant mainstream platforms to block access pushed users toward unregulated, anonymous dark web porn sites that lack any minor protection protocols. The company said earlier this year that the policy “has not achieved its goal of protecting minors” and merely diverted traffic to “darker, unregulated corners of the internet.”

This is not an isolated conflict between adult content operators and regional regulators. Aylo has enacted similar blocks on its platforms in France and multiple US states over identical age verification mandate disputes. At the European Union level, regulators opened a case in March accusing Pornhub and three other major adult platforms of violating EU digital safety rules by failing to block minor access to content, a violation that could result in billions of euros in fines for the companies.

Following Aylo’s Tuesday announcement, Britain’s independent media and digital regulator Ofcom said it will conduct a thorough review of the new access arrangement. The regulator emphasized that the Online Safety Act places full legal responsibility for blocking minor access to adult content on the platforms and applications themselves, and it will ensure all requirements are fully met before approving any permanent change to access rules.

Jamaica’s public passenger vehicle (PPV) operators, already grappling with skyrocketing fuel costs driven by ongoing Middle East conflict, will face an extended wait for a long-promised 16 percent fare adjustment, the country’s transport minister confirmed this week.

Addressing the House of Representatives Tuesday during debate on the 2026/27 national sectoral budget, Transport Minister Daryl Vaz acknowledged the mounting pressure facing the island’s public transport sector. The push for a fare increase began immediately after fuel prices started climbing in late February, when the United States and Israel launched a military strike on Iran that sent global energy markets into volatility. Even after a fragile ceasefire took effect on April 8, oil prices have maintained their upward trajectory, triggering cascading price increases across nearly all other goods and services in Jamaica’s import-dependent economy.

“I am aware that Jamaica’s public passenger vehicle sector is under extreme strain from both surging fuel costs and the long-outstanding 16 percent fare adjustment,” Vaz told lawmakers.

The minister noted that unforeseen disruptions have repeatedly derailed the government’s timeline for implementing the promised adjustment. “As I’ve said before, the 16 percent fare adjustment remains under active consideration, with close attention to its potential impact on overall national inflation. As the local saying goes, bad luck is worse than obeah – every time we approach a final decision, a hurricane or another unexpected crisis throws off our economic forecasts and plans,” Vaz explained. “But I can give a firm assurance: the commitment we made will be honored.”

Vaz outlined the severe financial pressures pushing the sector to the brink: fuel alone now makes up as much as 65 percent of a PPV operator’s monthly operating costs, on top of rising toll fees, climbing insurance premiums, and growing maintenance expenses. All of these combined, he acknowledged, are “threatening the sector’s very sustainability.”

To address the immediate crisis, Vaz confirmed the government is accelerating the groundwork for the 16 percent adjustment, including developing a coordinated public communication strategy to prepare commuters for the change. Alongside the planned fare hike, officials are exploring a suite of targeted relief measures, including cuts to mandatory insurance premiums, concessionary discounted toll rates for PPV operators, and stricter regulatory enforcement to crack down on unlicensed illegal transport operators that siphon revenue from licensed services.

For the long term, the government is advancing structural reforms to stabilize the sector. Key initiatives include updating national vehicle age rules to enable fleet modernization, offering financial incentives for operators to transition to electric and hybrid vehicles, expanding access to technical and business training for sector workers, and investing in upgraded public parking infrastructure across the island.

“These targeted interventions are designed to strike a careful balance between the pressing financial needs of operators and the affordability concerns of commuters,” Vaz said. “Our goal is to protect the long-term viability of a sector that is absolutely critical to Jamaica’s national mobility, domestic commerce, and overall economic resilience.”

A senior ballistics expert with nearly two decades of forensic experience has delivered key testimony in the high-profile murder trial of six current and former members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), revealing that most expended bullet cartridges recovered from the scene of a 2013 fatal shooting failed to match any of the firearms submitted for forensic analysis. The January 12, 2013 incident on Acadia Drive in St Andrew left three men — Matthew Lee, Mark Allen, and Ucliffe Dyer — dead following what police reported as an armed shootout, with a fourth individual reportedly escaping the encounter. Now, more than a decade later, six JCF officers — Sergeant Simroy Mott, Corporal Donovan Fullerton, Constables Andrew Smith, Sheldon Richards, Orandy Rose, and Richard Lynch — stand trial on three counts of murder; Fullerton faces an additional charge of submitting a false statement to Jamaica’s Independent Commission of Investigations.

Testifying before a seven-member jury at the Home Circuit Court on Monday, the testifying police superintendent, who has 16 years of service with the JCF and 19 years of specialized experience in ballistics analysis, detailed the chain of evidence and his forensic findings. A total of 11 firearms, a large collection of expended bullet casings, and multiple bullet fragments were collected from the shooting scene and sent to Jamaica’s government-run forensic laboratory for testing. Among the evidence submitted were three 5.56-caliber JCF service rifles, three 9mm service pistols, two illegally held firearms that investigators claimed were recovered from the three deceased men, and dozens of unused and expended ammunition rounds recovered from the scene.

When processed through the laboratory’s computerized ballistics matching system, the vast majority of the expended cartridges recovered from the site failed to produce a positive match to any of the submitted firearms. The expert explained that a definitive ballistics match requires agreement on both class characteristics (general traits shared by weapons of the same model and caliber) and individual unique tool marks left by a specific weapon’s firing pin and barrel on each cartridge. For most of the casings in question, he said, there was insufficient matching of the unique individual marks to confirm a specific weapon fired the round.

While the superintendent confirmed the unmatched cartridges were consistent with ammunition fired by M16-style 5.56 rifles, the standard service weapon for JCF officers involved in the operation, he could not tie them to any specific weapon submitted for testing. He outlined multiple plausible explanations for the lack of a match: poor quality reproduction of tool marks on the cartridge casings, irregularities in the ammunition itself, wear or damage to the firing weapon, or the possibility that the actual weapon that fired the casings was never turned over to investigators for examination. Notably, the expert did confirm that spent casings matching the two illegal firearms seized from the scene were found at the site.

The testimony was not without procedural controversy. Attorney Hugh Wildman, who represents four of the six accused officers, raised a formal objection to prosecutor Kathy-Ann Pyke’s line of questioning regarding the firearms and cartridge evidence. Wildman argued that the evidence in question had never been formally tendered to the court, making it improper for the witness to testify about it. The objection stemmed from earlier testimony from the detective constable responsible for packaging the evidence, who admitted he could not definitively confirm that the items tested by the forensic lab were the same items presented in sealed packages to the court. The packages have never been opened in court, so their contents have never been formally entered into the official trial record. Despite Wildman’s objection, the presiding judge allowed Pyke to continue her questioning.

The trial is scheduled to resume proceedings on the following day, with more testimony expected from prosecution witnesses as the case unfolds. The legal team for the accused also includes Althea Grant-Coppin and John Jacobs.