分类： politics

In the parish of St Mary, Jamaica, a growing demand for improved police engagement in local governance has emerged, as two sitting councillors are calling on the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) to reverse its recent policy of limiting its municipal participation to Disaster Committee gatherings. Daedre Moulton, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) councillor representing the Retreat Division, has spearheaded this call, highlighting a noticeable drop in consistent police representation since the JCF adjusted its attendance framework.

Before the policy shift, Moulton explained, the JCF regularly sent a senior official — most often the parish’s superintendent themselves — to every full sitting of the St Mary Municipal Corporation. These in-person appearances allowed uniformed police representatives to deliver detailed, up-to-date briefings on crime trends, public safety challenges, and ongoing policing initiatives across every community in St Mary, giving elected councillors the context they needed to address constituent concerns directly.

Since the JCF moved to only attend Disaster Committee meetings, however, both the quality of information shared and the reliability of police representation have declined significantly, Moulton argued. Too often, the sporadic representatives that do attend other meetings arrive late, or come unprepared without the specific community security data that councillors need to resolve problems raised by local residents. With St Mary communities facing a steady stream of unaddressed public safety questions, Moulton emphasized that consistent, full participation at every regular council sitting is non-negotiable for effective local governance.

Moulton’s call has received backing from fellow councillor Mitzy Hudson-Hicks, who represents the Hampstead Division, signaling cross-division support for greater police accountability to the municipal governing body.

Fitzroy Wilson, chairman of the St Mary Municipal Corporation, confirmed that local leadership has already opened discussions on the issue with St Mary’s top police official, Superintendent Anthony Wallace. During those talks, Wallace attributed the low attendance to a logistical barrier: meeting notices are frequently not received or spotted by JCF representatives in time to plan for attendance. To resolve the impasse, Wallace has requested that the municipal corporation send earlier meeting reminders to the JCF to clear the way for more consistent participation going forward.

A growing political controversy has emerged in Jamaica surrounding a proposed bilateral agreement with the United States that would see the Caribbean nation accept Third-Country Nationals (TCNs) deported from US territory, with opposition leaders set to challenge the administration over the negotiations during this week’s parliamentary session.

Mark Golding, leader of Jamaica’s parliamentary opposition, has formally notified House Speaker Juliet Holness of his plan to bring the unresolved agreement issue to the floor during Wednesday’s adjournment motion. Citing Standing Orders 11(1) and 11(2) of Jamaica’s parliamentary rules, Golding framed the matter as one of “definite urgent national importance” that demands immediate public discussion and government accountability.

The controversy erupted after unconfirmed reports circulated claiming Jamaican officials had agreed to accept as many as 10,000 deportees from the United States under the emerging deal. In an official statement published Wednesday by the *Jamaica Observer*, National Security and Peace Minister Dr. Horace Chang, who also serves as the country’s deputy prime minister, pushed back firmly against those claims, labeling them completely false.

Dr. Chang confirmed that preliminary negotiations for a TCN agreement are indeed ongoing between Kingston and Washington, but stressed that the scope of the arrangement has been wildly exaggerated in initial reporting. According to the minister, the deal will cap the total number of TCNs held in Jamaica at no more than 25 at any given time, with fewer than 50 new arrivals expected every two weeks. Chang added that the framework for the program has been developed in close coordination with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), a United Nations agency that specializes in migrant processing and resettlement. All TCNs accepted into the program will be rapidly transferred to their countries of origin, rather than being resettled permanently in Jamaica, he clarified.

Despite the government’s attempts to downplay the scope of the agreement, Golding has insisted that the public has a right to full transparency about the terms of the bilateral deal, prompting his push for an immediate parliamentary debate. The upcoming discussion during Wednesday’s adjournment motion is set to bring the simmering political dispute over migration policy into the public spotlight, as the opposition presses for greater clarity on the government’s negotiating position.

A high-profile standoff between Jamaica’s parliamentary oversight body and a top public hospital chief has thrust long-dormant flaws in the island’s contempt of Parliament legislation into the national spotlight, after University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) Chief Executive Officer Fitzgerald Mitchell failed to appear for a third summoned meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Tuesday.

Mitchell’s repeated absence is tied to a months-long PAC probe into a damning Auditor General’s report that uncovered widespread systemic failures at the prominent public medical facility, including broken procurement protocols, gaping governance gaps, and inadequate record-keeping practices. Lawmakers had already extended multiple informal invitations to Mitchell to answer questions about the irregularities outlined in the audit before issuing a formal summons, making his unexcused no-show on Tuesday an unprecedented break from protocol. To date, neither Mitchell nor his legal representation have submitted any correspondence to the committee explaining his failure to attend.

“It is very concerning that a public official who is in a position of authority – having been invited, first [to have] not responded, [then] having been summoned, [there was] no response either from himself nor his lawyer — is in contempt and in breach of the Parliament,” PAC Chairman Julian Robinson told members during Tuesday’s sitting at Gordon House. Robinson added that the committee had exhausted all reasonable alternative avenues to secure Mitchell’s voluntary attendance prior to moving forward with a formal summons, making his conduct particularly alarming.

Following Mitchell’s latest absence, the PAC voted unanimously to advance the matter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, officially requesting that the case proceed under the existing Senate and House of Representatives Powers and Privileges Act. During the meeting, Senior Legislative Counsel Tiffany Stewart walked committee members through the current legal framework for addressing contempt of Parliament, and her confirmation of the law’s outdated penalties immediately sparked a wider debate about the urgent need for legislative reform.

Stewart confirmed that all procedural requirements for serving the summons to Mitchell had been fully met, and that his failure to comply legally qualifies as contempt of Parliament. But she also emphasized that the current legislation is woefully outdated, calling for a full comprehensive review led by the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, the Law Reform Department, and the Office of the Parliamentary Council. Stewart specifically recommended amending Section 18 of the Act to strengthen penalties and expand available sanctions, a change she framed as critical to upholding public accountability for Jamaican public officials.

Under the 70-plus-year-old existing law, the maximum penalty for a conviction of contempt of Parliament is a fine of just $200, with a maximum 12-month prison sentence as an alternative for those who fail to pay the fine. For Robinson, this weak penalty scheme exposes a fundamental vulnerability in Parliament’s ability to compel compliance from public officials, threatening to erode the legislative body’s constitutionally mandated oversight role.

“It can’t be that a committee designed to ensure accountability, transparency, and good governance will have its work subverted simply because a public officer refuses to appear before it,” Robinson said. He noted that Mitchell’s refusal to cooperate stands in stark contrast to the full cooperation the committee has received from other senior UHWI officials tied to the audit, including former CEO Kevin Allen and former board Chairman Wayne Chai Chong, both of whom appeared voluntarily to answer questions about the audit’s findings.

Opposition MP for Manchester Southern Peter Bunting described Mitchell’s actions as a deliberate affront to parliamentary authority, arguing that the committee must pursue contempt proceedings even with the current limited penalties available. “This behaviour of the CEO is outrageous and unacceptable. It is contemptuous of Parliament’s role in giving oversight to the executive and it cannot be allowed to stand or we’re just wasting our time coming here to attend PAC and other standing committee meetings,” Bunting said. While he acknowledged that a $200 fine amounts to little more than a minor nuisance for a senior public official, Bunting argued that securing a contempt conviction remains a critical step to register the committee’s formal disapproval and set a precedent for future cases.

“The litany of mismanagement that we have read in the Auditor General’s report and for this level of contempt to be offered to this committee is just plain unacceptable. While the $200 may be a nuisance… I still think we should go through with the conviction for contempt. At least let that be on the person’s record if that is the only thing to signal to the public that this committee is completely dissatisfied and we find this behaviour absolutely unacceptable,” Bunting added.

Veteran PAC member Lothan Cousins, the Opposition MP for Clarendon South Western, echoed Bunting’s criticism, noting that Mitchell’s repeated unexcused absences are unprecedented during his years of service on the committee. “We’re speaking about a CEO serving the hospital and receiving compensation. We are dealing with serious matters that need interrogation and it’s not only about criticism but we are here to assist as well, as you have seen over the last couple of weeks… This is most unacceptable and I sincerely hope that the minister is looking on, the board is taking note and that serious disciplinary action must be taken as it relates to this particular individual and the office that he holds,” Cousins said.

Responding to the committee’s frustration, Errol Greene, Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Health and Wellness, noted that the formal authority to discipline Mitchell rests with the UHWI board of directors. He nonetheless pledged to formally escalate the committee’s concerns to the board immediately following the meeting. “What I can assure you is that I will be writing as soon as I leave here to the chairman of the board to express the concerns and the angst of the PAC, and to ask that due diligence be done and whatever disciplinary actions can be taken by the board of directors of the University Hospital of the West Indies after they do their due diligence that that be done. That’s what I’m committing to do,” Greene said.

The PAC’s ongoing investigation was launched in response to the Auditor General’s 2024 report, which detailed significant operational and governance failures at UHWI, one of Jamaica’s leading public teaching hospitals. Over the past several weeks, the committee has interviewed a string of current and former senior UHWI officials, aiming to pinpoint the root causes of the irregularities and assign accountability for the documented mismanagement.

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica’s flagship national road infrastructure initiative has announced a three-month extension to the completion timeline for its first construction phase, pushing the target finish date from late 2026 to the end of March 2027. The updated timeline was delivered to lawmakers this Wednesday by Robert Morgan, Jamaica’s Minister with oversight for public works, during his scheduled address to the Sectoral Debate in the country’s House of Representatives.

Launched on December 31, 2024, the Shared Prosperity through Accelerated Improvement to our Road Network Programme, widely shortened to SPARK, originally set a completion deadline of December 30, 2026 for its opening phase. Morgan told parliament that the adjustment to the timeline stems from current on-the-ground implementation progress and scheduling constraints. “Based on current scheduling and implementation realities, the anticipated completion date has been revised to March 31, 2027,” Morgan stated during the address.

The minister pushed back against pressure to rush construction, emphasizing that prioritizing speed over long-term structural quality would undermine the project’s public value. “I know that people want the work done quickly. So do I. But speed without quality is not success. A road rushed today and failed tomorrow is not value for money. The commitment of this Government is not simply to move fast. It is to move properly, transparently, and at a standard that protects the public investment,” he explained.

Morgan also issued a public appeal for patience from Jamaican communities already impacted by ongoing construction work. He acknowledged that road building brings significant daily disruptions to local residents, including increased dust, forced detours, uneven driving surfaces, and extended commute times, and said he does not dismiss these challenges. “To those in communities where SPARK work has already begun, I ask for your patience. I know that construction is disruptive. Dust, detours, uneven surfaces, and delays are real inconveniences, and I do not minimise them,” he said.

Despite the delay, Morgan reassured residents that the finished project will deliver long-term benefits that justify the temporary disruptions and extended timeline. When all work for the first phase is wrapped up, local communities will receive durable, high-quality roads engineered to last for years, rather than temporary patches that only hold up through a single rainy season, he noted. “But the work is coming to completion, and when it is done, you will have a road built to last; not patched to survive another rainy season, but built to endure,” he added.

For residents across Jamaica who have been waiting for road upgrades in their own local areas that have not yet broken ground, Morgan offered a clear promise of progress: “we are coming to you.”

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica’s main opposition has thrown the country’s governing administration into political turmoil, calling for the immediate ousting of a sitting cabinet minister after the national Integrity Commission tabled an investigative report recommending multiple criminal charges against him.

Opposition Leader Mark Golding made the demand public in an official statement released Wednesday evening, breaking down the key findings of the completed probe. According to Golding, the Director of Corruption Prosecution has formally approved four criminal charges against Dr Andrew Wheatley, currently serving as minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister. The charges cover illicit enrichment, intentional submission of false statements on mandatory statutory declarations, and intentional failure to disclose required information to the Director of Information and Complaints, in violation of Jamaican anti-corruption law.

In Golding’s view, any public official facing prosecution recommendations for such serious corruption-related offenses has no place in Jamaica’s national cabinet. “The integrity of our public institutions and the trust of the Jamaican people demand nothing less,” Golding emphasized, adding that Prime Minister Andrew Holness has an immediate obligation to remove Wheatley from his post.

The Integrity Commission’s investigation, finalized by the Director of Investigation on March 20, 2026 and endorsed by the corruption prosecution director three months later on June 11, makes a damning allegation: over a nine-year period, Wheatley accumulated assets worth roughly 164 million Jamaican dollars that far outstripped his documented lawful income. When formally asked to account for the unexplained wealth, investigators say Wheatley failed to provide a credible, satisfactory explanation.

Wheatley has publicly pushed back against the findings, vehemently maintaining his innocence. He argues that the Integrity Commission deliberately omitted 168 million Jamaican dollars in legitimate earnings he generated from real estate investments, dismissing the entire report as baseless and false.

Golding notes that this is far from the first time serious ethical and legal questions have emerged about Wheatley’s conduct while holding public office. Previous controversies surrounding his ministerial work already led to his removal from cabinet for a lengthy period, yet following the 2025 Jamaican general election, Holness made the decision to reappoint Wheatley to his government.

This reappointment has sparked new questions about the communication between the prime minister and his minister, Golding pointed out. It remains unclear whether Wheatley disclosed the ongoing Integrity Commission investigation to Holness before he accepted the cabinet post, or if he intentionally concealed the probe from the country’s leader.

Regardless of which scenario is true, Golding argues that the decision to bring Wheatley back into cabinet has now been exposed as a serious error in judgment. “Good governance is not a mere slogan, it is a required standard,” Golding said. “The prime minister has a duty to uphold that standard, immediately and without hesitation.”

MONTEGO BAY, St James — At the 11th Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference held at the Montego Bay Convention Centre on Tuesday, Jamaica’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Security and Peace Dr. Horace Chang publicly refuted widespread circulating claims that the Caribbean nation is in negotiations to receive as many as 10,000 deportees from the United States, while offering clear, detailed clarification on the limited third-country national processing arrangement currently under discussion.

The false report, first published in local outlet *The Gleaner*, sparked widespread public and diaspora concern, with many fearing that thousands of non-Jamaican individuals convicted of crimes in the US would be relocated permanently to Jamaican territory. During an open question-and-answer session, conference attendee Clive Saunders pressed Chang for clarity, asking both to confirm or deny the rumor and outline any national benefits or potential public safety risks of the proposed arrangement, as well as whether a larger-scale transfer could be considered in the future.

Addressing the crowd directly, Chang first rejected the 10,000-deportee claim outright. “The report is false. There are no intentions to bring 10,000 illegal immigrants from the United States,” he stated. He confirmed that ongoing talks center on Jamaica’s participation in a regional Third-Country Nationals (TCN) agreement, developed in partnership with the United Nations International Organization for Migration, which facilitates temporary transitional processing of irregular migrants intercepted by the US before they are repatriated to their countries of origin.

Chang emphasized that the scale of the arrangement would be extremely small and tightly controlled. Under the proposed terms, no more than 25 third-country nationals will be present in Jamaica for processing at any given time, with total arrivals capped at fewer than 50 individuals per two-week period. The minister explained that the US has already secured similar preliminary agreements with multiple other regional nations, including Costa Rica, Panama, Belize, St Kitts and Antigua, as part of a broader strategy to manage irregular migration flows toward North America.

To further allay public anxiety, Chang outlined strict safeguards built into the draft memorandum of understanding (MOU). If any individual staying in Jamaica for processing chooses to apply for asylum under international law and elects to stay on the island, the entire program will be immediately halted. The arrangement also explicitly bars the transfer of any individual with a criminal record, and the United States will cover 100% of all operational costs associated with the program, removing any financial burden from Jamaican taxpayers.

In a formal press release issued later the same day, Chang reinforced that Jamaica’s national sovereignty remains fully protected throughout negotiations, and the government has not neglected its core responsibility to protect the interests of Jamaican citizens. “We were clear about our national interests and relied on our experience over many years in managing international migration matters to inform our position throughout the negotiations,” the release noted.

Chang added that the draft document is a non-binding MOU, not a formal treaty, and will not take effect until all pre-implementation requirements — including the finalization of detailed operational guidelines and safety protocols — are completed. The arrangement does not create any automatic obligation for Jamaica to accept any individual, and both the Jamaican and US governments retain the right to terminate the agreement at any time. No transfers will begin until both parties have signed off on all required operational procedures. The government has committed to sharing regular public updates as negotiations progress.