分类： society

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ) has announced that its dedicated platform for electronic motor vehicle registration certificate (eMVRC) transactions is currently facing an unexpected partial service disruption. In an official press statement issued this Friday, the agency confirmed that some motorists and vehicle owners attempting to access or finalize eMVRC-related services are running into technical difficulties. The tax authority clarified that the outage is not widespread across the entire system, meaning only a limited group of users are currently encountering access interruptions. According to the release, the organization’s technical service partners have already been alerted to the glitch, and engineering teams are working around the clock to fully restore normal system operations as quickly as possible. For users who cannot load the payment portal or get stuck during the payment step of the application process, TAJ is advising them to visit their closest local tax office to get in-person support to complete their transactions. For another group of users who have already successfully submitted their applications and completed online payment but still cannot generate their digital eMVRC, TAJ has noted that agency staff will manually complete the certificate generation process on behalf of applicants, eliminating the need for any extra steps from the user. Once the certificate is ready to access through the Certificate Generation Distribution System (CGDS) online portal, applicants will receive an automatic email notification alerting them to the completed process.

KINGSTON, JAMAICA – For many young people growing up in underserved communities, high-growth careers in private equity, finance, and technology often feel out of reach, blocked by limited networks and a lack of early exposure to these industries. For 25-year-old private equity investor Kristofer Madu, changing that reality has become a life mission, driven by his own non-traditional path to success and his firsthand experience of the diversity gaps that still plague the investing world.

Raised in Nashville, Tennessee, Madu originally set out to build a career as a rapper, cutting his teeth in the music industry before pivoting to finance. That early experience in entertainment taught him a foundational lesson: that long-term success in any field hinges on recognizing high-potential opportunities and learning to navigate complex, often unforgiving industry landscapes – a skill many young people from low-income backgrounds never get the chance to develop.

Today based in San Francisco, Madu has built an impressive career at global private equity firm TPG, where he focuses on investments across technology, media, and entertainment. His track record includes contributing to dealmaking valued at over $150 billion. Even with this professional success, Madu has not lost sight of the barriers that keep marginalized groups out of the industry: as a Black professional of Jamaican and Nigerian heritage, he is keenly aware that he remains among the small number of Black leaders in private equity, an industry that has struggled for decades to meaningfully improve racial and economic diversity.

To close the gap in early career exposure, Madu founded When We Grow Up, a nonprofit initiative dedicated to expanding the career ambitions of young people from underresourced communities. Through in-person school visits, targeted outreach programs, and mentorship connections, the organization introduces high school and middle school students to careers in finance, technology, and other high-impact fields that they may have never considered accessible.

In recognition of his work both in investing and public service, Madu was named to the 2025 Forbes 30 Under 30 list in the finance category. In a recent public post to his Instagram, Madu shared the core belief that drives his nonprofit work: every child, regardless of the neighborhood or economic situation they are born into, deserves a fair shot at professional success. He noted that the next generation of transformative doctors, engineers, and financiers could come from even the most marginalized communities, if they are given the early guidance and opportunity to nurture their ambitions.

Looking ahead, Madu has laid out aggressive expansion plans for When We Grow Up, with a near-term goal of launching programs across major U.S. hubs including Boston, New York, and cities across Florida. His long-term vision extends far beyond the United States: he aims to build sustainable career pathways that open up global opportunity for young people in developing nations around the world.

In a major push to tackle systemic educational inequity for young learners across Jamaica, US-headquartered non-profit Global Humanity Network Inc (GHN) has kicked off a worldwide fundraising campaign to back its flagship education program, Beyond the Backpack. The initiative is crafted specifically to break down long-standing barriers that prevent thousands of Jamaican primary school students from accessing consistent, quality learning opportunities.

GHN is extending a call to action to a broad coalition of supporters: individual donors, private sector corporate partners, established philanthropic organizations, and members of the large Jamaican diaspora spread across the globe. Unlike many one-off charity drives, the project is framed as a long-term, structured intervention that moves beyond temporary band-aid solutions to create lasting change for vulnerable communities.

The project is a collaborative effort, led jointly by GHN vice-president Dr Binzie Roy Davidson – who also serves as an advisor to the Global Jamaica Diaspora Council – and the local advocacy group A Collision With Purpose Movement. For GHN’s top leadership, the initiative marks a deliberate departure from the short-term charitable aid that has long dominated development work in the region.

“This initiative reflects the power of aligned leadership and global collaboration. It is a movement built not only on vision, but on execution,” noted Dr Laxley W Stephenson, GHN’s president and CEO, who was born and raised in Jamaica. Speaking on the core gaps the program seeks to fill, Stephenson emphasized that the supports provided by Beyond the Backpack are not optional extras for low-income students, but non-negotiable basics. “These are not luxuries. These are necessities. No child’s future should be determined by the absence of these basic supports,” he added.

Beyond the Backpack targets a set of interconnected, often overlooked barriers that drag down student attendance and academic performance: a lack of reliable transportation to school, inability to afford required school uniforms, consistent food insecurity, and the absence of adult guidance and mental health support. To address these needs holistically, the program has designed a three-year structured support pathway for participating students, covering everything from transportation stipends and essential school supplies to daily nutrition access, one-on-one mentorship, professional psychosocial support, and youth leadership development training.

For Dr Davidson, the campaign also serves as a critical rallying cry to activate the Jamaican diaspora to turn awareness of domestic educational challenges into tangible action. “This is a call to move beyond awareness and into action. When we invest in a child’s education, we strengthen families, communities, and the future of our nation,” he explained.

To streamline participation for donors, GHN has established clear sponsorship tiers ranging from $2,000 USD to $10,000 USD and higher, with a commitment to tracking and publishing measurable outcomes for every investment made. The initiative will launch first in four Jamaican parishes: Westmoreland, Trelawny, St Elizabeth, and Hanover. Organizers have laid out long-term plans to expand the program across the entire island of Jamaica before scaling to other underserved communities around the world.

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Six months after Hurricane Melissa devastated small-scale agricultural operations across western Jamaica in October 2025, three collaborative partners have delivered targeted, life-changing support to hundreds of farmers in two hard-hit parishes. Seprod Foundation, working alongside global humanitarian organization Mercy Corps and home improvement retail leader The Home Depot, has distributed 40 custom agricultural recovery kits to farming households in Crawford, St Elizabeth and Seaford Town, Westmoreland, aiming to reverse catastrophic damage to local livelihoods.

The two-day distribution initiative unfolded on April 15 and 16, 2026, rolling out resources curated specifically to address the most pressing gaps farmers faced after the storm. Each kit is packed with a full suite of practical, high-need supplies: heavy-duty land clearing and cutting equipment to remove storm debris, foundational hand tools for daily cultivation, specialized crop management inputs, and personal protective gear for farm workers. With these resources in hand, local farmers can now clear vegetation and debris from storm-ravaged plots, restart active cultivation, and begin rebuilding the steady income streams their families depend on.

For many beneficiaries, the support arrives at a moment of deep uncertainty. “After the hurricane, a lot of us didn’t know how we would get back on our feet. These tools give me a chance to clear out and start planting again. It means I can start providing for my family again,” Steve Kameka, one of the participating farmers, shared in an official press release issued Friday.

Lisa D’Oyen, Executive Director of the Seprod Foundation, emphasized that The Home Depot’s contribution was foundational to getting the initiative off the ground. “The support from The Home Depot has been instrumental in helping farmers take the first steps toward recovery,” D’Oyen explained. “Through our partnership with Mercy Corps, we are able to ensure that these resources reach the communities that need them most, while continuing to build a foundation for long-term resilience.”

As the international lead on the project, Mercy Corps oversaw end-to-end procurement and logistical coordination of the donated kits, working side-by-side with Seprod Foundation to plan on-the-ground distribution and host community outreach sessions to connect eligible farmers with support. Allison Dworschak, Mercy Corps’ Caribbean Resilience Director, noted that local partnership has been critical to ensuring the response aligns with community priorities. “Our partnership with Seprod Foundation has been key to keeping our work across Jamaica grounded and connected to the real needs expressed by hurricane-impacted communities,” Dworschak said. “We look forward to continued partnership as we ready ourselves for next season.”

This kit distribution is just one component of a broader, long-running recovery program focused on boosting agricultural resilience and shoring up food security across Jamaica’s hurricane-affected regions. Both Crawford and Seaford Town have been flagged as priority zones for sustained investment, as ongoing rebuilding work continues and farmers gradually work to reestablish stable, productive livelihoods.

Seprod Foundation officials stressed that unmet need remains substantial across impacted farming communities, and reiterated that ongoing collaboration between local, international and private sector partners will be critical to expanding assistance and deepening long-term impact for hurricane survivors.

KINGSTON, Jamaica — More than a week after Hurricane Melissa swept across Jamaica, leaving widespread destruction to the national power grid, the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) has confirmed it is moving into the final stretch of recovery efforts, with fewer than 3,000 customers still waiting to have their electricity restored. In an official public statement released Friday, the utility provider attributed the steady, significant progress of restoration work to critical operational support from partner energy teams across the Caribbean region.

To date, more than 80 external skilled personnel have joined local JPS crews on the ground to speed up recovery. Line workers from Bermuda’s Bermuda Electric Light Company (BELCO) have been deployed alongside certified technicians from two St. Lucia-based firms: King’s Electrical and Islandwide Electrical Limited. According to JPS, these cross-border teams have played an indispensable role in accelerating restoration, especially in coastal and rural communities that suffered the worst damage from the hurricane’s high winds and flooding.

Right now, all remaining work is concentrated in the western Jamaican parishes of St. Elizabeth and Westmoreland. Crews in these areas are still contending with rugged, hard-to-access terrain damaged by the storm, and are carrying out full reconstruction and partial redesign of large sections of the local power grid that could not be simply repaired.

Ricardo Case, Senior Vice President of Shared Services at JPS, emphasized that coordinated regional collaboration has been a game-changer for overcoming the unprecedented challenges posed by Hurricane Melissa. “We fully recognize how much frustration our customers in western Jamaica are feeling right now, going days without reliable power,” Case said in the statement. “But we have kept our promise: work has not stopped for a single day. Our local teams, reinforced by skilled support from utility partners across the Caribbean, have adapted creatively to restore power to some of the hardest-hit parts of the grid, even with limited access and large-scale rebuilding required. None of this progress would have been possible without these partnerships.”

When Hurricane Melissa made landfall on Jamaica on October 28, 2025, it knocked out power to roughly 77 percent of the country’s utility customers, and caused catastrophic, widespread damage to the national transmission and distribution network. JPS has called the event one of the most damaging storm impacts in the company’s operating history.

Case acknowledged that the final phase of restoration remains extremely demanding work. “But every single one of us shares the same top priority: get power back to every single customer, no exceptions,” he said. “The shared commitment and positive energy of all the crews working side by side will make sure we get this done as safely and as quickly as humanly possible.”