分类： society

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica’s Ministry of Labour and Social Security is moving to dramatically expand its flagship early childhood development support program for disabled children, rolling out a new initiative called Access Jamaica that will bring specialized care directly to isolated rural populations through two custom mobile therapy units.

Minister Pearnel Charles Jr. unveiled the expansion plan Tuesday while delivering his address during the annual Sectoral Debate in Jamaica’s House of Representatives, framing the move as a critical step toward closing the equity gap in social support services across the island.

For years, the ministry’s Early Stimulation Programme (ESP) has served as a cornerstone of the country’s social protection infrastructure, delivering a full spectrum of therapeutic and developmental interventions to young people ages birth to six who live with cognitive, physical, or developmental disabilities. Currently, the program operates in partnership with private service providers, public early childhood education facilities, and faith-based community groups, already supporting more than 3,600 children across every region of Jamaica.

But in recent years, demand for these life-changing early intervention services has skyrocketed. Minister Charles Jr. told legislators that new referrals to the ESP have jumped 33% since the start of 2023, pushing the program’s existing fixed-site assessment and treatment centers past their operational capacity. For families living in remote rural parishes, long travel distances and limited access to specialized care have meant even longer wait times and many children have gone without the support they need to thrive.

To address this unmet need, the Access Jamaica expansion will deploy fully staffed mobile units that travel directly to rural communities, eliminating the barriers of distance and transportation that have locked many families out of care. The rollout will launch first in three underserved parishes: Trelawny, Westmoreland, and St Mary. Each mobile unit will carry a complete multidisciplinary clinical team, including board-certified behavior analysts, physiotherapists, early intervention specialists, and other clinical experts, who will provide on-site assessments, ongoing therapy, and support for caregivers.

Minister Charles Jr. laid out clear, ambitious targets for the initiative’s first year of operation: cut wait times for rural families by 40%, and extend life-changing early intervention support to an additional 1,000 children who would otherwise have been stuck on waitlists or unable to access care.

“No child should be left behind because of where they live,” Charles Jr. emphasized during his address. “With Access Jamaica, we are delivering hope, help, and high-quality interventions on the road.”

The minister framed the ESP and its Access Jamaica expansion as far more than a social service: it is a long-term national investment in the dignity, potential, and future of Jamaica’s youngest vulnerable citizens. “In every child supported, every parent trained, and every life transformed, we reaffirm our commitment to inclusion, resilience, and opportunity for all,” he added.

KINGSTOWN, St Vincent – A 56-year-old local fisherman has been handed a 10-year custodial sentence by a High Court judge in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) following his conviction for the unlawful killing of his friend, 42-year-old security guard Cameron Alexander. The fatal assault, carried out with a rum bottle, took place amid a casual gathering in late August 2023.

Justice Rickie Burnett, presiding over the case, handed down the penalty to Joel Ashton, a local resident also known by the nickname ‘Goat’. The court ordered that the time Ashton has already spent in pretrial remand be subtracted from his total sentence, a standard provision in the SVG judicial system.

Court documents outline that the fatal incident unfolded between August 26 and September 1, 2023, in Lowmans Bay, a quiet coastal community on the leeward coast of St Vincent. Prosecutors confirmed Ashton caused Alexander’s death through an unlawful violent act.

What began as a friendly social outing between the long-time acquaintances and other companions turned violent after a minor dispute. Alexander and another man had combined their money to buy a pint of rum, and tensions flared when Alexander allegedly took a small bottle of rum from Ashton’s pocket. In a sudden burst of anger, Ashton struck Alexander on the left side of the head with a full glass rum bottle, shattering the container on impact.

A witness who was present at the gathering testified that Alexander did not retaliate immediately after the blow. Instead, the victim simply asked Ashton, “Just so?” before holding his head at an angle and revealing blood flowing from his ear. Alexander was seen walking to the nearby shoreline to rinse the wound before returning to the local shop where the group had gathered, where he noticed additional blood on his neck.

Over the next 48 hours, Alexander’s condition worsened rapidly. On August 28, one of his two children found him unresponsive at his home, foaming at the mouth with active bleeding. He was rushed to the main Milton Cato Memorial Hospital and placed in the Intensive Care Unit for emergency treatment, but he succumbed to his injuries two days later on August 30, 2023.

A post-mortem examination conducted by lead pathologist Dr Ronald Child confirmed the official cause of death as blunt force trauma to the head, directly resulting from the bottle attack.

Ashton did not surrender to law enforcement until nearly four weeks after the incident, turning himself in to police on September 24, 2023. He was held in remand throughout the duration of his trial.

During the sentencing hearing, Giovanni Stapleton, one of Alexander’s two children, delivered a victim impact statement telling the court his father had been his entire world, and that he continues to grieve the loss of his father every day.

On a historic Tuesday sitting of Jamaica’s House of Representatives, a distinguished figure from the nation’s political and public service history made a rare, highly anticipated appearance. Dr. Mavis Gilmour, a former Education Minister who marked her 100th birthday just one month prior, attended the chamber as an honored guest of Pearnel Charles Jr., Jamaica’s current Minister of Labour and Social Security.

During Charles Jr.’s policy address for the annual Sectoral Debate, he took a moment to highlight Gilmour’s extraordinary decades-long commitment to Jamaica, noting that her career in public office extended far beyond her tenure at the Ministry of Education—she also previously led the Ministry of Social Security and Consumer Affairs. For the 2026 National Centenarians Day, which falls on May 20, Charles Jr. emphasized that this year’s observance carries unique weight, as it centers on a public servant who has both reached the exceptional milestone of 100 years of life and dedicated her entire career to advancing national progress.

To cement Gilmour’s legacy for future generations, the minister announced the launch of the Mavis Gilmour Centenarian Honour, an annual award that will be bestowed on Jamaica’s oldest living citizen each National Centenarians Day. Alongside Gilmour, Charles Jr. welcomed other prominent guests to his Sectoral Debate presentation: his father, Pearnel Charles Sr., who will turn 90 this coming August, and his sister Dr. Michele Charles, a former Member of Parliament for the St. Thomas Eastern constituency.

Beyond honoring centenarians, Charles Jr. used his address to draw national attention to the growing demographic shift reshaping Jamaica. He stressed that building a more resilient, stronger post-recovery Jamaica requires direct engagement with the reality of an aging population. With birth rates steadily declining across the country, seniors now make up 14 percent of Jamaica’s total population—a share that is projected to continue growing in coming years.

“One of the most inspiring reminders of the value and contribution of our senior citizens is found in the lives of our centenarians — Jamaicans whose lives reflect endurance, sacrifice, service and extraordinary resilience,” Charles Jr. told the assembled lawmakers. He added that the 2026 Centenarians Day observance, organized by the National Council for Senior Citizens (NCSC), will recognize more than 423 registered Jamaican centenarians who have reached the 100-year milestone. These national celebrations, he noted, serve as a formal acknowledgement that older Jamaicans remain a vital, valued core of the country’s social fabric.

Charles Jr. also outlined concrete policy and institutional actions the government is rolling out to better serve Jamaica’s growing senior population. In the upcoming 2026-2027 financial year, the NCSC will conduct a full organizational review of its internal structure to streamline operations and better enable the implementation of the National Policy for Senior Citizens. On the legislative side, in response to rising concerns over elder abuse across the island, the government has finalized a Terms of Reference for a specialized legal consultant, who will develop formal drafting instructions for new comprehensive Elder Care legislation to protect vulnerable older persons.

CLARENDON, Jamaica — For two straight days, residents of Sunbury district in the Spalding area of Clarendon have shut down key thoroughfares through their community, escalating a grassroots protest against the crumbling, unsafe road conditions that have long upended daily life for local people.

The demonstration first unfolded on Monday, when local law enforcement was dispatched to the neighborhood to clear a makeshift barricade constructed from discarded derelict vehicles and fallen tree debris. Crews were able to reopen the route to northwestern Clarendon that day, but the respite was temporary: frustrated by a lack of commitment to repairs from elected officials, residents assembled a new roadblock on Tuesday, forcing police to return for a second consecutive day of clearance work.

Photographs from the scene show a passenger bus, used by local residents to block a critical stretch of the roadway, as the centerpiece of the protest. The bus highlights how everyday residents are willing to disrupt ordinary movement to demand action from leaders who they say have ignored their community’s infrastructure needs for far too long.

When reached for comment Tuesday, Richard Azan, the Member of Parliament for Clarendon North Western and opposition spokesperson on road infrastructure, acknowledged that the conditions described by residents are accurate and deeply problematic.

“We just wrapped up parliamentary budget deliberations, and the only commitment the government has offered is a general patching program across the island,” Azan explained. “To date, I have not received any confirmation that funding has been allocated for repairs to this specific stretch of road in Sunbury.”

Azan went on to note that Sunbury’s crisis is far from an isolated case, warning that the entire island is grappling with a widespread decline in road quality. “Northwestern Clarendon alone has dozens of roads in catastrophic condition, and this issue is not limited to our constituency,” he said. “Members of Parliament from both the ruling party and the opposition across every region of Jamaica are fielding constant complaints from constituents about failing, unsafe roads.”

As of Tuesday evening, residents remain firm in their commitment to continuing protest action until they receive a concrete timeline and funding commitment for full road repairs, signaling that the standoff between the community and political leaders is far from over.

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Local authorities in Jamaica’s capital have wrapped up a targeted sanitation drive on one of downtown Kingston’s busiest commercial corridors, marking the latest phase of a city-wide effort to improve public health and urban livability. On Sunday, teams from the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC) carried out a comprehensive clean-up operation along Heywood Street, where crews unclogged blocked drainage systems, hauled away accumulated roadside debris, and power-washed the public roadway. The intervention has earned broad approval from local vendors who rely on the area’s public spaces to earn their daily incomes.

Kingston Mayor Andrew Swaby explained that Sunday’s work is an integral component of the Cleaner Kingston initiative, a long-term project dedicated to eliminating persistent waste buildup across the downtown district. Ahead of the operation, KSAMC issued a 30-day advance notification to all Heywood Street vendors to ensure they could prepare for the work, a collaborative step that municipal leaders prioritized to minimize disruption to local commerce. In addition to clearing the roadway, crews also removed discarded materials from the adjacent Queens Market, prioritizing drain clearing to address longstanding blockages that posed public health and flooding risks.

“Sanitation is a top priority for KSAMC, and protecting the health of both vendors and the everyday patrons who shop in this area is our core goal,” Swaby noted in an interview following the operation.

The Heywood Street clean-up follows a similar intervention completed on nearby Beckford Street in recent weeks. That earlier project included participation from representatives of two major local utilities — the National Water Commission (NWC) and Jamaica Public Service (JPS) — who joined to assess unaddressed sewage and streetlight infrastructure issues that have plagued the neighborhood. KSAMC has confirmed plans to move forward with repairs for those systems in the coming months.

Moving forward, Swaby confirmed that the incremental street-by-street clean-up push will continue across downtown Kingston, with municipal teams focusing on one corridor at a time to deliver thorough, long-lasting improvements. The mayor emphasized that local vendors have reacted positively not just to the results of the clean-up, but to the transparent, consultative approach KSAMC has taken throughout the initiative.

Toleen Edwards, a food vendor who has operated on Heywood Street for years, called the regular cleanings long overdue. “Before this, there were rats and cockroaches all along the road, and I sell food here — I don’t want pests running through my stall,” Edwards explained. “This should be done regularly, either every week or every month.”

Beyond sanitation, Mayor Swaby also addressed a second persistent problem plaguing Heywood Street: unregulated taxi parking that creates chronic traffic congestion. The mayor announced he will soon convene a roundtable discussion with local police, independent taxi operators, and leadership of the national taxi association to collaborate on solutions. The talks will center on identifying actionable changes to ease traffic delays and create smoother, more reliable traffic flow for all road users and pedestrians in the area.

For two years, Jamaican taxi operators have waited for the implementation of a promised 16 per cent fare increase. That patience snapped on Monday, when transport and finance officials asked for more time to deliver the unfulfilled commitment during a scheduled meeting at St Andrew’s Half-Way-Tree Transport Centre. Frustrated operators voiced fierce opposition to government proposals of a phased rollout of the hike, warning that rising operational costs driven by global and domestic shocks have already pushed many to the brink of financial instability.

The 16 per cent increase was originally the second installment of a 35 per cent total fare adjustment approved by the Jamaican government back in October 2023. Only 19 per cent of that total was ever implemented at the time, with the remaining 16 per cent scheduled to take effect in April 2024. Multiple adverse economic and natural events have repeatedly delayed the adjustment, pushing any final decision to a parliamentary deliberation scheduled for June 1, 2026.

Speaking on behalf of operators at the press conference, which was called ahead of threatened service disruptions over the delay, Fredrick Bryan, general secretary of the National Council of Taxi Associations, explained that runaway price growth tied to ongoing global geopolitical instability — specifically the Middle East conflict between the US, Israel and Iran — has made any further delay or staggered increase unacceptable.

“We understand nobody anticipated a war, but as a result of the war, every single cost we face is accelerating. We work on the roads every day, we have families to support just like everyone else, and we feel these price hikes every single day,” Bryan told local outlet Jamaica Observer. He added that daily operating costs now consume more than 60 per cent of operators’ average daily income, leaving workers in an increasingly unsustainable financial position. “They’re proposing splitting the 16 per cent. That is a no-no. That doesn’t make any sense,” Bryan stressed, noting that the 16 per cent was already three years overdue by 2026, following an eight-year gap between the previous fare adjustment and the 2023 approved hike. By the time the government makes a final decision in June, operators should already be negotiating an entirely new fare increase to keep up with inflation, he argued.

Egerton Newman, president of the Transport Operators Development Sustainable Services (TODSS), echoed Bryan’s rejection of a phased approach. Reports from the meeting indicated Finance Minister Fayval Williams had floated a plan to roll out the 16 per cent in two 8 per cent installments, an offer Newman flatly refused. “We have waited too long for this 16 per cent just to end up getting eight plus eight spread out over months,” Newman told ministers. “Everything has doubled, even tripled in price across the country, and that’s not just fuel prices. I cannot recommend accepting a staggered rollout at this time.”

Transport Minister Daryl Vaz acknowledged the validity of operators’ frustration, admitting the wait for the second installment of the approved fare hike has been far longer than initially promised. He recognized that skyrocketing costs have placed immense financial pressure on the country’s taxi workforce, but defended the government’s request for more deliberation, pointing to a string of unforeseen crises that have upended the country’s economic planning over the past three years. These include lingering economic aftershocks from the COVID-19 pandemic, major damage from Hurricane Beryl in July 2024 and Hurricane Melissa in October 2025, and most recently, the ongoing conflict in the Middle East that has sent global energy prices soaring.

Vaz explained that the Middle East conflict has already caused state-owned oil refinery Petrojam to absorb an estimated $4 billion in losses, as the government has capped weekly petrol price increases at $4.50 per litre to protect consumers. Without that cap, weekly price increases would have reached as high as $12.50 per litre, Vaz noted, meaning the government has had to absorb billions in subsidy costs to soften the blow of global energy volatility. “We are trying to balance a very delicate situation,” Vaz said. “Even though you have not received the 16 per cent increase yet, you have been cushioned by government policies that have kept fuel prices lower than they would otherwise be amid this crisis.”

Not all operators accepted that justification. Charles Powell, president of the Southern Taxi Association in St Elizabeth, maintained that the full immediate 16 per cent increase is non-negotiable for operators struggling with rising costs. He did, however, express cautious hope that the June 1 parliamentary decision deadline represents a firm, trustworthy commitment from the government to finally resolve the years-long dispute.