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Eight months after Hurricane Melissa tore through large swathes of western Jamaica in October last year, the American Friends of Jamaica (AFJ), a decades-old transnational charitable organization focused on supporting Jamaican communities, has announced that donations from its global network of supporters have pushed total recovery and reconstruction funding past the $10 million mark. The milestone was revealed Saturday, June 6, during AFJ’s flagship annual event, the 2026 Jamaica Charity Gala, held in Miami, one of the most high-profile Jamaican-focused charitable gatherings in the United States each year. The event not only raised additional funds for ongoing relief efforts but also gave attending stakeholders a detailed progress update on reconstruction work across the five parishes hardest hit by the storm.

AFJ’s recovery work is currently concentrated in five western Jamaican parishes: St Elizabeth, Westmoreland, Hanover, Trelawny, and St James. To date, the organization has allocated nearly $2 million toward immediate emergency response efforts. Beyond initial relief, it has funded critical post-storm recovery projects including home re-roofing, school and outdoor learning space repairs, and a targeted farming gift card program designed to help small agricultural producers restore lost income and shore up local food security. Even amid ongoing emergency response operations in April, AFJ awarded 65 new grants totaling nearly $952,000 to support long-term programming across education, healthcare, and economic development sectors across the island.

Along with announcing the funding milestone, the 2026 gala included an awards segment honoring individuals and organizations that stepped up immediately in the wake of the hurricane. Three business and humanitarian leaders were recognized for their rapid and impactful disaster response. The International Achievement Award was presented to Norman Horne, executive chairman of ARC Manufacturing and a native of St Elizabeth. Within two weeks of Hurricane Melissa making landfall, Horne’s firm sourced and shipped critical alloy coils for roofing materials to Kingston, enabling widespread re-roofing work to begin quickly across storm-damaged communities. Two International Humanitarian Awards were also granted: one to Michael Capponi, founder and president of Global Empowerment Mission, whose response team was on the first plane into the affected region after the storm, while mobilizing 3,000 volunteers in Miami and pushing roughly $16 million in emergency aid to Jamaican communities in the first two months post-disaster. The second International Humanitarian Award went to Edward Raine, president and CEO of Food for the Poor. During the event, Raine accepted the award from former U.S. Ambassador to Jamaica Nick Perry, with AFJ executive director Caron Chung and Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett in attendance. Food for the Poor moved 250 containers of relief supplies into Jamaica through local channels, partnered with 70 regional organizations to deliver aid, and completed critical work to repair and return 22 damaged fishing vessels at Galleon Beach to active service.

Minister Bartlett used the occasion to thank AFJ for more than 40 years of partnership with Jamaica, framing the ongoing hurricane recovery work within the island’s broader national development goals. He outlined the government’s new governance structure for long-term reconstruction, the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA), which will lead planning for the revitalization of four major hard-hit coastal towns: Black River, Lucea, Montego Bay, and Falmouth. Bartlett emphasized that Jamaica’s national goal is to transition rapidly from post-disaster recovery to achieving full developed nation status within the next 10 years. Addressing gala attendees, he reflected on the storm’s impact: “It bent us as a people, but it didn’t break us.”

AFJ President Wendy Hart attributed the organization’s ability to deliver a rapid, coordinated response to the 43 years of on-the-ground relationship-building it has completed across Jamaica. “That is not a miracle. It is 43 years of relationship building coming due,” Hart told attendees, highlighting the value of longstanding local ties that enable rapid action when disaster strikes. Beyond the program and awards, the event featured a curated silent auction with a broad roster of exclusive items and experiences donated by AFJ’s supporters, including luxury travel packages, fine dining reservations, sports and entertainment access, original artwork, and one-of-a-kind curated experiences. The diverse selection of auction lots reflected the widespread generosity of AFJ’s corporate partners, individual donors, and global network of supporters, with all proceeds going toward the organization’s charitable mission in Jamaica.

Founded more than four decades ago, AFJ operates as a bridge between international donors seeking to support Jamaican communities and local nonprofits, community groups, and policymakers that have on-the-ground knowledge of local needs and effective implementation strategies. In addition to coordinating rapid disaster response when extreme weather events strike, the organization funds ongoing programming across education, healthcare, and economic development, reviewing roughly 100 grant applications from Jamaican nongovernmental organizations each year to fund impactful local projects.

On a crisp Friday in St Catherine, Jamaica, Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness stood at the construction site of the new Wick Hall Estate housing development and issued a urgent, collaborative call to action: solving the country’s growing squatting crisis requires more than just strict enforcement—it demands a massive expansion of accessible, affordable housing built in partnership with private developers.

Holness framed the spread of unplanned informal settlements as a multifaceted challenge that erodes national productivity, drains public tax resources, and leaves vulnerable residents trapped in inadequate living conditions. While he acknowledged that most people who turn to squatting do so out of genuine unmet housing need, he detailed how these unregulated communities gradually emerge, often through incremental land occupation that is sometimes framed as adverse possession. What starts as a single small zinc or block structure quickly grows into an entire neighborhood built without basic public infrastructure: no paved roads, no formal water distribution, no functional drainage, no scheduled public transit routes, and no regular garbage collection.

These gaps do more than just create headaches for local governments, the prime minister argued—they directly undercut the productivity of Jamaican workers. Residents of unplanned settlements face daily battles just to access basic needs and get to their jobs: waking up before dawn to collect water, trekking down muddy unmarked hills to reach main roads, waiting for sporadic, unplanned transit that never runs on schedule. By the time they arrive at work, they are already exhausted, frustrated, and unable to perform at their best. This cumulative drag on workforce productivity holds back broader national economic growth, Holness explained.

To reverse this trend, Holness laid out a market-oriented strategy that targets the root of the problem: lack of affordable formal housing options. The core of the approach is to make legal, planned housing a more accessible and economically viable option than illegal squatting. Right now, Jamaica faces a national housing deficit of roughly 150,000 units. The government has already stepped up its own commitments, promising to deliver around 70,000 new housing solutions through state agencies including the National Housing Trust (NHT) and the Housing Agency of Jamaica. But closing the full gap will require private developers to shift more of their investment away from exclusive high-end projects and toward middle- and working-class affordable housing, the prime minister emphasized.

Holness specifically challenged developers to take advantage of existing government mortgage support programs to build housing that fits the budgets of ordinary Jamaicans. Many working Jamaicans cannot afford $20 million luxury homes, he noted, but can afford $10 million properties with government-backed mortgage assistance.

The Wick Hall Estate development, which broke ground Friday in Spanish Town’s Featherbed Lane, held up as a blueprint for the kind of projects the government wants to see scaled across the island. Led by Altruhomes, a subsidiary of the ARC Group, the development will transform 36 acres of land into 221 new planned homes, complete with dedicated green public spaces, recreational facilities, and modern energy-efficient features including solar-ready construction and pre-installed solar water heaters. The project is intentionally located near existing economic hubs and infrastructure, aligning with the government’s goal of connecting housing to economic opportunity.

Ultimately, Holness said, the goal of Jamaica’s national housing strategy is to rebalance the market so that the formal regulated housing sector outpaces the informal squatting market, removing the economic incentive for illegal land occupation. Organized, infrastructure-supported planned communities do more than just improve individual quality of life—they lay the foundation for stronger long-term economic growth and higher national productivity. “The more communities are organised, the greater will be the productivity of the people,” Holness told attendees at the ground-breaking ceremony.

To mark World Environment Day 2024 on June 5, a cross-sector community gathering converged on Whitehouse, a coastal town in Jamaica’s Westmoreland parish, to advance local reforestation and food security goals. Bringing together nearly 30 elementary school students from New Hope Primary School and Kings Primary School, local smallholder farmers, Forestry Department officials, trained environmental wardens, and team members from the Sandals Foundation, the event centered on planting native fruit trees as part of a larger national environmental initiative.

This on-the-ground planting activity is a core component of the Sandals Foundation’s ongoing support for Jamaica’s national Reforestation, Ecological Enhancement and Landscape Framework, widely known by its acronym RE-LEAF. As a leading Caribbean philanthropic organization focused on community resilience, the Sandals Foundation has followed through on its RE-LEAF commitment by distributing 360 fruit tree seedlings across six local educational institutions and one regional farming association.

The institutions that received seedlings include Culloden Early Childhood Institution, Whitehouse Basic School, New Hope Primary School, Kings Primary School, Petersville Primary School, and Petersville Early Childhood Institution. Members of the Westmoreland Organic Farmers Association also took delivery of trees. The selection of species prioritized nutrient-dense, locally adapted food crops: breadfruit, ackee, jackfruit, mango, avocado, soursop, and Otaheite apple. The distribution and planting aim to expand access to affordable, fresh, locally grown produce for Westmoreland communities, while restoring degraded green landscapes.

During the World Environment Day event, participating students worked side-by-side with conservation and agricultural leaders to plant 20 new fruit trees. This hands-on collaboration was designed to foster early environmental literacy and a culture of stewardship among young people, connecting classroom learning to tangible on-the-ground action. For example, Jada Myers of New Hope Primary School partnered with Sanctuary Warden Diego Salmon to plant a tree, while Elijah Bowman of Kings Primary School prepped a seedling for planting, gaining first-hand experience in ecological restoration.

Heidi Clarke, executive director of the Sandals Foundation, explained that the organization’s choice to focus on fruit trees was a deliberate, community-centered decision. “We chose fruit trees because in addition to helping to restore green spaces and biodiversity — they sustain a community’s food security,” Clarke noted. The strategic selection ties environmental restoration directly to local livelihoods and food system resilience, a critical priority for Caribbean small island developing states grappling with the impacts of climate change.

Georgia Scarlett, environmental manager at the Sandals Foundation, expanded on the broader mission of the project beyond tree planting itself. “Reforestation is about much more than planting trees,” Scarlett said. “It is also about ensuring future generations understand their role in protecting the natural resources that sustain our communities. By placing fruit trees in schools and farming communities we are creating opportunities for learning, nourishment, and long-term environmental stewardship.”

For Caribbean communities already facing mounting pressure from climate change, which strains local food systems, erodes green spaces, and depletes natural resources, the RE-LEAF collaborative model offers a replicable, practical framework for local climate action. By embedding fruit trees in schools and farming hubs, the initiative does more than distribute seedlings: it empowers local residents to take ownership of their food production, cool overheated landscapes through restored tree cover, and protect the natural environment that future generations will inherit.

FALMOUTH, Trelawny — Almost a year after Hurricane Melissa swept across Trelawny, leaving a trail of destroyed property in its wake, nine local residents still remain trapped in emergency accommodation at the Bunkers Hill Community Centre — and Jamaican government agencies are in a urgent race against the clock to deliver permanent, safe housing for them before the Atlantic hurricane season peaks.

The urgent timeline and ongoing efforts were laid out by C Junior Gager, Mayor of Falmouth and chairman of the Trelawny Municipal Corporation (TMC), during the body’s regular monthly public sitting on Thursday.

Gager told attendees that all nine displaced people lost their homes to catastrophic damage when Melissa made landfall last October, leaving them with no alternative but to seek refuge in the community-run emergency shelter. “Their houses were badly damaged and they had nowhere else to go,” he explained to the corporation.

To move the project forward, two national government ministries — the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development, and the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation — have partnered with local municipal authorities to develop a coordinated housing solution for the group. Under the current plan, the nine residents will move into eight newly constructed units, with two brothers who currently live together in the shelter set to share one home.

With the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season already underway, Gager confirmed that the TMC has already completed all required pre-construction groundwork to avoid costly delays once funding is secured. That work includes scouting, vetting, and securing appropriately zoned, safe plots of land that meet all building requirements for the new housing units.

“Our team from the local authority went through and checked to ensure that the land was available and everything was in place so that the houses could be built,” Gager said. Detailed cost estimates for the construction project have already been finalized and submitted to the Ministry of Local Government for review, and municipal leaders are now awaiting final approval of the budget allocation to break ground.

The project is currently in the public procurement phase, Gager confirmed, with relocation efforts progressing steadily even as formal funding approval is pending. “The estimate was done and we are now awaiting funding so that we can kick off the action of building their homes,” he added. Once funding is greenlit, the construction contract will be put out to competitive public tender to award the build to a qualified contractor.

Seeking to reassure both the displaced residents and the broader community that their plight remains a top government priority, Gager stressed that the nine people stuck in the emergency shelter have not been forgotten by authorities. “It is not that they are there and no attention is being placed. The attention is on track. The work is being carried out. The land has been identified and soon they will be able to have their own private homes,” he promised.

After nearly a decade of legal uncertainty that upended the lives of two accused individuals, the high-profile murder trial against Jamaican dancehall performer Munga Honorable — born Damian Rhoden — and his co-defendant Sheridan “Mad Rhymes” Gordon ended abruptly this Friday in the Gun Court Division of the Supreme Court in downtown Kingston. The prosecution’s case fell apart entirely after Crown prosecutors ultimately aligned with the defense’s core argument: the prosecution’s only eyewitness was too unreliable to sustain a conviction.

The case dates back to 2017, when Cleveland Campbell was fatally shot in Ackee Walk, St Andrew. The sole prosecution witness claimed she had witnessed Rhoden and Gordon open fire on Campbell, but extensive cross-examination by the defense exposed crippling inconsistencies across every key detail of her account. These pervasive contradictions ultimately led the prosecution to decline to present any further evidence against the two men, resulting in their immediate release from legal jeopardy.

The case had already been delayed multiple times over the nine years it moved through the justice system, often due to witness unavailability. Rhoden was represented by attorneys Christopher Townsend and Chadwick Berry, while Gordon was defended by King’s Counsel Peter Champagnie and Sayeed Bernard. Both defendants expressed profound relief at the ruling, after spending nine years fighting the murder charges that hung over their heads.

In an interview with the Jamaica Observer following the decision, Champagnie shared that Gordon told his legal team, “I can finally continue my life, and I am eternally grateful to you and Mr Bernard. Thank you very much.” Echoing that sentiment, Rhoden told his attorney Townsend that he felt an overwhelming sense of “free” after the ruling was handed down.

Townsend emphasized the scope of the defense’s work in dismantling the prosecution’s case, telling reporters: “I am glad to announce that we were successful in the defence of Munga and Mad Rhymes. It has been nine long years but Mr Champagnie and myself were able to cross-examine the only witness for the Crown to the point where her credibility fell down significantly and the prosecution threw in the towel because of the evidence in the state it was in. We were able to demonstrate that the evidence concerning identification was extremely poor.”

Champagnie detailed the critical contradictions that arose during cross-examination, noting that the witness’s account did not hold up to scrutiny when tested against official court records. For example, the witness initially denied that she had previously testified she hid behind two barrels to watch the shooting. When confronted with the official transcript of her earlier testimony, she claimed she had been tricked into giving that statement and did not understand the question when she originally answered. She also admitted under questioning that key portions of her original statement to police were untrue.

The witness’s original account to law enforcement claimed she had been attending a local party, drank multiple Heineken beers, and stepped away to urinate when she witnessed the shooting. When questioned, however, she could not give a consistent answer about how many beers she had consumed: her court testimony claimed she only had one, conflicting with her original statement that she had “a lot” of Heinekens that night.

Additional inconsistencies emerged around the timeline of her statement to police: she admitted she never mentioned the shooting to any of the friends she was with that night, and waited a full 14 days after the killing to give law enforcement a formal statement. She only came forward after encountering a grieving relative of Gordon a week after the shooting, she told the court.

Her account of the shooting itself was also riddled with contradictions that differed from her original police statement. She told the court that while relieving herself, she saw Campbell ride by on a bicycle, before Gordon grabbed him by the back of the neck. She claimed Rhoden then approached Campbell holding an object she later identified as a handgun, struck Campbell in the head with it, and fired the first shots. She alleged Rhoden then passed the weapon to Gordon, who fired additional shots that killed Campbell.

When questioned about how she could see the attack, which took place in a dark passage, she claimed street light from nearby Molynes Road reflected into the walkway, giving her enough visibility to identify both men. She said she saw Rhoden’s back, which she was able to identify because she already knew him, and that he was wearing all black. She claimed she saw the right side of Gordon’s body, which was wearing a blue merino shirt and light blue jeans. After the shooting, she told the court she panicked, pulled up her clothing, ran to her car and drove straight home, staying inside her house out of shock before coming forward weeks later.

The dramatic collapse of the case after nine years of legal process brings an end to a high-profile prosecution that highlighted persistent issues with witness reliability in Jamaican criminal courts, and the heavy toll that prolonged legal proceedings take on accused individuals who have not been convicted.