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  • Banco BHD reports RD$200 million internal fraud, says customer funds are safe

    Banco BHD reports RD$200 million internal fraud, says customer funds are safe

    A major Dominican financial institution has moved swiftly to contain fallout from a high-value internal fraud scheme, after uncovering unauthorized lending operations worth more than 200 million Dominican pesos (approximately $3.5 million). Banco BHD, one of the country’s leading banking groups, has publicly commended the Dominican Public Prosecutor’s Office and National Police for their rapid, professional response to the incident, which unfolded through a multi-stage investigation starting earlier this year.

    The illicit activity was first detected during a routine internal compliance review launched by the bank in March, according to official statements from the institution. The probe quickly traced the irregular transactions to a current employee, who investigators allege engineered a scheme to create fraudulent credit lines for external third parties. In exchange for processing these unauthorized loans, the employee is accused of receiving personal financial kickbacks. Following the confirmation of wrongdoing, Banco BHD immediately dismissed the employee from their position and moved forward with formal prosecution referral. Multiple external parties that allegedly received the misappropriated funds are also currently the subject of active investigation by law enforcement.

    In April 2026, Banco BHD submitted a formal criminal complaint to the Financial Crimes Investigation Unit of the National District Prosecutor’s Office, officially opening the public legal process. Consistent with regulatory requirements, bank leadership also notified the Superintendency of Banks of the Dominican Republic, the country’s top banking regulator, immediately after discovering the fraud, and has committed to full ongoing cooperation with all government authorities involved in the case.

    In a public statement reassuring stakeholders and customers, Banco BHD emphasized that all financial losses stemming from the scheme have been fully absorbed by the bank’s internal reserves. Institution representatives noted that the total loss amounts to only a minimal share of the bank’s annual net earnings, and stressed that no customer deposits or held funds have been impacted by the fraud. The bank reaffirmed its longstanding zero-tolerance policy for any form of unethical or fraudulent conduct within its operations, and restated its core commitment to maintaining full transparency, strict accountability, and the highest possible standards of corporate governance for all its activities across the Dominican Republic.

  • Prevention 360 conference highlights Dominican Republic’s seismic and climate risks

    Prevention 360 conference highlights Dominican Republic’s seismic and climate risks

    In the capital city of the Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo, a landmark risk-prevention summit named “Prevention 360” has convened leading specialists from across the world and the country, spanning the fields of geology, meteorology, and emergency response. The gathering was organized to carry out a comprehensive evaluation of the dual threats of seismic activity and climate-driven disasters that the Caribbean nation currently confronts.

    Unlike routine academic conferences, this event centered its discussions on four high-priority areas that directly impact public safety: the vulnerability of dense urban centers to disasters, evidence-based land use planning, the structural resilience of buildings and critical infrastructure, and the urgent need to boost the general public’s disaster preparedness capabilities for major events including earthquakes, hurricanes, and flash floods. Distinguished international speakers headlined the summit: Marcelo Lagos, a prominent Chilean geographer; John Morales, a veteran meteorologist with decades of extreme weather forecasting experience; and Laís Pinto De Carvalho, an environmental psychologist. Each brought unique perspectives to the table, with their talks delving into the intersection of crisis response systems and human behavioral patterns when catastrophic events unfold.

    Local senior officials and technical experts also played a central role in the conference’s deliberations. Key participants included José Ignacio Paliza, Dominican geologist Osiris de León, and Juan Manuel Méndez, director of the country’s Emergency Operations Center (COE). During their presentations, they outlined the Dominican Republic’s existing capacities for local disaster response, while also drawing clear attention to the persistent challenges posed by aging infrastructure and uneven resource distribution across at-risk regions.

    aIn addition to seismic risk assessments, the conference repeatedly emphasized the escalating urgency of climate change impacts currently unfolding across the country. The Dominican Republic is currently grappling with record-breaking high temperatures, increasingly unpredictable rainfall patterns, and more frequent intense downpours that experts have linked to active tropical waves and abnormally warm surface temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean — trends that are expected to intensify in the coming years without targeted intervention.

  • PAHO, Google join forces to expand access to health info across Americas

    PAHO, Google join forces to expand access to health info across Americas

    A new landmark five-year strategic collaboration between the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and Google LLC is set to reshape public health communication and expand mental health advocacy across the entire Region of the Americas, including the Caribbean. The partnership combines PAHO’s decades of public health leadership and specialized technical knowledge with Google’s suite of world-leading digital platforms, most notably YouTube, to break down barriers and broaden public access to evidence-backed, reliable health information.

    At the core of the joint initiative is a firm commitment to accuracy and institutional trust. The collaboration will prioritize the distribution of fact-checked, verified health content—focused heavily on public health outreach and mental health promotion—while actively working to slow the spread of harmful health misinformation that has proliferated across online spaces in recent years.

    “This agreement reflects our commitment to meeting people where they are—with timely, trusted health information delivered through the platforms they use every day,” stated Jarbas Barbosa da Silva, Director of PAHO. He added that the combination of PAHO’s on-the-ground technical experience and Google’s unmatched global digital reach and culture of innovation will empower national health systems across the region to advance public health goals and challenge the persistent social stigma that surrounds conversations about mental health.

    The partnership will advance its goals through several key priorities. First, teams from both organizations will create dynamic, engaging multimedia content designed to resonate with diverse population groups. Second, the initiative will invest in strengthening regional digital literacy, helping communities better identify credible health information online. Finally, the collaboration will leverage cutting-edge emerging tools, including artificial intelligence, to reach underrepresented audiences that have historically faced gaps in health access—especially young people and marginalized, underserved communities.

    A central, foundational pillar of the five-year agreement is dedicated to advancing mental health promotion within digital ecosystems. Together, the two organizations will launch public awareness campaigns to challenge systemic stigma surrounding mental illness, encourage early intervention for at-risk individuals, and directly connect people experiencing mental health challenges to local, evidence-based support services. All content shared through participating digital platforms will adhere to strict accessibility standards, ethical guidelines, and scientific evidence requirements.

    Under the terms of the agreement, Google will work hand-in-hand with PAHO to develop and scale evidence-based health guidance and accessible educational content. Google will also lead ongoing efforts to enforce content accuracy standards across its platforms, ensuring that all public health and mental health material distributed through its services meets strict ethical and impact benchmarks.

    In addition to core outreach and content initiatives, the collaboration will also pilot innovative new approaches to content creation and distribution. These include building formal partnerships with popular digital creators who can help amplify trusted health messages to their audiences, as well as developing customized online training courses and self-guided mental health resources tailored to the unique public health needs of countries across the Americas.

    In a joint statement summarizing the partnership’s mission, the organizations noted that by combining the transformative power of modern technology with rigorous, evidence-based public health practice, PAHO and Google aim to fundamentally reimagine how health information is shared across the region. The ultimate goal of the collaboration is to ensure that every person in the Americas, regardless of location or background, can access the accurate health information and targeted support they need to build healthier lives.

  • Spiritual death

    Spiritual death

    In an impassioned address during Tuesday’s sectoral debate in Jamaica’s House of Representatives, Opposition health and wellness spokesperson Dr. Alfred Dawes has delivered a stark wake-up call to the nation, arguing that a growing “spiritual death” among Jamaicans is eroding the country’s core capacity for compassion and empathy toward its most vulnerable populations.

    Dawes framed Jamaica’s most pressing social struggles—from persistent violence to deep-seated inequality and rising division—as extending far beyond physical and mental health crises, rooted instead in a widespread collapse of collective spiritual well-being, what he calls the overlooked final pillar of overall public health. “I fear that we are losing our humanity because we have ignored the existence of our spiritual health,” he told lawmakers.

    Opening his reflection on the topic with reference to a recent high-profile fatal shooting that sparked national outrage, Dawes called out the violent incident that claimed the life of Latoya “Buju” Bulgin in Granville, St. James on Sunday. Footage of the shooting, which saw Bulgin shot dead by police and her body dragged from her vehicle by the feet like an animal carcass before being dumped into a police van, circulated widely across social and traditional media, shocking communities across the island. While Dawes acknowledged the need to allow due process to run its course, he emphasized that the incident laid bare a broader loss of moral bearing among those involved: “we all know what we saw, [and] what we saw was one woman losing her life and several men losing their humanity.”

    From that incident, Dr. Dawes expanded his critique to systemic patterns of desensitization across Jamaican society. He argued that growing political polarization has pushed many Jamaicans to set aside core moral values to prioritize partisan loyalty, with many now willing to excuse exploitation, abuse, and systemic inequality simply to uphold their political collective. “We have become polarised by party politics so much that some would defend the exploitation and abuse of others because our core desire to be a part of the party collective is greater than our God-instilled desire to defend the vulnerable,” he said.

    The spokesperson also targeted deepening class divisions and systemic social prejudice that dehumanize marginalized Jamaicans based on where they live, the color of their skin, and their economic status. By rationalizing this bias and reducing whole groups of people to “lesser beings,” Dawes said, Jamaicans are actively undermining their own collective and individual spiritual health.

    This spiritual rot, he added, does not only impact marginalized communities. Many outwardly successful Jamaicans, he noted, have become emotionally and spiritually disconnected from the suffering of people around them, prioritizing personal gain over collective good. “Too many Jamaicans are physically fit, mentally stable, but spiritually dead inside because they choose selfishness over service, prosperity over philanthropy, and politics over the people,” he explained.

    Dawes connected this national spiritual decline to broader failures across Jamaica’s public health system and social infrastructure, pointing to ongoing crises that have been left unaddressed by authorities: patients forced to sleep on cold hospital floors for lack of beds, and communities still grappling with unmet recovery needs nearly a year after Hurricane Melissa hit the island in October 2023. These systemic failures, he argued, are a direct reflection of the nation’s lost spiritual compass.

    To reverse this decline, Dawes called on Jamaicans to set aside narrow self-interest in favor of a unifying national purpose: lifting up the hopeless, amplifying the voices of the unheard, and dismantling the broken system that allows poor people to suffer while billions in public funds are misallocated or go missing.

    Even amid his grim assessment of the country’s current state, Dr. Dawes ended on a note of cautious hope, affirming his belief that Jamaicans still hold the innate compassion and resilience needed to turn the tide. Closing with a direct message to Jamaicans enduring ongoing hardship, he said: “To the patients sleeping in the emergency rooms tonight, don’t fret too much, because better will come. To the family praying for an ICU space, hold the faith, because better soon come.”

  • Unblocking PATH

    Unblocking PATH

    Jamaica’s government has announced sweeping, immediate reforms to the country’s flagship social assistance initiative, the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH), after a systemic review identified crippling bureaucratic barriers that blocked eligible low-income Jamaicans from accessing critical support. Minister of Labour and Social Security Pearnel Charles Jr. outlined the changes Tuesday during his contribution to the 2026/27 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives, framing the overhaul as a major shift from inefficient bureaucracy to people-centered social protection.

    Prior to the reforms, accessing PATH benefits followed a rigid three-step process. Prospective beneficiaries first complete a preliminary assessment through the Beneficiary Management Information System (BMIS) at a local PATH office. After preliminary approval, applicants waited while social workers conducted in-person field verification, then finished with a mandatory orientation and training session. Charles explained that the review found months-long delays were common for the second and third steps, leaving qualified Jamaicans in limbo even after they passed the initial screening. Data from the assessment shows more than 80 percent of applicants who pass the preliminary BMIS check ultimately go on to pass full verification, making the extended wait unnecessary for the vast majority of eligible people.

    Under the new rules, which went into effect immediately after the announcement, all applicants who receive provisional approval through the BMIS preliminary assessment will automatically move to temporary payable status, eliminating unnecessary delays for vulnerable households while the full verification process is completed. The ministry will also modernize and strengthen the full verification and orientation process going forward, implementing clear mandatory timelines, upgraded operational standards, and more robust verification mechanisms. Charles emphasized that the reforms do not weaken accountability; instead, they remove unnecessary barriers to efficiency while strengthening oversight systems to ensure support reaches those who need it most.

    A second core set of reforms addresses longstanding problems with PATH’s mandatory recertification process, which requires the ministry to reassess a household’s eligibility every four years to reflect changes in household size, income, or dependent status. The review found that the old system failed to update legitimate changes to beneficiary status in a timely manner, leaving thousands of households stuck in the recertification pipeline with delayed or interrupted benefits. Common unprocessed updates included children transitioning from primary to secondary school — a change that alters benefit levels — and new children added to a household through birth.

    To resolve the backlog, the ministry will immediately begin progressively regularizing all beneficiaries who were stalled due to unresolved status updates, accelerating the process of reconciling and updating all affected cases. Moving forward, the recertification framework will be strengthened to process household changes faster, ensuring eligible families receive the full level of support they qualify for without unnecessary delays. Charles noted that recertification should serve as a pathway to fair, accurate support, not a barrier to assistance. The ministry will also continue targeted efforts to remove ineligible or no longer eligible recipients from the program to preserve resources for vulnerable groups.

    In his address, Charles shared that PATH delivered more than J$9.1 billion in direct cash assistance to over 240,000 beneficiaries across Jamaica in the 2025/26 financial year, making it the country’s largest social safety net program. The reforms are designed to ensure this critical investment reaches Jamaicans in need when they need it most, aligning the program with the core purpose of social protection: to adapt to the changing realities of the communities it serves.

  • STILL ALIVE

    STILL ALIVE

    The stage is set for a pair of do-or-die Jamaica Premier League (JPL) semi-final second legs at Kingston’s National Stadium on Wednesday, with four teams all harboring distinct ambitions of claiming a spot in the season’s title decider. Defending champions Cavalier FC enter their most high-stakes match of their title defense, staring down a 1-0 first-leg deficit against Montego Bay United (MBU), and need an outright victory to keep their streak of consecutive finals alive.

  • Vanessa Bling gets personal on True Story

    Vanessa Bling gets personal on True Story

    Well-known dancehall performer Vanessa Bling is gearing up to launch one of the most intimate musical projects of her decades-long career, with her deeply personal new single *True Story* set to hit all major digital streaming platforms worldwide on May 20. Far from a standard dancehall release, this track is crafted from raw, unfiltered emotion, framed around themes of self-reflection and perseverance, and sees the artist opening up for the first time about some of the most traumatic and transformative periods of her private and public life.

    For Bling, the creation of *True Story* served as a pathway to reclaim her agency, voice and personal power after years of hardship. In a recent discussion about the upcoming track, she emphasized that every line of the song is rooted in real lived experience, moments that shaped both the person and the performer she is today.

    “Every challenge I walked through helped build the woman I am now,” Bling shared. “It made me tougher, wiser, and more sure of who I am. As an artist, it taught me to create from a place of radical honesty, to not shy away from putting pain, growth and resilience into my music. As a woman, it deepened my faith and my confidence in myself. I know my story can lift other people up—because even at my lowest, I never stopped believing in myself.”

    Centered on core themes of endurance, unforgiving public scrutiny, deep emotional trauma and survival, *True Story* walks listeners through years of personal struggle, unfair judgment and private battles, before landing on a message of celebration for the resilience that pulled Bling through those dark days. The track opens with the simple, deliberate line “Yeah, yeah, true story,” immediately setting an intimate, vulnerable tone as Bling reflects on years lost to hardship, crippling isolation, and the constant pressure of forces working to break her spirit. One raw verse lays out that frustration plainly: “Years of my life that mi can’t get back / No want me free dem want fi take me way.”

    Across the track’s runtime, Bling speaks openly about surviving intense pressure, personal betrayal, and public backlash, all while refusing to dim her identity or surrender hope. In one of the single’s most rousing, memorable moments, she declares, “They tried to break me down / They tried to take my crown / They could never take my pride.” The chorus, anchored by the repeated refrain “Freedom, freedom, I deserved my freedom,” elevates the track from a personal memoir to a universal anthem of encouragement for audience members facing their own unspoken struggles.

    “*True Story* is me speaking straight from the most real part of my life,” Bling explained. “There were so many moments I felt misunderstood, judged, and pushed to my limit, but through all of it I held onto my faith and stayed standing. I wanted people to hear my truth directly from me, through the music that has always been my way of connecting.” She added that the core mission of the single is to give hope to people fighting battles that no one else sees.

    “So many people carry their struggles in silence, so I hope this song reminds them that no matter what they’re up against, they can get through it and come out stronger on the other side,” she said. The emotionally charged track also doesn’t shy away from Bling’s vulnerability: she reflects on friends and loved ones who stepped away during her hardest days, while extending gratitude to the small circle that stayed by her side, offering prayer and unwavering support.

    Bling has long built her reputation on blending unflinching emotional honesty with the high-energy rhythm that defines dancehall, and *True Story* continues her pattern of using music as a vehicle for empowerment and authentic storytelling. Following the single’s release, Bling is already booked for a high-profile performance: she will take the stage at the 2026 Best of the Best Music Fest on Sunday, May 24, held at Miami’s downtown Museum Park. She will share the lineup with some of the biggest leading names in reggae, dancehall, and soca music for the widely anticipated festival.

  • Seprod sells International Biscuits for $1.71 billion

    Seprod sells International Biscuits for $1.71 billion

    Jamaican manufacturing and distribution conglomerate Seprod Limited has reported a near 100% jump in first-quarter net profit, a surge driven almost entirely by a one-time gain from the strategic divestment of its subsidiary International Biscuits Limited (IBL), even as slowing consumer demand across Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago dragged down core operating results for multiple group businesses.

    Completed on February 28, the IBL sale forms a core part of Seprod’s long-term strategy to cut group-level debt and streamline its asset portfolio to align with future growth priorities. According to the firm’s first-quarter cash flow disclosures, the disposal generated a net cash inflow of $1.71 billion for the company.

    In its official Q1 report, Seprod framed the divestment as a deliberate strategic move, noting that offloading IBL allowed the group to refocus its resources on core priorities aligned with long-term value creation. Accounting records show the firm logged a $20.62 million loss from discontinued IBL operations for the quarter, paired with a $921.86 million gain on the disposal of the subsidiary. Based on IBL’s reported net assets of $913.96 million as of December 2024, the purchase price from the buyer worked out to roughly $784.20 million above IBL’s net asset valuation.

    For the three-month period ending March 31, Seprod posted a consolidated net profit of $1.65 billion, marking a 95% increase from the $849.92 million recorded in the same period last year. However, the impressive headline growth masks underlying weakness in core operations: excluding the $921.86 million one-time disposal gain, consolidated net profit would have come in at just $730.83 million, down from the prior year’s baseline.

    Overall group revenue slipped 3% year-over-year to $36.42 billion, a decline that Seprod attributes in large part to ongoing disruption to the HORECA (hotels, restaurants, cafés, and catering) channel in the wake of Hurricane Melissa. The downturn is even more pronounced at AS Bryden & Sons Holdings Limited (ASBH), Seprod’s 80% controlled subsidiary, which saw a 6% drop in consolidated revenue to US$141.19 million (equal to $22.13 billion). ASBH’s net profit plummeted from US$3.23 million in the prior-year quarter to just US$67,000 in the latest period.

    Much of ASBH’s profitability decline stems from performance issues at Caribbean Producers (Jamaica) Limited (CPJ), its 79.99% owned subsidiary. CPJ’s revenue fell 28% to US$33.13 million in the quarter, swinging from a prior-year net profit of US$1.81 million to a net loss of US$1.17 million this quarter.

    In its own Q1 report, ASBH outlined a mix of external and internal headwinds driving the weak results: higher alcohol duties in Trinidad & Tobago, softening consumer demand across key product categories, persistent disruptions to Jamaica’s hospitality and tourism sectors following Hurricane Melissa, and elevated overhead costs tied to the group’s ongoing regional expansion and integration projects. The soft operating performance across multiple business units comes as Seprod continues its push to streamline its portfolio, cut debt, and boost efficiency against a backdrop of broadly slowing consumer demand across the Caribbean region.

    Despite the widespread operating headwinds, Seprod’s leadership struck an optimistic tone about the firm’s long-term trajectory, noting that cost containment efforts have so far kept expense growth in check. The group’s gross profit margin dipped only marginally, from 26.73% to 26.64%, even in the face of higher input costs and lower top-line revenue. Overall operating expenses rose just 1% ($90 million) in the quarter, a figure Seprod says reflects active management efforts to control unnecessary spending. Net profit attributable to Seprod shareholders jumped from $548.40 million in the prior-year quarter to $1.67 billion in the latest period.

    Signed by Chairman Paul B Scott and Chief Executive Officer Richard Pandohie, the Q1 report reaffirmed the group’s core strategic priorities: “We remain focused on margin resilience, cash generation, cost optimisation, disciplined growth, and improving return on equity (ROE). These initiatives are foundational to building a more efficient, integrated, and performance-driven organisation.”

    Over the quarter, Seprod’s total consolidated asset base contracted 5% to $137.44 billion, with current assets totaling $75.15 billion. The firm purchased 5.29 million ASBH 6.00 preference shares for US$5.29 million ($812.81 million) during the period, after existing shareholders Ambergate Limited and Fairchild Limited cut their positions in the subsidiary.

    Total group liabilities fell 9% to $86.78 billion, driven by reductions in accounts payable and the current portion of long-term debt, with total consolidated equity coming in at $50.66 billion, $39.94 billion of which is attributable to shareholders. Seprod’s full audited 2025 financial statements are currently delayed, as ASBH has not yet completed its own audited disclosures; ASBH has indicated it expects to submit its completed financials by May 31.

    As of Monday’s market close, Seprod’s share price stood at $82.43, leaving the stock down 2% year-to-date in 2026 with a total market capitalisation of $75.09 billion. The firm has also declared a $0.605 per share dividend, totaling $551.12 million, which will be paid out on June 5 to shareholders recorded on the company’s books as of May 15. While the per-share dividend matches the 2025 payout, the total payment is larger than last year’s $443.80 million, a change driven by a July 2025 share swap that increased Seprod’s stake in ASBH to 80% after the firm issued 177,398,683 new ordinary shares.

  • First Rock returns to profit but cash strain persists

    First Rock returns to profit but cash strain persists

    Jamaica-based property developer First Rock Real Estate Investments has pulled off a notable return to profitability in 2025, driven by skyrocketing rental revenue and upward property value revaluations, but the firm still faces significant headwinds including negative operating cash flow, ongoing debt restructuring and heavy reliance on luxury residential sales to maintain adequate liquidity.

    According to newly released financial results, the company logged a net profit of US$3,327 attributable to shareholders for the 2025 calendar year. This result marks a sharp reversal from the US$8.89 million net loss the firm posted in the prior year. The profit turnaround was fueled by two key factors: a 663% year-over-year surge in rental income, which reached US$1.23 million, and a US$4.44 million gain from upward revaluation of the company’s investment property portfolio. Without the non-cash revaluation boost, however, First Rock would still face material earnings pressure, company filings show.

    The dramatic jump in recurring rental revenue aligns with First Rock’s publicly stated strategic pivot toward stabilizing commercial and income-producing real estate assets, a move designed to cut the firm’s historical reliance on one-off development project sales. Even with this top-line improvement, audited financial statements reveal ongoing strain on the company’s cash position. Operating cash flow registered a negative US$5.84 million for the year, while annual interest expenses nearly doubled to hit US$1.73 million amid a broader high interest rate environment that has pushed up financing costs across the global and local real estate sectors. First Rock remains in active negotiations with creditors to refinance maturing short-term debt and secure additional working capital to fund its ongoing operations.

    At the center of the firm’s near-term cash generation strategy is the near-completed Hambani luxury residential development located in Kingston 6. In a disclosure dated April 30, transaction advisor Mayberry Investments confirmed that seven luxury villas at the development have received practical completion certificates, and all seven are already under contract to buyers. Completed units are priced between US$1.8 million and US$2.3 million, and Mayberry noted that proceeds from sales to date are enough to cover all remaining development costs and leave a surplus of cash to support other corporate obligations.

    First Rock Chief Executive Officer Ryan Reid explained that the company’s current capital structure was intentionally structured to tie debt repayment timelines to development completion and unit sales. “Unit sales are indeed a key part of our repayment strategy, and that’s really by design, which reflects the direct alignment between our development pipeline and our capital structure,” Reid told the Jamaica Observer in written comments.

    A review of the company’s balance sheet shows 15% year-over-year expansion in total assets, which grew to US$65.8 million at the end of 2025. Total liabilities also climbed, rising from US$31.5 million in the prior year to US$40 million in 2025. Outstanding corporate bonds jumped sharply to US$19.1 million, while combined current and non-current long-term loans remained elevated at roughly US$16 million. Audit notes reveal that some of First Rock’s newest financing arrangements carry interest rates as high as 18%, underscoring the steep cost of capital facing heavily leveraged property developers operating in Jamaica’s current high interest rate landscape.

    Reid emphasized that growing recurring rental revenue will be the core driver of improved operating cash flow going forward. “The revaluation gains reflect genuine value creation in our portfolio, but we absolutely understand that cash generation is important, hence the massive movement in our rental income year on year,” Reid told Business Observer. “We expect operating cash flow to further improve meaningfully.”

    Even as the company works through ongoing debt refinancing discussions, First Rock is advancing plans for two regional acquisitions in Costa Rica and Martinique, with a combined transaction value of US$28 million. Reid stressed that the planned purchases are not aggressive expansion into speculative development, but rather a targeted move to accelerate growth in recurring cash flow. “The acquisitions we’re pursuing are not about expansion for its own sake, they are highly selective opportunities that we believe will generate returns faster than greenfield developments would. These are fully tenanted rental income opportunities,” Reid said. “In each case, the entry price, existing entitlements, and near-term development potential mean these assets contribute to cash generation rather than stretching it further.”

    Auditors from Ernst & Young, the firm that signed off on First Rock’s 2025 financial statements, identified investment property valuation as a key audit matter. They noted that investment properties and properties held for sale collectively account for roughly 50% of the company’s total assets as of year end. After years of debt-fueled expansion, First Rock now faces growing pressure to prove that its evolving rental-focused business model can generate sustained, stable cash flow, reducing the firm’s current heavy reliance on non-cash property revaluations and irregular development sales to deliver positive bottom-line results.

  • Sparks fly between Green and Wildman in cops’ murder trial

    Sparks fly between Green and Wildman in cops’ murder trial

    A routine cross-examination session at Jamaica’s Home Circuit Court erupted into open tension on Tuesday, as Agriculture Minister Floyd Green locked horns with Hugh Wildman, lead defense attorney for six on-trial policemen, over repeated questions about Green’s political position and his credibility as an eyewitness. The high-stakes encounter unfolded during the continuation of a long-running murder trial connected to a 2013 triple shooting in the upscale Barbican neighborhood of St. Andrew.

    The incident at the center of the case dates back to January 12, 2013, when three men — Matthew Lee, Mark Allen, and Ucliffe Dyer — were killed during a reported gunfight with police on Acadia Drive. The six law enforcement officers standing trial for their murders are Sergeant Simroy Mott, Corporal Donovan Fullerton, and Constables Andrew Smith, Sheldon Richards, Orandy Rose, and Richard Lynch. Fullerton additionally faces a separate charge of submitting a false statement to the country’s Independent Commission of Investigations. Prosecutors allege that during a routine police operation, officers signaled for the driver of a blue Mitsubishi Outlander to pull over, and that armed men exited the vehicle to engage officers in a shootout that left the three men dead. Authorities say two illegal firearms — an Arcus 9mm pistol and a Mac 11 submachine gun — were recovered from the scene, and a fourth man suspected of involvement managed to escape. Photographs presented to the seven-member jury show the Outlander, its two front doors ajar, parked on Acadia Drive just steps from its intersection with Evans Avenue.

    Green, who lived on the top floor of a nearby multi-story apartment building on Acadia Drive at the time of the shooting, is one of only two surviving eyewitnesses to testify to what he observed that day. He has told the court that he watched part of the incident unfold from his bedroom window. As cross-examination got underway on Tuesday, Wildman first questioned Green about the angle of his vantage point, asking whether the minister’s view of the parked Outlander would have required him to look up the street, rather than directly across. Green pushed back on the suggestion, maintaining his position allowed him to look “down and across” at the scene.

    The exchange quickly escalated when Wildman referenced Green’s role as a sitting government minister, framing the question as relevant to assessing the witness’s credibility. The reference immediately angered Green, who warned the attorney against “going back down this road” and declared his credibility “unassailable.” When Wildman repeated the reference to Green’s ministerial title a second time, Green refused to continue engaging on the line of questioning, demanding the attorney drop the topic. Prosecutor Kathy-Ann Pyke intervened to alert trial judge Sonia Bertram-Linton that an argument was imminent, but the judge declined to restrict Wildman’s cross-examination strategy, noting she would not instruct defense counsel on how to question a witness.

    Tensions flared again later in the session as the two legal teams clashed over the content of Green’s original January testimony. Wildman pressed Green on whether he had previously stated he could see blood on the chest of a man in a white shirt lying behind the Outlander. Pyke objected immediately, arguing Green had only testified to seeing blood on the man’s shirt, not directly on his chest. Even Justice Bertram-Linton initially could not recall Green making the specific claim about blood on the chest, prompting defense team member John Jacobs to pull the original January trial notes to confirm the testimony. Jacobs, irritated by Pyke’s repeated objections, asked the prosecutor to allow the defense to present its questions without interruption, leading Wildman to snap at Pyke, calling her a “muttering maniac” in remarks to the judge.

    After reviewing her own notes, Justice Bertram-Linton confirmed Green had indeed told the court he observed blood in the chest region of the shirt. Even with the record clarified, Pyke continued to object, arguing Wildman had misrepresented Green’s testimony, which only referenced blood on the shirt, not the man’s body. The back-and-forth prompted an exasperated Wildman to accuse Pyke of insulting the intelligence of the seated jury. When Wildman turned back to continue questioning Green and the minister addressed him by name, the attorney snapped again, ordering Green not to repeat his name, as the entire court already knew who he was. This outburst drew a public rebuke from the judge, who chided Wildman for being rude and ordered him to adjust his confrontational tone and adhere to proper courtroom conduct.

    Green was first called as the prosecution’s opening witness in January, and was recalled to the stand for further cross-examination last Friday. The trial is scheduled to resume on Wednesday, with Green set to face additional questioning from the defense team.