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Digicel Foundation empowers Denham Town and Tivoli High girls with AI skills

On a transformative Wednesday in western Kingston, Jamaica, female students from Denham Town High School and Tivoli Gardens High School gathered for an immersive day of collaborative, hands-on innovation that bridges cutting-edge technology and urgent climate action. The event, a Girls in ICT Artificial Intelligence and Climate Change Hackathon, was hosted at Denham Town High through a partnership between the Digicel Foundation and STEM Spark Solutions, growing out of the foundation’s long-running mission to shrink the gender gap in the technology sector.

For years, the Digicel Foundation’s Girls in ICT initiative has worked to equip young women with the technical skills, professional confidence, and real-world industry exposure required to build successful careers in an increasingly digital global economy. This hackathon expanded that mission by tying technology proficiency directly to a crisis that hits close to home for Jamaican communities: climate-related natural disaster resilience.

Throughout the day, participating students explored the many practical applications of artificial intelligence to address pressing climate and disaster challenges. Central to the event’s curriculum was exploring how AI can be leveraged across all stages of a major weather event: from forecasting extreme storm trajectories more accurately, tracking gradual environmental shifts that increase disaster risk, and building community-centered solutions that help local populations bounce back faster after catastrophe.

Digicel Foundation Chief Executive Officer Charmaine Daniels emphasized the critical urgency of including young women in the growing AI sector. “We stand at a defining turning point in global history, where artificial intelligence is reshaping every industry, every career path, and every part of daily life,” Daniels explained. “If we do not make intentional space for our girls to join this space right now, we will risk leaving an entire generation excluded from the opportunities shaping our future. Introducing girls to AI and information and communications technology is about giving them the tools to protect their families, their communities, and the environment they depend on — that is the core of what this day was built to achieve.”

This year’s hackathon centered specifically on disaster preparedness, a theme that carries deep personal meaning for most participants. Just one year prior, in October 2023, Category 5 Hurricane Melissa swept through Jamaica, leaving widespread destruction in its wake across communities including Denham Town and Tivoli Gardens. Against that backdrop, students worked through practical exercises to test how AI can strengthen early warning systems, streamline emergency response coordination during a storm, and speed community recovery and rebuilding efforts after the event passes.

Dianne Plummer, CEO of STEM Spark Solutions and a professional engineer, explained the personal, community-focused vision that shaped the event’s design. “These young women already know firsthand what it looks like when a Category 5 hurricane rips through their neighborhood — when power goes out for days, when roads flood, when entire communities have to put themselves back together piece by piece,” Plummer said. “Our goal today was to show them that artificial intelligence gives us the power to prepare more effectively before a storm, respond faster when it hits, and recover smarter after it passes. When a young woman from Denham Town or Tivoli Gardens can build a climate model or design a functional early warning system, she stops being just someone affected by climate disaster and becomes a core part of the solution.”

Observers noted the tangible energy and purpose that filled the space throughout the day, with participants diving into their collaborative projects with remarkable creativity and drive. For many attendees, the event marked their first meaningful introduction to artificial intelligence as a tool for good. Ameerah Burke, a ninth-grade student at Denham Town High, said the experience changed her perspective on what she can accomplish through STEM. “When the team showed us how AI can predict exactly where a storm is going to hit and help planners map out safe evacuation routes, it made me rethink what I can contribute to my community,” Burke shared. “We lived through Hurricane Melissa, and I’ll never forget how scary it was not knowing what was coming next. If AI can help keep people safer through that, I want to be one of the people building those systems.”

22 5 月, 2026
Giving them a voice

As part of Jamaica’s annual Child Month celebrations, Jamaica’s Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information hosted a landmark inclusive gathering on Thursday, creating a judgment-free, supportive space where children with special needs across the Corporate Area could share their experiences and build connections. The event, held on the scenic lawns of Devon House in St. Andrew, brought together students from five specialized institutions across the country: the Salvation Army School for the Blind, Danny Williams School for the Deaf, Carberry Court School of Special Education, Randolph Lopez School of Hope, and Hope Valley Experimental School. This gathering formed a core component of the ministry’s groundbreaking Child Conversations initiative, which centers underrepresented youth voices in public policy and community programming. Centered on the urgent theme “Prioritising our children’s mental health, stronger minds, safer future”, the event also broke new ground by pairing students with disabilities with neurotypical, able-bodied peers, creating structured opportunities for cross-group dialogue and mutual understanding. Hyacinth Blair, senior director for Children’s Affairs and Policy at the ministry, explained the core goals of the initiative in an interview with the Jamaica Observer, emphasizing the critical, often overlooked role of mental wellness in overall child development. Blair stressed that the event sought to demystify mental health for young Jamaicans, pushing back against harmful societal stigmas that frame discussions of emotional struggle as a sign of dysfunction. “We want our children to understand that it’s okay to be sad about things. It’s okay to talk about things. Mental wellness doesn’t mean that you are mad, so to speak. We want them to understand that as much as it is important to be physically well and emotionally well, mentally well is also a part of it,” Blair told the outlet. Blair pointed out that children without disabilities often lack exposure to peers with special needs, leading to unintended insensitivity and even open bullying. By bringing both groups together for open conversation, the initiative aims to foster lasting empathy and allyship among young people. “We have paired them with able-bodied peers, and we want conversations so that there is a greater level of understanding between children who do not have challenges and our special needs children so we can have more collaboration, more understanding,” Blair said. “Children can be really cruel. You may see a child with special needs and another child will want to tease them. So we want them to understand each other more, to talk more. And so with a greater level of understanding, you as a child who does not share the same challenge, you may be in a crowd with other students, and because you were exposed to that child or that special need, you can be able to say to your peers, ‘Don’t do that’ or ‘Don’t say that.’” Blair also highlighted a troubling gap in support systems for disabled children: global and local research confirms that children with special needs face a drastically higher risk of abuse and mental health struggles than their peers, in large part because societal stigma has long pushed conversations about youth mental health into the shadows. Compounding this risk, many disabled children face communication barriers that leave them unable to report harm or access existing support services. “It’s probably greater among them because sometimes we don’t remember them as we ought to. And sometimes they can’t articulate their challenges or their problems as well as the other child because of the issue that they may have,” Blair explained. “There was a time when we would not talk about mental health. It’s something that we keep in the closet, but we understand now that in order to develop strong minds and to have a safer future for our country, then our children need to be mentally well. One of the ways really is to be able to express yourself, to talk about the things that are bothering you, and to find solutions. To feel safe in expressing themselves. We want it to become a normal part of life.” Blair used the 211 national child abuse reporting hotline as an example of a critical service that fails disabled youth: children with speech or hearing impairments often cannot access the phone-based hotline, leaving them with no safe way to report harm. This gap, she argued, underscores the urgent need to develop alternative, accessible communication channels that meet the unique needs of disabled children. “If a child doesn’t speak well, doesn’t hear well, then it’s hard for them to articulate how it is they’re feeling,” she noted. The initiative has already earned widespread praise from educators at specialized schools, who have long called for more targeted support for disabled students’ mental health. Sashoir Murphy Hewitt, a teacher at the Danny Williams School for the Deaf, welcomed the event as a long-overdue step to address the isolation many deaf students face in Jamaica. “I think the initiative will be very beneficial, especially to the deaf students, because Jamaican Sign Language is not a language that is publicly known, and that is their first language, so many time they don’t have persons to communicate with or who understand them or who they feel comfortable to share whatever they are going through,” Murphy Hewitt said.

22 5 月, 2026
ON THE HUNT

Fresh off a dominant opening victory at the Wanda Diamond League’s first 2025 stop in Shanghai/Keqiao, two-time World Athletics Championships 200m gold medalist Shericka Jackson is set to target consecutive wins at the tour’s next stop, held at Xiamen’s Egret Stadium in China. The race, which kicks off Saturday morning Jamaica time, will see Jackson chase more than just another win — she aims to avenge a surprise defeat to American sprinter Anavia Battle when she opened her 2024 Diamond League campaign in the same city a year prior.

Jackson, who has navigated a string of nagging injuries over the past two seasons, turned heads last week with an impressive opening performance, clocking 22.07 seconds in the 200m just 48 hours after touching down in China. With a full week of acclimatization and training under her belt ahead of the Xiamen meet, track analysts and fans widely expect the Jamaican star to shave time off her already strong opening result and deliver an even faster performance this weekend.

Jackson will face off against nearly the exact same field of competitors that lined up against her in Shanghai/Keqiao. Battle, who finished third in the opener last week, will look to defend her 2024 Xiamen victory against Jackson. Joining the pair on the starting line will be Shaunae Miller-Uibo of The Bahamas, who claimed second place in the opening meet, alongside American sprinters Jenna Prandini and Sha’Carri Richardson.

Jackson is far from the only Jamaican star set to compete in Xiamen: a total of nine Jamaican athletes, most of whom already raced in the tour opener, will return to the track this weekend. The full Jamaican contingent includes sprint hurdlers Ackera Nugent, Megan Simmonds, and Danielle Williams in the women’s 100m hurdles; Orlando Bennett in the men’s 110m hurdles; high jumper Lamara Distin; long jumpers Tajay Gayle and Wayne Pinnock; and shot put national record holder Rajindra Campbell. Notably, Campbell and Pinnock are competing just weeks after World Athletics rejected their applications to switch sporting allegiance to Turkey, clearing them to remain competing for Jamaica for the 2025 season.

The women’s 100m hurdles boasts one of the deepest and most competitive fields on the entire Xiamen schedule, featuring gold medalists from each of the last four global championships. American Masai Russell, the reigning Olympic champion, took gold in the opening race last week, where both Danielle Williams and another competitor failed to finish the event. This weekend, Williams will look to put her opening-meet DNF behind her and claim a better result in Xiamen.

Jamaica’s Megan Simmonds, an Olympic medallist, was the highest-placed Jamaican hurdler in Shanghai/Keqiao, finishing fourth with Nugent close behind in sixth. The two Jamaicans will face stiff competition from a stacked field that includes World Championships gold medalist Ditaji Kambundji of Switzerland, World Indoor champion Devynne Charlton of the Bahamas — who set a new national record in the event last week — and reigning world record holder Tobi Amusan of Nigeria.

Orlando Bennett, a medalist at the 2025 World Athletics Championships, will also aim to improve on his opening result. Bennett clocked a 2025 season’s best 13.20 seconds to take fourth place in Shanghai/Keqiao, and will this weekend go head-to-head with world leader Rachid Muratake of Japan, and Americans Jamal Britt and Cordell Tinch, who finished first and second respectively in the opening meet.

Lamara Distin will make her 2025 outdoor season debut in the women’s high jump, where she will compete against Australia’s Eleanor Patterson, American Charity Hufnagel, and Ukraine’s Yulia Levchenko. In the men’s long jump, Jamaicans Tajay Gayle and Wayne Pinnock tied with an identical 7.93m jump in the opener, and both will target personal improvements against a field that includes rising Italian star Mattia Furlani, Australia’s Liam Adcock, home favorite Mingkun Zhang of China, and combined World Championships and Olympic gold medalist Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece.

22 5 月, 2026
SEPROD PUSHES DEEPER INTO TOURISM SUPPLY CHAIN

Jamaica’s leading manufacturing and distribution group Seprod is moving forward with a major restructuring of its distribution network, accelerating the integration of Caribbean Producers Jamaica Limited (CPJ) into its core operations in the wake of Hurricane Melissa. The overhaul, which reallocates product lines between CPJ and Seprod’s retail arm Facey Commodities, aims to sharpen specialization, eliminate overlapping operations, and expand market reach across both hospitality and retail segments.

The transition process officially launched in late January this year. According to Seprod Group Chief Marketing Officer Andrew Anguin, the broad integration blueprint was already finalized prior to Hurricane Melissa’s landfall, but leadership intentionally delayed execution to avoid disrupting business operations during the peak tourism season, which runs from October through December each year. Now, the restructuring is well underway: Seprod’s own product range is increasingly distributed through CPJ’s established network of hotel and hospitality clients, while imported consumer goods previously managed by CPJ are being rerouted to Facey Commodities’ extensive retail shelf network across Jamaica.

This integration push comes more than three years after Seprod completed its acquisition of AS Bryden & Sons Holdings Limited, CPJ’s parent company. The restructuring reframes CPJ as Seprod’s dedicated hospitality-focused division, concentrating exclusively on serving hotels, restaurants, and commercial food service operators, while Facey Commodities, Seprod’s existing retail distribution arm, takes over responsibility for all consumer-facing and imported goods previously handled by CPJ.

Hurricane Melissa, which battered Jamaica’s coastal hospitality belt in 2024, created unforeseen urgency for the overhaul. The storm triggered widespread operational disruptions and suppressed hotel demand, exposing inefficiencies in overlapping distribution systems and creating an opening to streamline operations. Even with the pre-existing strategy, the storm’s impact pushed leadership to speed up implementation, executives confirmed.

“ This restructuring lets our CPJ team focus entirely on selling the full Seprod portfolio to hospitality clients,” Anguin explained. “Through our long-standing partnership with Kraft Heinz, we can now deliver more hospitality-tailored innovation to the market, including specialized product formats, more competitive pricing, and items formulated specifically for commercial kitchen operations. We’re also expanding our range of oils and fats to better meet the baking and food preparation needs of the tourism sector.”

On the retail side, products that were once primarily sold through CPJ’s hospitality channels—including popular imported items like shrimp and frozen burgers—are now gaining wider access to supermarket shelves across Jamaica via Facey Commodities’ established retail distribution network. This shift puts CPJ’s imported portfolio in front of a much larger domestic consumer base, unlocking new revenue streams that were previously underutilized.

The restructuring also comes as Jamaica’s tourism sector continues to face a slow and uneven recovery from Hurricane Melissa. Many hospitality operators are still working to rebuild damaged infrastructure, with full reopening timelines pushed out to late 2026 in most cases, and as far as the first quarter of 2027 for some of the hardest hit properties. “Many of our partners within the hospitality industry are either not yet fully operational or are operating at reduced capacity as they continue their recovery efforts,” Seprod Chairman Richard Pandohie and interim CEO Juan Baez noted in the company’s latest management discussion and analysis (MD&A).

For decades, CPJ has held a dominant position as a supplier to Jamaica’s tourism industry, distributing food, beverages, and specialty products to hotels, restaurants, and cruise line operators. The ongoing integration gives Seprod far more direct access to this high-value market while enabling the entire group to expand its product reach across a broader domestic retail footprint. By eliminating overlapping distribution routes and aligning teams with their core areas of expertise, the overhaul is expected to cut longstanding operational inefficiencies across the group.

Executives project that the restructuring will ultimately deliver low double-digit growth for both the hospitality and retail divisions of the business. “Low teens is what we are anticipating on both sides,” Anguin said, while cautioning that the integration remains in its early stages. “But again the upside is huge with a larger team focused every day on what they specialise in.” The restructuring gives the group far broader coverage across its entire product portfolio, he added, with more sales representatives and brand specialists focused on pushing the full CPJ product range to retail buyers.

Seprod’s management expects the bulk of the integration work to be substantially completed by the fourth quarter of this year, aligning with the start of the annual winter tourism season and the Christmas holiday period, when demand for both hospitality and retail goods typically surges. Anguin pointed specifically to CPJ’s premium beverage portfolio, which has a history of strong performance during the year-end holiday period, as a key growth driver for the final quarter.

The impact of Hurricane Melissa was already visible in CPJ’s March 2025 quarter financial results, which reflected ongoing downward pressure on tourism-linked revenue. Gross revenue for the quarter fell to US$25 million, down from US$37.8 million in the same period a year earlier, while gross profit dropped from US$11.7 million to US$6.5 million. The business swung to a pre-tax loss of US$1.4 million for the quarter, compared to a pre-tax profit of US$2.4 million in the prior year’s corresponding quarter.

Despite the near-term financial pressure, Seprod’s leadership pointed to early positive signs that the restructuring is already starting to deliver results. Operational cash flow has improved, and working capital management has tightened, with lower inventory levels, insurance claim recoveries, improved accounts receivable collections, and more disciplined payables management all contributing to stronger fundamentals. “Importantly, the quarter reflected improved cash flow performance and stronger working capital management,” management said in the MD&A.

21 5 月, 2026
‘It Takes Two’ rapper Rob Base dies at 59

The hip-hop community is mourning the loss of one of its most influential crossover pioneers Friday, with news that legendary American rapper Rob Base—born Robert Ginyard—has passed away at 59 following a public battle with cancer. The confirmation of his death came via an official statement shared to Base’s own social media pages, where fans and peers alike have since flooded the comments with tributes to his decades-long career.

Base rose to global fame alongside his creative partner DJ EZ Rock, with the pair forming a trailblazing Harlem-based rap duo in the 1980s that helped bring hip-hop from underground block parties to mainstream commercial success. It was their 1988 collaborative hit *It Takes Two* that cemented their place in music history: the chart-topping track peaked at the No. 3 position on Billboard’s Hot Dance/Club Songs chart, earned a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and quickly became a cultural touchstone.

In the decades following its debut, *It Takes Two* has remained a staple at celebrations, dance nights, and public events around the world, proving its enduring cross-generational appeal. In 2000s ranking, VH1 placed the iconic track at No. 37 on its list of the 100 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs of all time, a testament to its lasting impact on the genre.

The official statement honoring Base celebrated both his professional legacy and personal character, writing, “Rob’s music, energy, and legacy helped shape a generation and brought joy to millions around the world.” It went on to highlight his life off the stage, adding, “Beyond the stage, he was a loving father, family man, friend, and creative force whose impact will never be forgotten. Thank you for the music, the memories, and the moments that became the soundtrack to our lives.”

Base is not the first member of the iconic duo to pass: DJ EZ Rock, whose legal name was Rodney Bryce, died in 2014 from complications related to diabetes.

21 5 月, 2026
NO SPEID LIMIT

On Wednesday, Jamaican football side Cavalier FC etched its name into the history books of the Wray & Nephew Jamaica Premier League, clinching a spot in a fourth consecutive league final after a dramatic 2-0 extra-time victory over Montego Bay United (MBU) in the second leg of their semi-final tie. The two-time defending champions overturned a 0-1 first-leg deficit to seal a 2-1 aggregate win, adding another landmark achievement to head coach Rudolph Speid’s decorated local coaching career. However, the veteran manager was quick to shift all praise to his young squad, who pulled off an unlikely comeback against all pre-match predictions.

The match’s hero was 18-year-old Kimarly Scott, a Manning Cup title winner with Excelsior High School, who delivered two identical game-changing goals both from corner kicks. His first header in the 54th minute dragged the tie level on aggregate, forcing the contest into extra time. In the opening 15-minute period of additional time, Scott rose above the MBU defense once again to nod home the decisive winner, securing his side’s place in the final.

The result capped off a stunning collective turnaround for Speid’s team. In the first leg, Cavalier was dominated, mustering only a single shot on goal and ceding nearly 70 percent of possession to MBU. Speid, who also serves as interim head coach of Jamaica’s national men’s team the Reggae Boyz, explained that the squad made a deliberate tactical shift to shore up its defense ahead of the play-offs, a choice that ultimately paid dividends.

“Me and captain Jeovanni Laing had quite a few extended discussions about his role in the team and what we needed from him,” Speid told reporters after the match. “Once we reached the play-offs, we made the call to tighten up our defensive line, and you can see the massive improvement that came from that change. We never believed we were out of the tie; we just knew we had to win differently this time. We always focus on finding a way to get a result, and this is the path that worked. Set pieces have been a consistent source of goals for us in the second half of the season, and that form held up for us today.”

Cavalier’s run to the final has been one of the most unlikely stories in this year’s JPL season. After claiming back-to-back league titles in 2022 and 2023, the club underwent a massive transition, losing 19 first-team players including three key Reggae Boyz talents: Richard King, Dwayne Atkinson and Jalmaro Calvin. The side also underperformed in the 2023 Concacaf Caribbean Cup, crashing out in the group stage as defending champions, and dropped as low as eighth place in the JPL table as recently as February.

The club ultimately rallied to finish sixth in the regular season, its lowest league position since it earned promotion back to the JPL in the 2017/2018 campaign, but few pundits expected the young side to advance past a strong MBU side that topped the regular season table for more than six months. Speid said he’s heard the outside criticism of his coaching and his squad’s chances, but he credits the team’s strong winning mentality and tight team culture for their success.

“People saying I can’t coach isn’t anything new to me,” Speid said. “But when it comes to this club, everyone needs to know we have a never-say-die winning mentality. We pick the right players, players who are willing to fight for this club badge every single day, and that’s what this run is all about. The truth is, we’re a family here. Everyone cares about each other, and we work together through every high and low. We win together and we lose together, we build that winning mentality in training every week, and that’s what got us over the line today.”

In addition to booking a spot in the JPL final, the win also guarantees Cavalier a place in the 2024 Concacaf Caribbean Cup, marking their fourth consecutive appearance in the regional competition – a milestone Speid says the squad targeted specifically after their underperformance last year.

“Getting back to the Caribbean Cup was one of our main goals this season,” he said. “We didn’t perform well last year, we were really disappointed and embarrassed by how we played, so we were desperate to earn our way back this time. This win gets us in automatically, and we’re really grateful for that opportunity.”

Cavalier will now face off against Portmore United in the JPL final this coming Sunday. For MBU, the result brings a disappointing end to their standout regular season, with head coach Xavier Gilbert saying he was caught off guard by his side’s lackluster performance.

“We were a little reckless, and at times naive, out there today, and it’s hard for me to explain how things unfolded the way they did, because this was nothing like our game plan,” Gilbert said. “I just didn’t like the attitude and body language I saw from the team today, I’m not happy at all with how we performed. We tried to push for an equalizer late on, but we just couldn’t get that goal we needed.”

“We just didn’t execute on our chances, and we were nowhere near the level we’ve played at all season. This just wasn’t our team today, we put in a poor performance when it mattered most,” Gilbert added.

MBU will now get a chance to rebound on Sunday, when they face Mount Pleasant Football Academy in the third-place playoff for a spot in the CFU Club Shield.

21 5 月, 2026
Ground broken for $140m Stepney Rainwater Catchment Tank

ST ANN, Jamaica – After years of widespread water access challenges for households across Stepney and neighboring communities in St Ann parish, a transformative new rainwater catchment and treatment infrastructure project has officially moved forward, following a groundbreaking ceremony hosted Thursday by Matthew Samuda, Jamaica’s Minister of Water, Environment and Climate Change.

Funded at a total cost of $140 million and scheduled to kick off construction on June 1, the initiative will be executed by Rural Water Supply Limited (RWSL), with the explicit goal of delivering consistent, regulated potable water supplies to more than 1,100 local residents who have long lived with debilitating water scarcity.

At the ceremony, Samuda framed the public investment as far more than a standard infrastructure upgrade, positioning it as a targeted anti-poverty intervention that addresses hidden financial burdens carried by working-class households. “Every dollar residents pay for trucked water is money pulled away from investing in their children’s education, or diverted from other critical household needs that keep communities afloat,” he explained. “Every investment like this one in Stepney is an investment in cutting poverty and empowering local communities. We are making this investment to lift the heavy weight that local people have carried for far too long.”

The 28-week construction timeline will deliver a fully integrated, modern water harvesting and purification system tailored to the region’s climate conditions. Core project elements include an 180,000-gallon reinforced concrete catchment tank, paired with a purpose-built surface collection area designed to capture large volumes of rain runoff. The development also adds a state-of-the-art chlorination treatment system, a purpose-built water management facility, and new localized distribution stands to formalize and regularize water access across all participating communities.

Zavia Mayne, Member of Parliament for St Ann South Western and State Minister in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, welcomed the long-awaited investment, noting it represents the end of a years-long advocacy and planning process to ease the daily struggles of his constituents. “If you talk to any resident here, they will tell you straight that the water crisis is one of the worst problems they face. Access to clean water has been their top priority for years, and today we can tell them we are nearly across the finish line,” Mayne said. “We have secured the full funding, selected a qualified contractor, and we are ready to get to work to make daily life easier for every person in this community.”

Samuda also placed the Stepney project within the context of Jamaica’s broader national climate resilience and recovery agenda, which gained new structure following the recent passage of the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA) Act. He noted that Jamaica faces a range of climate-driven hazards, with forecasters predicting an extended period of extreme heat and dry conditions across the country over the coming three months. Building national resilience against unpredictable, intensifying climate volatility, he emphasized, requires investments across multiple sectors that address community needs at the local level.

For Stepney and the wider parish of St Ann, the start of construction on the new water system marks the beginning of a new era, one that promises structural water security, new local employment opportunities during construction, and stronger climate resilience for generations to come.

21 5 月, 2026
It’s been So Phenomenal

Jamaican hitmaker Gutty Bling never hid his vision for Skillibeng’s breakout single *So Phenomenal* — from the moment the young dancehall star laid down his first vocal track, the producer already heard a larger-than-life verse from dancehall icon Vybz Kartel elevating the already dynamic cut. When discussions of an official remix got underway, Gutty Bling knew exactly who to tap first to supercharge the record.

By adding UK-based reggae-dancehall star Stefflon Don to the lineup, the producer has assembled what fans are already hailing as one of the most anticipated and electrifying dancehall collaborations of 2024.

Speaking exclusively to the *Jamaica Observer*’s Splash entertainment section, Gutty Bling broke down the origins of the star-studded project: “The first day Skilli finished recording the original *So Phenomenal*, I immediately heard Kartel’s energy on the track. I know what he brings to every record he touches — he’s the King of Dancehall, Worl’ Boss, and that title didn’t come by accident. When I brought up the remix idea with Skilli, he agreed right away that Kartel was the only person who could fit that spot. I reached out to Skatta Burrell to connect with the Worl’ Boss, and everything fell into place perfectly. His verse speaks for itself — he absolutely crushed it.”

Even after locking in the dream pairing of Skillibeng and Kartel, Gutty Bling said he was determined to push the project to even greater heights by adding a dynamic female perspective to the track. His decision to recruit Stefflon Don, he explained, came from a desire to leave no stone unturned in making the remix a historic moment for dancehall.

“Putting Kartel, Skillibeng and Stefflon Don on one track? That’s next-level dancehall,” he explained. “All three artists have massive cross-genre, global appeal, and each of them has built incredibly successful solo careers. I just wanted to go all out and make something special. After we locked in Kartel’s verse, I reached out to Stefflon Don’s team, and they were just as excited to be part of the project as we were. I’ve always aimed to make music that resonates beyond Jamaica’s borders, and with all three artists already holding huge international fanbases, I know this track is going to resonate with audiences all over the world.”

In the weeks since the collaboration was teased, the star power of the remix has already dominated dancehall conversations across social media, a strong early indicator of the commercial and cultural impact the track is poised to make. While the high-profile collab will no doubt boost the profiles of the three featured artists, Gutty Bling says the project carries far greater personal significance for his own career, which has seen steady growth over recent years. He hopes the *So Phenomenal* remix will silence critics who have doubted his ability to deliver a major global hit.

“This project means the world to me, it’s a clear marker of how far I’ve come in my musical journey,” he said. “I have to thank God for this opportunity, and thank all three artists for trusting me and making this vision come together. I’ve already gotten hundreds of calls, texts and glowing feedback from fans, friends and family — it’s an incredible feeling. I can’t wait to see what new doors this single opens for me.”

As momentum around the remix continues to build, Gutty Bling has also teased upcoming expansions to the *So Phenomenal* project. The producer confirmed he is currently developing a *So Phenomenal* Riddim, a curated production package that will feature a small selection of additional dancehall tracks built around the remix’s iconic instrumental backbone.

21 5 月, 2026
Tufton pushes ahead with recruitment agenda

KINGSTON, Jamaica – As global health leaders gathered in Geneva for the 79th World Health Assembly (WHA), Jamaica’s Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton leveraged the high-profile global forum to advance a pressing domestic priority: addressing crippling shortages of specialist nursing staff across the island’s public health system. On the sidelines of the assembly, Tufton held targeted bilateral negotiations and signed landmark memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with health ministers from Ghana, India, and the Philippines, laying out a multi-pronged framework to fill critical gaps and upskill local nursing workforces. Under the terms of these new agreements, imported specialist nurses will be recruited to fill urgent vacant posts across Jamaica, while Jamaican nursing professionals will also gain expanded access to remote specialized training from partner institutions. Outlining one key infrastructure investment tied to the deal, Tufton announced plans to launch a dedicated nursing simulation center in Jamaica, where local clinicians will complete hands-on training modules delivered remotely by international partners. This builds on ongoing diplomatic engagement: Tufton completed an official working visit to the Philippines last year to lay groundwork for the partnership, and a technical delegation from Manila is scheduled to travel to Jamaica in the coming month to finalize implementation details. Talks are also progressing with Apollo Hospitals, India’s largest private multi-specialty healthcare network, to facilitate recruitment of additional specialist clinical staff. A senior Apollo management team met with Jamaica’s health ministry earlier this month to advance negotiations, building on a 2002 joint communiqué between the two parties that has now moved to the active implementation stage for both nurse recruitment and local workforce training. In a May 12 sectoral budget address to Jamaica’s House of Representatives, Tufton detailed the severity of the country’s specialist nursing shortage, listing 12 high-need areas that require immediate staffing: critical and intensive care, oncology, paediatrics, accident and emergency, nephrology and renal dialysis, ophthalmology, neonatology, midwifery, psychiatry, burn care, and cardiothoracic care. The government is pursuing multiple parallel pathways to close the gap, beyond the new bilateral agreements with Ghana, India, and the Philippines. This year alone, 100 local Jamaican specialist nurses are on track to complete their required training and enter the workforce. More than 70 nurses have already completed interviews through a targeted diaspora recruitment drive, with successful candidates expected to begin assignments at public health facilities across the island over the coming quarter. Additionally, 48 nurses and doctors who received Barry Wint Memorial Scholarships will be deployed to understaffed public facilities once they complete their academic programs. To streamline all these international recruitment and training initiatives, Jamaica’s health ministry has launched a new dedicated International Recruitment Unit, which will act as the central coordinating body for all bilateral recruitment partnerships and diaspora hiring efforts. “This unit will focus on mitigating critical workforce shortages, particularly in specialised fields,” Tufton explained. “The unit will also assist in coordinating partnerships for training that involves cross border agreements.” Alongside workforce expansion, the ministry is also investing in local training infrastructure, upgrading in-house training facilities in partnership with the Kingston School of Nursing to expand both in-person and remote course offerings. Expanded hospital facilities across the island will also create additional clinical rotation spaces to support the training of new nursing staff. Parallel to Jamaica’s domestic workforce initiatives, WHA delegates took a major global public health action on Thursday, approving a landmark resolution formally recognizing steatotic liver disease (SLD) – a chronic condition previously known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease – as a fast-growing contributor to the global noncommunicable disease (NCD) burden. The resolution notes that an estimated 1.7 billion people worldwide live with SLD, making it one of the fastest-increasing causes of chronic liver disease globally. SLD is closely linked to common metabolic conditions including obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, while alcohol-related liver damage remains a major secondary contributor to the overall global SLD burden. Without timely prevention and clinical intervention, SLD can progress to irreversible liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, and liver cancer, placing growing strain on health systems in both low- and high-income countries. The WHA resolution calls on all WHO member states to integrate SLD screening and management into national NCD control strategies, strengthen primary health care capacity to address the condition, improve population-level disease surveillance, and raise public awareness of SLD risk factors. It also urges governments to pursue cross-ministerial, multisectoral action to address shared NCD risk factors that drive SLD growth, including unhealthy diets, sedentary lifestyles, and harmful alcohol use. Finally, the resolution calls for expanded access to prevention, screening, diagnosis, and treatment services, with targeted outreach to high-risk populations including children and adolescents.

21 5 月, 2026
Palmer and Foden left out of England World Cup squad

LONDON, UK – In a series of shock selections that have sent ripples through English football, head coach Thomas Tuchel unveiled his England squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada on Friday, leaving multiple high-profile stars out of his roster for the global tournament.

Among the most eye-catching exclusions are Chelsea creative midfielder Cole Palmer and Manchester City’s Phil Foden, both of whom were pivotal to England’s deep run to the Euro 2024 final this past summer. The pair have been dropped after underwhelming club campaigns this season, a call that has already sparked fierce debate among fans and pundits alike. Also missing from the squad is Real Madrid’s Trent Alexander-Arnold, Nottingham Forest attacking midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White, Leeds United striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin – who sit among the highest-scoring English players in this season’s Premier League – Manchester United duo Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw, and Crystal Palace rising star Adam Wharton. Maguire, 33, spoke out publicly after the announcement, saying he was stunned by his omission after a strong domestic season with United, adding he had been confident he would play a key role for the Three Lions at the tournament.

The most unexpected inclusion comes in the form of Al-Ahli striker Ivan Toney, who now plies his trade in Saudi Arabia after moving there in 2024. Toney made a positive impression as a substitute at Euro 2024, but has featured for just two minutes of senior international football since his transfer to the Middle East. Another notable selection sees veteran midfielder and former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson, now of Brentford, earn his spot ahead of the young Wharton. Tuchel also took a calculated gamble on Manchester City centre-back John Stones, who has barely featured for his club this season after being sidelined by repeated injury issues.

Tasked with ending England’s 58-year drought since their last major international trophy back in 1966, the German manager – who lifted the UEFA Champions League during his tenure at Chelsea, and has previously managed Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich – has openly embraced the high-stakes nature of his controversial selection calls. He admitted that delivering the news to cut players from the squad was an emotionally draining process.

“It was difficult, sometimes painfully difficult. Even through the phone calls, I could feel the raw emotion,” Tuchel told reporters. “I called every player who has been part of our camp at least once. I wanted to show them the appreciation and respect they deserve for everything they’ve given to this team.”

Tuchel explained that his selection process was built on observations from international training camps held across September, October and November, with the final squad balancing promising young talent and battle-hardened veteran experience. For the head coach, tough selection calls are not a weakness, but a necessary step to building a side capable of going all the way to the World Cup title.

“I love the tough decisions because in the end they bring clarity, they bring a certain edge, and that’s exactly what you need to go all the way,” he said. “In the end it all comes down to this: who do we really trust? Who delivered for us? Who helped build our culture, especially from September onwards? Who set the standards, who were the drivers, who made up the leadership group? We relied heavily on that framework, because connection within the squad has to be there.”

England captain Harry Kane, who earned his place in the squad, expressed his excitement ahead of what will be another World Cup campaign for the veteran striker. “I’m extremely proud to be going to another World Cup,” Kane wrote in a social media post. “You never take these moments for granted. This is what you dream of as a kid. Can’t wait to get out there!!”

The Three Lions will kick off their 2026 World Cup Group stage campaign against Croatia in Dallas on June 17, before facing Ghana on June 23 and closing out group play against Panama four days later on June 27.

21 5 月, 2026