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  • Community newspaper executive Marva Brodie is dead

    Community newspaper executive Marva Brodie is dead

    KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica’s local media community is mourning the loss of a pioneering community journalism figure this week, after Marva Brodie, co-founder and long-serving director of beloved local outlet The News, passed away from a heart attack at her Havendale residence on Thursday, May 7. She was 82 years old at the time of her death.

    Ben Brodie, Marva’s husband and a veteran Jamaican journalist who co-founded The News alongside his wife and serves as the publication’s managing editor, confirmed the news to local outlet Jamaica Observer Online. According to Ben Brodie, his wife experienced a sudden seizure shortly after waking on the morning of her passing. Emergency responders transported her quickly to a nearby hospital for urgent care, but medical staff pronounced her dead on arrival.

    Originally launched under the name Boulevard News before being rebranded as The News, the community newspaper has served local Jamaican audiences for decades, shaped in large part by Marva Brodie’s commitment to elevating hyperlocal stories and connecting neighborhood residents. A public funeral service to honor Brodie’s life and legacy has been scheduled for 10:00 a.m. this Saturday at St Richard of Chichester Roman Catholic Church, located at 126 Red Hills Road in Kingston.

  • MSMEs must be at centre of economic growth, says Hylton

    MSMEs must be at centre of economic growth, says Hylton

    KINGSTON, Jamaica — In a landmark address during this week’s Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives, Anthony Hylton, the Jamaican Opposition’s spokesman on Trade, Industry and Global Logistics, laid out a bold new economic development plan that puts micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) at the center of the country’s next growth phase.\n\nHylton opened his remarks by framing the Opposition’s policy approach as rooted in practical, tangible action that delivers immediate, visible benefits to citizens while building robust foundations for long-term systemic transformation. “On this side of the House, we believe Jamaica’s next phase of development must focus on practical, achievable initiatives that deliver visible benefits while laying the foundation for long-term transformation,” Hylton told parliamentarians. He emphasized that unlocking the untapped productive potential of the nation’s MSME sector is the cornerstone of this vision.\n\nHylton argued that the current status of MSMEs in Jamaica is unsustainable: these enterprises carry a disproportionate share of the country’s employment and innovation burden, yet remain confined to the margins of the national economy. He noted that in high-performing global economies, MSME expansion is enabled by fully integrated support ecosystems, where access to financing, efficient logistics infrastructure, digital business platforms, targeted technical assistance, and expanded market channels operate in seamless alignment to fuel growth.\n\nTo address gaps in Jamaica’s current support framework, Hylton announced the Opposition’s backing for a dedicated National MSME Growth and Export Programme. This initiative would deliver low-interest financing tied directly to production output, develop shared manufacturing and agro-processing facilities that cut overhead costs for small operators, and embed end-to-end support for packaging upgrades, international standards certification, digital commerce adoption, and export market preparation.\n\nBeyond targeted programming, Hylton called for a creative repurposing of existing national infrastructure to better serve entrepreneurs and local production. He offered one high-impact proposal: reimagining the Postal Corporation of Jamaica as a National SME Incubator and E-Commerce Platform. “Our post offices should no longer exist merely as traditional mail facilities. They can become digital business hubs, export gateways, fulfilment centres, and logistical support systems serving entrepreneurs in every parish across Jamaica,” he explained. In partnership with the private sector, Hylton said this conversion would dramatically reduce one of the most prohibitive barriers to small business success: the lack of affordable access to logistics networks, digital payment systems, modern technology, and global market connectivity.\n\nHylton also called for a structural overhaul of the Jamaica Business Development Corporation, pushing the agency to shift away from its current administrative focus and evolve into an active market-maker. Under this new mandate, the corporation would work directly to secure international retail partnerships for local goods, expand global shelf space for the “Things Jamaican” brand, and connect small domestic businesses to flexible blended financing opportunities that fit their needs.\n\nRejecting the idea that sustainable widespread prosperity can be driven solely by a small cohort of large corporations, Hylton insisted that long-term success depends on empowering thousands of individual Jamaicans to produce, innovate, scale their operations, and compete in global export markets.\n\nTurning to Jamaica’s logistics and trade advantage, Hylton acknowledged the country’s valuable geographic positioning as a strategic trade hub, but stressed that location alone is not enough to deliver inclusive growth. He called for urgent, decisive action to develop integrated logistics parks connected to existing ports, national highways, airports, and industrial zones. These parks would be designed to attract manufacturing, assembly, warehousing, and distribution operations, while Special Economic Zones would be reoriented from isolated, disconnected enclaves to engines of broad-based growth that benefit surrounding local communities. “Every logistics investment must create opportunities for Jamaican suppliers, truckers, technicians, contractors, and workers,” Hylton said.\n\nHe also made the case for modernizing Jamaica’s logistics governance system, noting that the Port Community System (PCS) developed under the national Logistics Hub framework must move beyond its current status as a limited data testing space. Instead, Hylton stressed, it must operate as a unified coordinating mechanism that brings together customs authorities, shipping lines, freight forwarders, trucking operators, warehouses, terminal managers, and industry regulators into a single, transparent, accountable system.\n\nHylton concluded by warning that none of these proposed economic transformations can succeed without intentional investment in workforce readiness and human capital development. He emphasized that economic growth must uplift, not bypass, local communities, outlining a second key initiative: a Community Enterprise Link Programme. This program would ensure that major industrial and logistics developments create tangible opportunities for nearby communities through local supplier sourcing, targeted supplier development programs, expanded access to public and private procurement opportunities, business mentorship, and direct community investment.\n\n“Growth must not remain concentrated among the few. It must create pathways into ownership, entrepreneurship, and upward mobility for ordinary Jamaicans across every parish of this country,” Hylton said.

  • Jamaica revving up helmet safety through stakeholder training

    Jamaica revving up helmet safety through stakeholder training

    Motorcycle safety across Jamaica has taken a major step forward, with a targeted stakeholder training session focused on blocking low-quality uncertified helmets from entering the country and equipping both industry workers and riders with the knowledge to identify safe protective gear.

    Hosted by the National Helmet Wearing Coalition (NHWC) at Kingston’s Police Officers’ Club, the session brought together 41 key actors across the helmet supply chain and regulatory ecosystem, including government regulators, law enforcement personnel, border control officials at ports, and helmet suppliers and distributors. All attendees hold critical roles in turning Jamaica’s new national helmet safety standards from written policy into tangible public protection.

    Sydoney Preddie, lead for youth and education at the JN Foundation – a core partner of the coalition – explained that capacity building across every level of the market is non-negotiable for successful implementation. Preddie emphasized that Jamaica’s ports of entry serve as the very first line of defense against substandard helmets, making training for port officials particularly urgent. “Our core goal is simple: guarantee that only quality, certified helmets pass through Jamaican ports and reach consumers,” she said.

    Per an official release from the JN Foundation, the training was structured to build hands-on technical capacity, walking attendees through what regulatory compliance looks like in real-world practice. The curriculum covered every key detail required for accurate safety assessments, from helmet construction and recognized certification markings to mandatory labelling standards and retention system design. These skills enable stakeholders to reject unsafe helmets before they are cleared for domestic sale or distribution.

    Leading expert presentations were delivered by three seasoned specialists: Dr. Terry Smith, lead scientist at safety firm Galeatus and a helmet expert consultant to the FIA Foundation; Dr. Wendell Richards, a member of the National Compliance and Regulatory Authority (NCRA) Helmet Technical Committee; and Victor Anderson, Programmes Coordinator at the National Road Safety Council (NRSC).

    Dr. Smith, who supported the development of Jamaica’s new national helmet standard, used his session to underline the life-saving impact of certified helmets and the severe risks posed by untested, low-quality alternatives. “A certified helmet is not just an extra piece of gear for riders – it is a rigorously scientifically tested safety device engineered to absorb crash impact and shield the brain from catastrophic injury,” he noted. He added that peer-reviewed data consistently confirms that riders who wear helmets meeting international safety standards see a dramatic drop in their risk of death and severe head injury if involved in a collision. Dr. Smith’s participation in the initiative is supported by the global NHWC project, which assists countries around the world in strengthening their domestic helmet standards and increasing safe helmet use.

    Dr. Richards next outlined the NCRA’s enforcement strategy that will take effect once the national standard is fully implemented, with a sharp focus on monitoring imported helmets at border entry points. “Our port enforcement model is both risk-based and standards-driven,” Dr. Richards explained. “We will conduct mandatory pre-shipment inspections to ensure all imported helmets meet national standard requirements, including assessments of certification paperwork, product labeling and third-party test results. This system ensures non-compliant, unsafe helmets are stopped before they ever enter the domestic market.” Post-clearance surveillance of retail markets will complement these pre-shipment checks to catch any unsafe products that slip through, he added. Dr. Richards also noted that close ongoing coordination with the Jamaica Customs Agency and other border control agencies will be critical, particularly during the initial rollout phase of the new rules.

    Helmet suppliers and distributors were active participants in the training, using the forum to ask questions and seek clarification on inspection protocols, documentation requirements, certification criteria and compliance timelines. Multiple suppliers raised concerns about the potential financial impact of the new standard, specifically noting they face potential losses on inventory of uncertified helmets already held in stock once the regulation goes into full effect.

    Training organizers confirmed they have heard these concerns, noting that including suppliers in early stakeholder engagement was a deliberate choice. The process allows suppliers to clearly understand their regulatory responsibilities, while also creating transparency around enforcement plans and transition arrangements to minimize unnecessary disruption.

    For Preddie, regulating imported products is only half of the work: educating retailers and riders is equally important to driving long-term safety improvements. “We want every motorcyclist and their passenger to walk into a retail shop confident that they can tell the difference between a certified safe helmet and a substandard unsafe one,” she said. “Most importantly, we want them to understand that choosing a certified helmet drastically increases their chance of surviving a crash and walking away without life-altering head trauma.”

    To support consistent, long-term implementation of the new standard, the NHWC and its partner organizations have announced plans to roll out a broader structured training program. Additional sessions will be held in coming months to reach more stakeholders across every segment of the import, distribution, retail and enforcement chains, ensuring nationwide alignment on the new safety rules.

  • Land title boost

    Land title boost

    On Tuesday, Jamaica and South Korea officially kicked off a transformative multimillion-dollar initiative designed to modernize Jamaica’s outdated land administration system, cutting red tape to help thousands of Jamaicans secure formal titles for the land they occupy and work on.

    At the launch ceremony held at the Office of the Prime Minister in St Andrew, Jamaica’s Minister of Land Titling and Settlements Robert Montague revealed that just 55 percent of all land parcels across Jamaica currently hold formal, registered titles. He framed the project as a catalyst for nationwide prosperity, noting, “You should all have your names entered in the titles book. If you do that, prosperity will run from Morant Point to Negril Point.”

    Jamaican Prime Minister Dr. Andrew Holness outlined the core motivations driving the collaboration, highlighting a suite of expected benefits that extend beyond streamlined titling: expanded financial access for citizens and the government, increased systemic transparency, reduced interfamily land disputes, and a more inclusive formal economy. For decades, Holness explained, Jamaicans have grappled with a land administration process that is slow, opaque, and prohibitively difficult to navigate. “We are determined to change that. We are building a system that is faster, more accurate, more accessible, and more responsive to citizens, investors, planners, and communities,” he said.

    Holness emphasized that formal land titling creates cascading economic benefits across all segments of society: working families can access mortgage loans to build or improve homes, smallholder farmers can use their land as collateral for agricultural investment, and outside investors can pursue development projects with clear legal certainty. Drawing on South Korea’s own successful land reform history, he noted that in the 1950s, South Korea overhauled its agricultural land tenure system, eliminating absentee landlordism and transferring ownership to active cultivating farmers. Jamaica now seeks to build a similar equitable, effective framework to resolve a long-standing national gap: thousands of Jamaicans have lived, worked, and raised families on the same plots of land for decades, some more than 50 years, without any formal proof of ownership.

    “This gap between possession and title is not a bureaucratic inconvenience only, it is a barrier to finance, security, to inheritance, and to the formal economy. A land title is more than a document, it is a platform for opportunity. This project is about building that platform at scale,” Holness added.

    Officially named the Land Administration Capacity Enhancement Project, the initiative is a three-party collaboration between Jamaica’s National Land Agency (NLA), the Korea Land and Geospatial Informatix Corporation, and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), which is providing a $9 million grant to support the work. The project’s central goal is to accelerate Jamaica’s land registration rate by upgrading both the sector’s digital infrastructure and workforce expertise. It will roll out in three sequential phases over the coming decade.

    The first phase, running from 2026 to 2027, will lay institutional groundwork for the new Land Administration Innovation Centre (LAIC), which will be based at 84 Hanover Street. This phase will focus on building the centre’s capacity to deliver specialized training for future land administration professionals through intensive, hands-on preparation courses. From 2028 to 2029, the second phase will expand the LAIC into a fully functional national training hub, offering specialized technical courses, field-based practical training, instruction in geographic information systems, advanced data management, and ongoing trainer development. Beginning in 2030, the NLA will take full operational control of the LAIC, with continued targeted technical support from South Korea under a train-the-trainer model designed to embed long-term expertise within Jamaica. Myoengso Eo, President and CEO of the Korea Land and Geospatial Informatix Corporation, emphasized that robust land administration is a foundational pillar of national development. “[It] serves as the foundation for the development of roads, railways, airports, urban planning, tax, etc. Korea has achieved a rapid economic growth based on effective land management,” he explained.

    Project organizers outline a broad range of expected outcomes from the initiative: faster land registration processes, legally secure property ownership, increased public revenue from land-related taxes and fees, more orderly national development, creation of skilled local jobs, and accessible digital land services for all users. Joongkeun Oh, Chargé d’Affaires at the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Jamaica, framed the project as a testament to the two countries’ deep collaborative partnership. “Providing this foundation for economic self-reliance remains a testament to the sincerity of our collaboration,” he said.

    Oh added that the combination of new digital infrastructure and a trained local workforce will empower Jamaica to systematically leverage its land resources to advance two key national goals: achieving greater food self-sufficiency, and generating the critical geospatial data energy companies need to design efficient, modernized national energy grids. He also confirmed that South Korea, in partnership with the United States, stands ready to support Jamaica by facilitating consultations with major international financial institutions including the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank to unlock additional financing for the project’s implementation. “We are prepared to collaborate closely in exploring practical financing and implementation strategies for this advanced system integration,” he said.

    Across all stakeholder discussions, the project is consistently framed as a partnership built for long-term Jamaican self-reliance, designed to drive sustainable national progress by strengthening local public institutions, building domestic expertise, and establishing a resilient, inclusive land administration system for decades to come.

  • New trial ordered for US lawyer convicted of murdering wife, son

    New trial ordered for US lawyer convicted of murdering wife, son

    One of the most high-profile criminal cases in recent U.S. history has taken a dramatic legal turn, as the South Carolina Supreme Court has thrown out the double murder conviction of disgraced former attorney Alex Murdaugh and ordered a new trial. The 57-year-old, who comes from a powerful local dynasty of judges and legal professionals, had been serving a life sentence for the 2021 killings of his 22-year-old son Paul and 52-year-old wife Maggie at the family’s remote hunting property.

    In a unanimous ruling released Wednesday, the state’s highest court found that Murdaugh was denied his constitutional right to an impartial trial, after court clerk Rebecca Hill exerted improper influence over the jury during his 2023 original trial. Post-trial interviews with jurors revealed that Hill actively encouraged panel members to closely scrutinize Murdaugh’s body language during his testimony, and warned them not to be swayed by evidence presented by the defense team. The justices wrote in their opinion that Hill “placed her fingers on the scales of justice”, irreparably compromising the integrity of the original jury process.

    The ruling also faulted the original trial’s presiding judge for allowing prosecutors to introduce an excessive volume of evidence related to Murdaugh’s unrelated financial crimes, which the court concluded unfairly prejudiced the jury against the defendant. Prior to the murder trial, Murdaugh’s long-running pattern of financial fraud had already come to light: he is currently serving a 27-year prison sentence (corrected from the original report’s 40-year) for stealing millions of dollars from his own law firm and vulnerable clients, a scheme he ran to fund a crippling secret opioid addiction that cost him an estimated $50,000 per week at its peak.

    Prosecutors had argued during the first trial that Murdaugh murdered his wife and son to distract from and gain sympathy for himself as his years of embezzlement were on the verge of public exposure. Murdaugh took the stand in his own defense, admitting to his financial crimes, long-term drug addiction, and repeated lies about his activities, but he has consistently maintained his innocence in the killings. Physical evidence from Paul Murdaugh’s cell phone placed Alex Murdaugh at the dog kennels where the shootings occurred just minutes before the murders, a key detail that helped secure the original guilty verdict.

    The original trial received widespread national media attention, with gavel-to-gavel televised coverage drawing millions of viewers across the United States. Streaming giants Netflix and HBO capitalized on the public’s fascination with the case, releasing popular docu-dramas examining the Murdaugh family’s decades of local influence and the details of the murders just months after the original conviction.

  • Express Canteen feeding sporting dreams

    Express Canteen feeding sporting dreams

    KINGSTON, Jamaica — A landmark corporate investment has unlocked historic athletic achievement for Convent of Mercy Academy ‘Alpha’, an all-girls Jamaican high school, after local food service provider Express Canteen donated $500,000 to cover the track and field team’s travel costs to the 2026 Penn Relays at Pennsylvania’s Franklin Field. The landmark donation capped a years-long turnaround for the school’s program, which earned its strongest performance in the iconic international meet to date.

    This year marked the first time in Alpha’s 100-plus year history that the school entered a squad in the Girls’ 4x800m relay, where the team finished 13th overall with a time of 9:51. The team also earned a silver medal in the high-profile International Championship High School Girls’ 4x100m relay, clocking 46.42 seconds in the final after advancing from the preliminaries with a 46.75-second run. Additional standout finishes included a sixth-place placement in the women’s shot put from competitor Sajay Cruikshank and a heat win in the 4x400m relay.

    For Alpha’s leadership, the athletic success is the tangible outcome of a decades-long institutional mission centered on nurturing young women’s potential, on and off the track. Principal Kali McMorris explained that the school, founded by the Sisters of Mercy, has always prioritized培育 young women into “change makers” and “visionaries” who can excel across every area of life. Athletics, she noted, has emerged as a core vehicle to help students build confidence, self-discipline, and a clear sense of purpose.

    McMorris also singled out head coach Kirk King for his transformative leadership, crediting him not just for refining athletic technique but for mentoring student-athletes into confident leaders who thrive in the classroom and broader community. She emphasized that the half-million-dollar contribution from Express Canteen was not just a gift — it was the make-or-break support that allowed the team to even attend the international meet. While local parents had contributed endless time and effort to support the team locally, covering cross-border travel, accommodation, and event fees required a committed corporate partner. McMorris added that Express Canteen is the school’s largest consistent donor, with a long track record of investing in the growth of Alpha’s athletic programs.

    The team’s Penn Relays success is the result of a deliberate five-year turnaround that followed the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic. When the program restarted after pandemic lockdowns, only 13 athletes returned to participate. King, who had presented his five-year development blueprint to school leadership shortly after the pandemic, has led the program on a steady climb up the rankings at Jamaica’s premier high school athletics competition, the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Championships. The team climbed from 31st place to 25th, then 15th, finishing 12th in 2024 and seventh earlier this year — just six points away from a top-five placement.

    King credits the program’s rapid growth to both his athletes’ relentless work ethic and the sustained support from Express Canteen, which has gone far beyond covering travel costs. The partnership has provided critical nutritional support for the team, with athletes receiving daily lunches during training sessions — a change that King said led to immediate, noticeable improvements in performance. For King, building a successful program extends far beyond posting fast race times: nutrition, mental health support, emotional encouragement, and motivation are all equally critical to long-term success. He describes his role as a mix of coach, father figure, and mentor, with a core mission of nurturing well-rounded young women who excel academically and socially as well as athletically.

    For student-athletes, the impact of the partnership extends far beyond the medal podium. Alia Ross, speaking on behalf of the entire team, expressed deep gratitude for the donation, noting that the opportunity to compete at Penn Relays has been transformative for the entire program. Ross added that participation in track and field has shaped her into a more disciplined, structured person, while also teaching her critical communication and teamwork skills that will serve her for life, both as an athlete and a private individual.

    For Express Canteen, the investment in Alpha is part of a broader, long-term commitment to youth development across Jamaica through sports. Simone Foster, managing director of Express Canteen Services, explained that the company recognized Alpha’s transformative vision years ago and chose to engage not just as a one-time sponsor, but as a long-term stakeholder in student growth. She pointed to the team’s steady progress at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Championships and this year’s historic Penn Relays results as clear proof that sustained, consistent investment in youth sports delivers meaningful, lasting change.

    Express Canteen’s investment in Jamaican youth sports extends well beyond Alpha’s track program. The company recently served as title sponsor for the All-Star U14 and U16 regional football competitions, supports football programs at two prominent local preparatory schools (Mona Preparatory School and St Peter and Paul Preparatory School), and helped sponsor an overseas football tour for Excelsior High School. For Foster, the company’s core mission is straightforward: to continue empowering Jamaican young people through sports, helping them achieve self-actualization whether they compete in track and field, football, netball, or any other athletic or academic discipline.

  • Social media shield

    Social media shield

    Jamaica is set to embark on a comprehensive, research-backed effort to develop potential age-based regulations for children’s social media use, addressing growing public health concerns about the platform’s harmful impacts on young people’s mental wellbeing. Health and Wellness Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton outlined the initiative Tuesday during his 2026-27 Sectoral Debate address to Jamaica’s House of Representatives.

    The full scope of the two-year project falls under the government’s Community Arranged Response Efforts (CARE) Agenda, a $500-million initiative dedicated to addressing pressing family and community health challenges across the island. Beyond social media regulation, the agenda will also tackle other critical public health priorities: a rapidly aging national population, declining fertility rates, and unmet needs in women’s health.

    “We will examine the threats and opportunities for new and emerging policies to support holistic health, to protect the vulnerable and enhance quality and longevity of life,” Tufton told lawmakers. “We will start with our CARE Agenda to highlight and influence critical determinants of better family and community health.”

    Turning to the specific crisis of unregulated youth social media access, Tufton called on Parliament to first acknowledge the role lawmakers themselves play in amplifying toxic online content. “In this House we encourage it at times. We go on some of these programmes, we promote some of the toxicity that is being promulgated; the hate, the vitriol and, unknowingly, maybe… we’re doing harm not just to ourselves but to those we’re trying to provide leadership for,” he said.

    Tufton stressed that the time for inaction has passed, noting that Jamaica currently lacks any coordinated national response to what he frames as a growing public health threat. The first step in the government’s roadmap will be a national study to capture public perceptions of social media regulation for minors. Once that research is complete, the administration will move to develop a formal policy framework, weighing regulatory options and engaging a broad range of key stakeholders—including parents, educators, youth representatives, and major social media platform providers.

    “The time has come to use research-based policy formulation to determine age-based regulation, platform accountability, national digital health guidelines, school-based digital wellness education, expanded youth mental health services, public awareness campaigns for caregivers, and a national surveillance system to track usage patterns and mental health outcomes,” Tufton said. “We will translate these evidence-based findings into a clear policy framework… to ensure that any measures introduced are balanced, practical, and in the best interest of our children.”

    Citing recent national data, Tufton underscored the urgency of action: social media usage is widespread across Jamaica, with more than 1 million users on Instagram and roughly 1.6 million on Facebook as of late 2025, with usage highest among the 25 to 34 age demographic. While the minister acknowledged that social media has delivered tangible benefits—revolutionizing communication, expanding professional networks, and creating new entrepreneurship opportunities—he emphasized that it has also triggered measurable social and psychological harm, particularly for young Jamaicans.

    Local data shows 64% of children aged 0 to 14 report negative impacts on their mental health from social media use, while 47% of 15 to 19 year-old adolescents report similar harms. The risk grows with usage: children spending more than three hours daily on social media are twice as likely to experience mental health challenges. Across the broader Caribbean region, rates of cyberbullying, non-consensual explicit messaging, emotional distress, and suicidal ideation linked to social media have risen sharply, cementing the issue’s status as a regional public health crisis rather than a purely technological concern.

    Jamaica’s push for regulation aligns with a growing global trend of government intervention to protect minors online. Multiple countries have already implemented formal age restrictions: Australia requires users to be at least 16, while Denmark, France, and Indonesia have set a minimum age of 15. Other nations including Spain, Greece, Norway, and Austria are currently evaluating similar policies. Broader regulatory regimes, such as the United Kingdom’s Online Safety Act, already mandate that platforms remove addictive design features like infinite scrolling and autoplay, enforce age verification, and actively monitor harmful content, with steep financial penalties for companies that fail to comply.

    Right now, however, Tufton described Jamaica’s current social media landscape as a “free-for-all”. Recent 2025-2026 local research confirms a strong causal link between heavy social media use and rising rates of anxiety, depression, and digital addiction, with young people and professional content creators disproportionately affected.

    Jamaicans under 24 spend an average of six hours per day on social media—double the average three hours for senior citizens and two hours more than the average for adults. For full-time content creators, the harms are even more pronounced: 42% report clinical anxiety, 38% experience depressive symptoms including persistent low mood and irritability, and 47% suffer from burnout driven by constant pressure to maintain an engaging online persona and secure income through content output.

    Tufton also highlighted the cultural harm of unregulated social media in Jamaica: 36% of local content creators produce material centered on physical altercations, while 29% engage in aggressive online behavior, contributing to a national cultural shift toward normalized vulgarity and harmful content.

    To move the entire CARE Agenda forward, the Ministry of Health and Wellness will open a call for proposals on June 15, 2026, inviting civil society and research organizations across Jamaica to partner in the initiative to address these growing societal risks.

  • Powerful Women and Men Perform for Charity returns in first post-COVID show

    Powerful Women and Men Perform for Charity returns in first post-COVID show

    After a years-long pandemic pause, one of Jamaica’s most anticipated charity entertainment events is set to return to the stage on June 21, blending surprise performances from top public and private sector leaders with a mission to lift up vulnerable children across the island.

    The Powerful Women and Men Perform for Charity show, which has raised more than JMD $80 million for local nonprofit Mustard Seed Communities (MSC) over its history, will welcome a mix of veteran performer-participants and exciting first-timers when it kicks off at 7:00 pm at the Jamaica College Auditorium.

    Headlining the roster of debut performers are two of the country’s top political figures: Opposition Leader Mark Golding and Minister of Tourism Ed Bartlett, who will take the stage for the first time. They will be joined by another new talent, Dr. Maria Myers-Hamilton, Managing Director of Jamaica’s Spectrum Management Authority. Leading the returning cast is House Speaker Juliet Holness, who is making her triumphant comeback to the event’s stage after previous appearances. Other returning fan favorites include Cordel Green, Executive Director of the Broadcasting Commission, who will reprise his beloved comedic role as the outrageous “Bling Church pastor”, and Hugh Falconer, Commissioner of the Independent Commission of Investigations, who has built a loyal audience following for his vocal performances in past shows.

    All told, dozens of high-profile leaders from across Jamaica’s public and private spheres have signed up to showcase their hidden entertainment skills for the night, all to generate critical funding for MSC. The organization currently provides full-time care and support to nearly 500 children across 12 residential facilities spread across the island.

    Behind the scenes, the 2024 event draws on top local creative talent: award-winning designers Kevin Rettie and Delano McFarlane are handling the stage’s custom set design, while local production firms Viva Events and Kinematix/Bloozick will manage all audiovisual production. Ewan Simpson, Chairman of the Jamaica Reggae Industry Association, will serve as the show’s official Musical Director.

    Founded by Thyra Heaven, a former MSC fundraising director, the charity gala has long occupied a special spot on Jamaica’s events calendar. For thousands of regular attendees, it has remained a must-attend engagement, drawing crowds eager to see the unexpected sides of the country’s most prominent business, political and civic leaders. After going on hiatus when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down large public gatherings, organizers have revamped the program and recruited a slate of fresh talent to deliver an even more engaging experience for this year’s comeback.

    For Father Garvin Augustine, Executive Director of MSC International, the return of the event is a momentous occasion for the organization. Beyond the critical operating funds the show generates, Augustine noted that the event’s strong brand has played a key role in raising public awareness of MSC’s work, motivating individual donors from Jamaica and abroad, as well as major Jamaican corporate entities, to contribute to the nonprofit’s mission.

    “We are excited and grateful for the return of the show, and we look forward with renewed interest to the support we will get to care for the nation’s vulnerable,” Augustine shared in the lead-up to the performance.

  • Gas prices down $0.25, diesel down $0.25

    Gas prices down $0.25, diesel down $0.25

    KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaican drivers are set to catch a break at fuel pumps starting this Thursday, May 14, after state-owned refinery Petrojam released updated ex-refinery pricing that brings widespread reductions to most common fuel types.

    The $0.25 per liter cut applies uniformly to three of the nation’s most widely used fuels: 90-octane gasoline, which will drop to a new retail base price of $197.33 per liter; 87-octane gasoline, which will see an identical cut to land at $189.88 per liter; and standard automotive diesel, which will also fall to $197.33 per liter after the reduction. Ultra-low sulphur diesel, a popular option for modern heavy-duty and passenger vehicles, will follow the same trend, dropping by $0.25 per liter to a base price of $204.35. Kerosene, commonly used for heating and off-grid power generation, is also set for a $0.25 per liter decrease, bringing its base price to $182.15 per liter.

    Two specialized liquid petroleum products see divergent changes: propane will tick up by $0.25 per liter to $82.03, while butane will see a far steeper drop of $2.94 per liter, landing at a new base price of $88.96.

    It is important to note that these figures reflect ex-refinery base costs, not final retail prices. Private marketing companies and retail station operators will add their standard operating margins and markups to these base rates before consumers see final prices at the pump.

  • Fathers who cook for mothers a huge success

    Fathers who cook for mothers a huge success

    On Mother’s Day Sunday, the 10th iteration of Lodge Portmore’s beloved annual ‘Fathers Who Cook for Mothers’ charity gathering unfolded at Ham Stables in St Catherine, drawing widespread acclaim as a resounding community success.

    This decade-old Mother’s Day tradition doubles as a fundraising initiative, and this year’s event directed all proceeds toward covering operational costs for Clifton Basic School, a local primary education institution serving the St Catherine region. Roughly 700 community members turned out to support the cause, and they left fully satisfied after sampling an extensive spread of flavorful, expertly prepared dishes crafted by the participating fathers. Attendees also enjoyed lively entertainment throughout the day from performer Dwight Richards.

    Several standout moments marked the celebration, including a gift presentation where Leighton McKnight awarded a set of custom pillows to Phyllis Scott, with Courts Brand Ambassador Suthania Henry on hand to share in the joyful occasion. In a highlight of the culinary portion of the day, McKnight also took charge of preparing a large, hearty pot of soup for the gathered crowd, showcasing the hands-on spirit that defines the annual gathering.