标签： Jamaica

Following two successive hurricane disruptions that pushed back the original completion timeline, Jamaica’s Minister with responsibility for works Robert Morgan has reaffirmed that the transformative Montego Bay Perimeter Road infrastructure initiative remains on schedule to meet its revised September 2026 delivery date, built with cutting-edge climate-resilient engineering to withstand extreme weather. In an exclusive interview with Jamaica Observer on Monday, Morgan laid out the phased completion timeline and updated the public on the project’s current status, funding security and storm preparedness measures. “I’m very confident…We are on time for September. We are working to have West Green Avenue completed by September and then next year Barnett Street, and we’ll have the Long Hill Bypass as well, which is an addition to the Montego Bay Perimeter Road project,” Morgan stated. Currently managed by Jamaica’s National Road Operating and Constructing Company (NROCC) and executed by China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), the large-scale infrastructure project carries an estimated total price tag of US$354 million. Its full scope includes a 15-kilometer Montego Bay Bypass, an 11-kilometer Long Hill Bypass, comprehensive structural upgrades to two existing urban corridors (Barnett Street and West Green Avenue), and the construction of a new 180-meter bridge spanning the Montego River. As recently as an October 2025 site tour of the project’s Bogue segment, Morgan had announced that work was progressing ahead of schedule and on track to wrap up as early as May 2026. That original updated timeline was derailed by two consecutive extreme weather events: Hurricane Beryl, which made landfall in June 2024, and the more recent Hurricane Melissa, which hit Jamaica on October 28, 2025. Category 5 Hurricane Beryl alone inflicted an estimated US$79 million in damage to uncompleted sections of the project, but Morgan noted that comprehensive insurance coverage has mitigated the majority of the financial impact of the storm damage. “As a matter of fact, we started paving last year and would have been further ahead if it wasn’t for the rains and the hurricane, because we would have started paving last year and started putting up safety barriers and so on,” he explained. When questioned whether ongoing storm risk during the upcoming hurricane season could further derail the revised September 2026 deadline, Morgan highlighted that the project’s design marks a fundamental shift in how major transportation infrastructure is engineered across Jamaica, developed specifically to address growing climate change-driven extreme weather risks. “I think the design and engineering that we used for the perimeter road, and also what we’re using for the Long Hill Bypass, are so much different from what we traditionally use. They have been built for resilience. So a lot of the work that is going on now is pretty much final-leg infrastructure. We have already done the base course and the running course is what is being put on now, finishing some drainage and some hillside protection and so on,” Morgan explained. He added that the robust, climate-adapted design means the project is well-protected against routine rainfall and moderate storm events, even as the region enters peak hurricane season. “So we do not expect general rains to have any significant impact on the road. I mean, if we have a Category 5 again, that might be a different conversation, but we’re hoping and praying that we don’t have one of those events before it’s completed,” the minister said. On the topic of project financing, Morgan confirmed that the Jamaican government maintains a stable fiscal position to see the initiative through to completion. “We have received the allocation for the completion of it in the current budget. There may be some changes that may be made one way or the other as the year goes by, but we are pretty confident in the funding arrangements through the Ministry of Finance,” he said. Under the revised phased completion schedule, the Montego Bay Bypass and West Green Avenue segments are now targeted for completion by September 2026. Upgrades to Barnett Street are projected to be finished by April 2027, with the added Long Hill Bypass segment wrapping up construction the following month, in May 2027. As of the latest update, crews are currently carrying out concrete casting work on the new Barnett Street Bridge, with paving and final infrastructure works ongoing across multiple segments of the project.

A landmark ruling in Jamaica has opened a critical conversation about systemic flaws in the country’s cannabis enforcement regime, after a police officer and her partner were acquitted of cannabis charges this week, revealing a nine-year gap in the government’s ability to scientifically distinguish between hemp and high-THC marijuana.

The case, which concluded Monday at Morant Bay Parish Court, ended in the full acquittal of Detective Sergeant Tamika Taylor and her fiancé Royan Harris, who had faced four years of legal proceedings on charges of cannabis possession, trafficking, and cultivation. The pair were connected to a farm operated by a Rastafarian organization, which holds legal rights to grow cannabis for sacramental use under Jamaica’s existing regulations, with Harris serving as the farm’s on-site supervisor.

During the trial, defense attorney Marcus Goffe presented a damning revelation: between 2015, when Jamaica amended its Dangerous Drugs Act to establish a legal distinction between hemp (defined as cannabis with less than 1% THC, the psychoactive compound in cannabis) and marijuana, and 2024, the government-run forensic laboratory lacked the functional equipment and capacity to test seized cannabis samples to verify their THC content. Without this critical testing capability, Goffe argued, the state could not meet its evidential burden to prove that the cannabis seized from the farm was actually illegal marijuana rather than legally permitted hemp or sacramental cannabis.

The ruling has been hailed as a landmark victory by cannabis rights advocates and Rastafarian community representatives, who have long raised concerns about unfair enforcement of Jamaica’s drug laws. Janai Kamau, a two-term former director of Jamaica’s Cannabis Licensing Authority, justice of the peace, and official liaison for the Ministry of Justice to the Rastafarian community, called the outcome a win for all Jamaicans in an interview with the Jamaica Observer Tuesday.

“I am happy that justice has been exercised and that it has shown that there are discrepancies in the system,” Kamau told the Observer. “Apparently they have got a new machine now that determines whether the vegetable matter is at a THC level to be considered ganja or hemp. If it is under one per cent, it is considered hemp and not ganja.”

Kamau emphasized that the victory extends far beyond the two acquitted defendants, noting that it confirms the integrity of Jamaica’s justice system while highlighting long-unaddressed gaps in enforcement infrastructure. “It is a great victory, not just for Rastafari but for all users of ganja, and a victory to show that the justice system actually works. It is a good look for the Rasta community and for the ordinary users of ganja that if the police stops you, there ought to be some determination and if it goes down to the lab, we are glad there is equipment in place now to determine whether the thing is ganja or not. From a scientific perspective, from a logical perspective and from a humanitarian perspective, it is a good victory.”

The revelation of the nine-year testing gap has also sparked urgent calls for a full review of all cannabis-related convictions secured between 2015 and 2024, with both the acquitted defendants and their legal team warning that hundreds of people may have been wrongfully convicted. Goffe argued that without the ability to test THC content, every prosecution for cannabis possession during that period failed to meet the state’s legal obligation to prove an offence was actually committed.

“There likely has been a large number of cases which have been unjustly prosecuted,” Goffe said, pointing to “unjust convictions of persons for ganja offences” when the State could not prove the cannabis in question met the legal threshold for illegal marijuana.

Taylor, the acquitted detective sergeant, who first raised the issue of the missing testing capacity during her own case, echoed the call for a mass review. “For that nine-year gap, between the amendment of the Dangerous Drugs Act and the lab being able to determine the percentage that can differentiate between ganja and hemp, it means that all convictions between that nine-year period would have to go under question at this point,” she said. “One of the main reasons why this case was dismissed is because the evidence that was brought by the expert witness from the forensic lab, it was borne out that they were not in a position to test the per cent of the substance to say whether it was ganja or hemp. I must blow my own horn in this regard, because I was the person who brought up this to indicate that this is something that they cannot differentiate.”

Kamau added that the Rastafarian community has long faced systemic barriers in defending their legal right to sacramental cannabis use, in part due to inconsistent understanding of the Dangerous Drugs Act among law enforcement and judicial actors. “I went to court last year about seven times and I have been there three times this year regarding Rastafari and their rights to use ganja under the Dangerous Drugs Act, and once Rastafarians have ganja in their possession for sacramental use, they are not to be charged. In cases we have had the ganja returned to us,” he said.

MONTEGO BAY, St James — On Good Friday, during a historic ceremony marking restitution for one of Jamaica’s darkest chapters of state violence against the Rastafarian community, a senior Jamaican politician has called for sweeping updates to the country’s existing marijuana regulations, following a Rastafarian leader’s refusal of a public service appointment over conflicting current drug laws.

Deputy Prime Minister and National Security Minister Dr. Horace Chang, who also serves as Member of Parliament for St James North Western, told attendees at the event that Lewis Brown — better known as Ras Brown, head of the Rastafari Coral Gardens Benevolent Society (RCGBS) — declined his nomination for a justice of the peace (JP) post. Brown explained his decision by noting that his Rastafarian sacramental practice requires the use of cannabis, a ritual that still falls outside the bounds of Jamaica’s current regulatory framework, placing him at risk of criminal penalty if he accepted the role.

Chang’s comments came as officials formally transferred ownership of two parcels of land in Albion, St James, to the RCGBS, a long-awaited step toward amending a decades-old injustice. The land handover was held as part of the annual commemoration of the 1963 Coral Gardens massacre, a state-led operation where Jamaican police raided a Rastafarian camp on Good Friday 1963, leaving eight Rastafarians dead and hundreds more injured or displaced. The newly transferred Lots 84A and 84B will serve as a secure, community-centered space for Rastafarian elders, designed to honor their cultural and social needs.

Jamaica took a major step toward accommodating Rastafarian religious practice a decade ago with the 2015 Dangerous Drugs (Amendment) Act, which decriminalized possession of small amounts of cannabis and officially recognized its sacramental use for the Rastafarian community. But the partial reform still leaves legal ambiguities that prevent devout Rastafarians like Brown from participating fully in public office, Chang argued.

Addressing Culture Minister Olivia Grange directly during the ceremony, Chang urged joint action to resolve the inconsistency: “I think as we move on, we have to change that situation. Minister Olivia Grange, you have to work with me to ensure that we can have Rastafari JPs who can serve without breaching their beliefs and their principles. I look forward to that.”

Chang praised Brown’s refusal as a demonstration of unwavering commitment to his faith and values, noting that Brown’s decision reflects a gap in policy that the Jamaican government must close. He acknowledged that Jamaica has already made substantial progress in honoring and protecting Rastafarian culture as a core part of national identity, but stressed that deeper change is still required.

“We have come a long way, and we need to show respect for our culture, our people, and the practices that have shaped us as a nation,” Chang said.

A long-time participant in behind-the-scenes discussions on cannabis policy reform, Chang said he has engaged with the debate for years, even as he has kept a lower public profile on the issue in recent years due to his government role. “We have achieved some progress, but there is still more to be done,” he said. “Much of the current discussion is not something I will get into publicly, given my role as a minister of government and the issues involved. But I can say that the present situation needs to be reviewed, and I will leave it at that.”

Chang also credited RCGBS leaders including Brown and Pamela Rowe-Williams for their decades of persistent, patient advocacy to secure justice and land restitution for the community. As the local MP for the area where the 1963 massacre took place, Chang called the Albion land transfer a meaningful step toward redress: “As a Member of Parliament for this area I am very pleased that some of the correction is taking place in the same constituency that it started in. So we’ll speak now not only of Coral Gardens, but of Albion…”

Alongside Grange, National Land Agency CEO and Commissioner of Lands Cheriese Walcott also took part in the title handover ceremony. Speaking on behalf of the Rastafarian community, Brown expressed gratitude for the secured land tenure, marking a new chapter for the community decades after the violence that displaced them.