标签： Jamaica

On March 29, the recipients of the newly launched 2026 Legacy of Care Awards were officially announced, with the recognition program held in partnership with the High Commission of Canada — a long-term strategic partner and supporter of the HerFlow Foundation’s mission-driven work across Jamaica.

The Legacy of Care Award is a central addition to the HerFlow Foundation’s annual Celebrate Her 2026 awards initiative, which was created to shine a long-overdue spotlight on women whose extraordinary community service often flies under the public radar. The event brought together a cross-section of civil society leaders, gender equity advocates, and local community members to celebrate the awardees, whose cumulative efforts have been instrumental in building more connected, stronger and resilient communities across the island nation.

Unlike many awards that highlight recent achievements, the Legacy of Care Award fills a critical gap in community recognition by specifically honoring decades of sustained service and long-term, transformative impact that has changed local trajectories for the better.

At the award ceremony, Senator Allan Bernard accepted the honor on behalf of Dr. Janice Johnson-Dias, president of the GrassROOTS Community Foundation, who was selected as one of this year’s recipients. Joining Johnson-Dias as awardees were Michelle “D’Angel” Downer of the Angels Foundation and Joy Crawford from Eve for Life. Also in attendance marking the occasion were Shelly-Ann Weeks, founder of the HerFlow Foundation, and Tanesha Dixon-Gayle, senior political and economic officer at the Canadian High Commission.

On Sunday, intense heavy rainfall swept across the parish of St James, Jamaica, unleashing destructive flash floods that left multiple low-lying and river-adjacent communities completely submerged. Among the hardest-hit neighborhoods was Amity Hall in the wider Lottery district, where surging floodwaters forced their way into dozens of residential properties, leaving behind trails of thick mud and scattered debris that have ruined personal belongings and damaged home infrastructure. For local residents, this sudden disaster is far more than an unexpected inconvenience – it is a terrifying replay of the trauma they endured just 10 months ago, when Hurricane Melissa battered the region in October last year. Many families are still in the slow process of rebuilding their lives and homes after that powerful storm, and this new flood has wiped out months of hard-won recovery progress. Local residents have pointed to a blocked section of the Montego River as the root cause of the worst overflow. Fallen tree trunks washed down by the rain and accumulated waste debris have clogged a key stretch of the waterway, preventing normal water flow and forcing the river to burst past its banks and spill into surrounding residential areas. Now, community leaders and local residents are issuing urgent appeals to municipal authorities and disaster management agencies to step in immediately, both to clean up the current damage and clear the blocked river to prevent similar catastrophic flooding from happening again in future rain events.

In the coastal parish of St James, Jamaica, hundreds of families displaced by Hurricane Melissa are finally getting a second chance at stable living, thanks to a collaborative humanitarian initiative that is building 200 permanent two-bedroom homes in Montego Bay.

Laura Butler, founder and director of strategic partnerships at the BridgePoint Foundation, publicly confirmed the landmark progress of the long-term relief and reconstruction effort this week. The ambitious housing commitment came together through coordinated collaboration between three leading organizations: BridgePoint Foundation, Operation Blessings led by Director Diego Traverso, and WhyNot International, headed by president Felipe Gonzales.

“This milestone proves just how much we can accomplish when mission-aligned organizations put shared goals above individual interests,” Butler shared in an interview. “From the start, our approach has centered on sustainable recovery. We aren’t just building four walls and a roof—we are helping families rebuild their sense of stability, reclaim their dignity, and renew hope for the future.”

Each unit carries an estimated price tag of between $6,000 and $8,000 U.S. dollars, a cost structure that organizers say makes the project both highly impactful for recipients and fiscally responsible for donor funding. To date, 20 homes have been fully completed and turned over to families who lost all of their possessions and shelter when Hurricane Melissa made landfall.

Currently, BridgePoint Foundation maintains close working partnerships with local non-governmental organizations and the Jamaica Defence Force to speed up construction timelines, secure additional material and funding resources, and ensure that the remaining 180 homes are delivered to recipients efficiently and in line with strict quality standards.

As the project moves through its construction phase, foundation leadership stressed that ongoing support from individual donors, institutional partners and community volunteers remains critical to meeting the 200-home target and building long-term climate resilience for the vulnerable storm-affected communities across St James.

A recent investigation by Jamaica’s Police Civilian Oversight Authority (PCOA) has debunked widespread reports of a major tuberculosis (TB) outbreak at three Corporate Area police detention facilities, contradicting earlier claims that multiple defendants in the high-profile Klansman gang trial linked to the Tesha Miller faction had contracted the disease.

The initial TB exposure fears created significant disruption to the ongoing trial, leading to early adjournment of proceedings shortly after concerns were first raised during the case’s second court sitting on February 5. Presiding Justice Dale Palmer took the allegations seriously, ordering mandatory medical evaluations for all 25 co-defendants in the matter and approving the transfer of all inmates held at the three facilities flagged for potential exposure to alternative detention sites for the duration of the trial.

Following the emergence of media reports of a TB “flare-up” on February 6, 2026, PCOA inspection teams carried out two rounds of on-site assessments at the targeted lock-ups: Half-Way-Tree in the St Andrew Central Division, Hunt’s Bay in the St Andrew North Division, and Greater Portmore in the St Catherine South Division, on February 10 and 27 respectively. In an official public statement released Thursday, the authority confirmed its final findings show just one confirmed active TB case across all three facilities, located exclusively at the Hunt’s Bay lock-up.

PCOA’s investigation cross-checked facility medical logs, which documented that a licensed physician had already initiated treatment for the confirmed case and collected diagnostic samples from five additional inmates for TB testing. Local lock-up staff also reported to investigators that 10 more inmates were being monitored for possible infection, per the statement.

No evidence of TB transmission or confirmed cases was identified at the Half-Way-Tree facility, the authority confirmed. A full review of the site’s medical records turned up no documentation of TB-related patient consultations, nor any transfers of inmates to external medical providers for respiratory symptom evaluation. At the Greater Portmore lock-up, inspections also found no confirmed TB diagnoses, though medical records note one inmate received care for TB-compatible symptoms, with final test results still pending.

In a surprising secondary finding, inspectors did document that five inmates across the facilities were being treated for scabies, a contagious parasitic skin condition marked by severe itching and bumpy rashes. The PCOA also noted that Hunt’s Bay correctional staff already had access to sufficient personal protective equipment, including procedural masks, disposable gloves, and hand sanitizer, to mitigate infection risk for frontline personnel.

Beyond the TB investigation, the inspection once again shone a light on longstanding systemic issues plaguing Jamaican police lock-ups. Two of the three facilities assessed – Hunt’s Bay and Greater Portmore – were found to be operating well above their official designated capacity, with the overcapacity population made up mostly of remand prisoners awaiting trial. The PCOA has instructed local station commanders to implement immediate mitigation measures for overcrowding, and to coordinate with area commanders and court authorities to relocate excess inmates to appropriate facilities.

This is not the first time the oversight body has raised the alarm about unsafe conditions in Jamaican detention facilities. Last year, a special PCOA audit of five large lock-ups in the Area Four policing region revealed widespread overcapacity alongside major deficiencies including crumbling infrastructure, unresolved safety hazards, and ongoing public health risks. Those findings were published in the authority’s quarterly newsletter. A chicken pox outbreak was also reported at the Hunt’s Bay facility in December of the previous year, highlighting the repeated risk of infectious disease spread in overcrowded settings.

Established under the Police Civilian Oversight Authority Act of 2005, the organization holds statutory responsibility for regular inspections of police stations, lock-ups and all operational sites run by the Jamaica Constabulary Force. Routine inspections of police custody facilities are built into the authority’s annual work plan, conducted on a recurring basis to monitor conditions for inmates and staff.