标签： Jamaica

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad — A horrific act of violence has shaken the community of St. James, following a deadly home invasion in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service has launched a full-scale investigation into the murders of 25-year-old Joseph Sutton and his 11-month-old son, Jaden.

According to official reports, armed assailants forced their way into the family residence while the occupants were asleep. The gunmen opened fire indiscriminately throughout the home. In a final, desperate act to shield his infant son from the barrage of bullets, Sutton used his own body as protection. Despite his efforts, both father and child sustained fatal gunshot wounds.

Emergency services transported the victims to the Port of Spain General Hospital, where medical personnel pronounced both deceased upon arrival. Authorities have stated that the motive for this brutal attack remains undetermined, with no immediate suspects in custody.

This tragedy underscores a severe public safety crisis in the twin-island nation. The government had previously declared a state of emergency to combat soaring crime rates. Official statistics reveal that as of March 16, the country has recorded at least 75 homicides since the beginning of the year. Firearm-related violence is the predominant method, accounting for the overwhelming majority of these deaths. Disturbingly, at least 60 victims died from gunshot wounds, a figure that includes nine women.

KINGSTON, Jamaica — On a historic Tuesday morning marking six decades of bilateral collaboration between Jamaica and Canada, Jamaican Minister of Labour and Social Security Pearnel Charles Jr officially introduced the GOJ/Seasonal Agricultural Workers Programme (SAWP) Scholarship at the ministry’s East Street headquarters. This new initiative is designed to open doors to higher education for the children of Jamaican seasonal agricultural workers who take part in the long-standing labour program in Canada.

Six decades after the SAWP partnership was first established, this scholarship represents a meaningful recognition of the outsized contribution Jamaican migrant workers have made to both Canadian agriculture and Jamaica’s domestic economy over the years. “This scholarship is a public acknowledgment of everything our workers have given, and a clear promise from this government that their children’s futures are a priority,” Charles Jr stated during the launch ceremony. “We are building a tangible bridge that connects migrant work, educational opportunity, and long-term national growth for Jamaica.”

For the 2026 academic year, 60 full scholarships will be distributed to eligible students. To qualify, applicants must be children of SAWP workers who have completed at least five consecutive years of participation in the program and remain actively employed under SAWP. The funding supports learners across both secondary and post-secondary education levels, including students in sixth form, undergraduate programs at universities, vocational courses at community colleges, and skills training programs offered through Jamaica’s HEART/NSTA Trust.

Award amounts are structured to meet the specific costs of different education levels: sixth form students will receive JMD $75,000, while tertiary-level students will be granted JMD $200,000. The funds can be used to cover tuition fees, textbooks, classroom supplies, and other mandatory education-related expenses. To align with Jamaica’s national policy goals for boosting domestic food security and building a skilled competitive workforce, extra preference will be given to applicants pursuing degrees or training in agriculture, agribusiness, agro-processing, and other technical vocational fields.

Charles emphasized that the new scholarship is far more than a one-off financial aid program: it reflects a deliberate national policy shift to turn temporary labour mobility into sustained domestic capacity building. “Our workers have spent decades gaining hands-on experience in cutting-edge Canadian agricultural systems,” he explained. “This scholarship ensures that the benefits of that global exposure don’t just stay with the individual worker — they pass down to the next generation, creating ripple effects that will strengthen Jamaica for years to come. We are investing in the skills that will grow our domestic productive capacity and drive inclusive long-term growth.”

Over its 60-year history, the SAWP has created mutual benefits for both nations. Jamaican seasonal workers have filled critical labour gaps in Canada’s agricultural sector, while the workers have supported their families back home through regular remittances and stimulated local economic activity across Jamaican communities. The new scholarship builds on this existing legacy by creating new pathways for intergenerational upward mobility through education.

The application window for the 2026 scholarship will open on April 15, 2026, and close at the end of June 30, 2026. Successful applicants will receive their awards in time to register for the September 2026 start of the new academic year. Application forms will be accessible to eligible candidates both digitally via the Ministry of Labour and Social Security’s official website and in-person at designated ministry locations across the country. All applicants will need to meet set academic and eligibility requirements and submit required supporting documentation as part of the selection process.

The Ministry of Labour and Social Security will oversee the entire application and selection process, using a structured multi-step review framework designed to guarantee fairness, full transparency, and alignment with the program’s core objectives.

The launch of the GOJ/SAWP Scholarship reaffirms the Jamaican government’s commitment to tying overseas employment opportunities directly to national development, ensuring the advantages of the decades-old SAWP partnership extend beyond individual workers to their families and the nation’s future generations.

For additional information about eligibility or the application process, interested parties can contact the MLSS Family Services Unit located at 1 F North Street, Kingston, Jamaica, via telephone at 876 676 5557 or 876 676 5659. SAWP workers currently based in Canada can reach the Jamaican Liaison Service directly at 416 733 4358-9.

In the coastal Jamaican parish of St James, a targeted cleanup operation is now underway in Montego Bay to clear a stubborn waste backup that has plagued the outlet of South Gully for months. A specialized team from the island’s National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) has mobilized heavy construction equipment to the site, including a powerful excavator and multiple tipper trucks, to tackle the accumulated debris that has built up at the waterway’s opening. The waste clogging the gully ranges from deposited silt and single-use plastic products to a range of other discarded materials that have collected over years, with a large portion of the buildup dating back to a recent major storm.

Audley Gordon, the top executive director of NSWMA, was on site at the cleanup location this week to directly oversee the progress of the work, which is aimed at eliminating one of the most visible environmental blights on the popular western Jamaican city. This intervention is being carried out as part of the authority’s formal Debris Management Programme, a long-running initiative designed to address storm-related waste accumulation across the island.

The entire cleanup effort traces its urgency back to Hurricane Melissa, which made landfall on Jamaica on October 28, 2025. The storm left a path of widespread destruction across much of the island’s western region, washing large volumes of sediment, discarded waste, and structural debris into natural waterways including South Gully. While smaller cleanup efforts addressed the most immediate flood risks after the storm, the large-scale clearance of the gully’s outlet has been scheduled as a one-time targeted operation to resolve the long-standing backup. Project organizers estimate that the operation will remove more than 10 full truckloads of accumulated debris from the site by the time work is completed, clearing the waterway outlet and restoring better drainage for the surrounding area.

KINGSTON, Jamaica — After closing its three-month signage regularisation initiative on March 31, the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC) has officially moved into the aggressive enforcement stage of its plan to crack down on unauthorised public signage across the region.

Launched in January 2026, the amnesty-style campaign was crafted to give every individual, business and organisation that maintains publicly visible signage a clear, grace-period window to bring their approvals up to date and resolve any unpaid outstanding fees. Before the corporation ramped up enforcement, stakeholders were given full advance notice and multiple opportunities to come into compliance voluntarily, avoiding potential penalties and removal actions.

Now that the grace period has expired, the KSAMC is gearing up to target all illegally erected and non-compliant signage distributed throughout Kingston and St Andrew. Robert Hill, chief executive officer of the municipal corporation, confirmed that all necessary personnel, logistics and equipment have already been mobilised to support widespread, organised enforcement operations.

“Starting immediately, we will begin removing illegally placed and non-compliant signs across both Kingston and St Andrew,” Hill confirmed in a recent statement.

Over the past three months throughout the regularisation campaign, Hill explained that KSAMC’s dedicated compliance teams have been proactively reaching out to local businesses, conducting on-the-ground assessments, and compiling detailed location data to map out the scope of unregulated signage. This groundwork will allow the corporation to carry out focused, efficient enforcement rather than random sweeps.

“We are currently waiting on finalised data from our compliance teams, which will direct our targeted enforcement operations and guide the removal of signage from all non-compliant entities,” Hill added.

To carry out the removal work safely and efficiently, the KSAMC has deployed heavy-duty trucks and specialised removal equipment purpose-built to extract unauthorised signage from both public and private locations without unnecessary damage to surrounding property.

In a public briefing, the municipal corporation stressed that signage regulation is a binding legal requirement that applies universally to all publicly visible signage. This mandate holds regardless of whether a sign is located on public or private land, and regardless of the type of entity that owns it—covering commercial operations, non-profit groups, and public institutions equally.

The KSAMC repeated that the three-month regularisation campaign was structured to deliver a fair, transparent path to compliance for all stakeholders. Beyond public outreach and one-on-one engagement with business owners, the campaign also included a temporary fee concession for entities settling long-outstanding signage approval fees.

For entities that failed to take advantage of the amnesty campaign, the KSAMC is issuing a final warning to contact the corporation immediately to resolve their status before enforcement teams begin on-the-ground removal work. Hill confirmed that all enforcement actions will proceed strictly in line with local signage laws.

This enforcement push forms a core part of the KSAMC’s broader urban improvement initiative, which aims to boost public safety by eliminating hazards that block pedestrian and driver sightlines, cut down on visual pollution across the city, and maintain a cleaner, more organised urban environment for residents and visitors alike.