NEWBORN HEARTACHE What should have been one of the happiest moments of Shandale Ballentine’s life ended in heartbreak on Good Friday. Instead of leaving the Cornwall Regional Hospital cradling the baby boy she had spent months preparing for, the 33-year-old first-time mother said she returned home “empty-handed”, struggling to make sense of how her long-awaited delivery ended in tragedy. Ballentine said she lost her son, Ramontay Rakai Ranger, during labour at the Montego Bay, St James-based hospital during what she described as the “worst” ordeal of her life.
Jamaica rejects St Kitts’ claim of first legal recognition of Rastafari WESTERN BUREAU: The Government of Jamaica has pushed back against claims that St Kitts and Nevis is the first Caribbean nation to recognise Rastafarianism in law, insisting that Jamaica has long acknowledged the faith within its constitutional and parliamentary framework. Speaking with The Gleaner on the sidelines of the 63rd anniversary of the 1963 Coral Gardens Incident last Friday, Culture Minister Olivia Grange said that Jamaica’s legal system has historically recognised Rastafari as a legitimate religion.
Two decades later, disbarred attorney’s complaint against panel member fails A former attorney has lost his bid to pursue a conflict-of-interest complaint against a member of the disciplinary panel that ruled over 20 years ago that he should be struck off the list of lawyers authorised to practise in Jamaica. Disbarred attorney Therol Voche filed an application in the Court of Appeal requesting permission and more time to challenge a decision made last year by a disciplinary committee of the General Legal Council (GLC) not to pursue his complaint against Charles E. Piper, KC. The GLC is the body that regulates the legal profession in Jamaica.
PAC slams ‘madness’ as UHWI pays big for delayed, rejected reports The University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) paid Strategic Alignment Limited US$92,000 (J$14.5 million) to create a strategic transformation plan, but rejected the draft without explaining why the board did not approve it. At the same time another consulting firm, William Pragmatic Limited, which received nearly US$93,000, representing 50 per cent of the cost to produce an operation and turnaround plan for the UHWI, only delivered a draft document nearly two years after collecting the down payment.
From trainee to trailblazer WESTERN BUREAU: For 32 years, Shernette Crichton walked the corridors of Half Moon not as a spectator of its legacy, but as a student of it; quietly studying, steadily rising, and preparing for a moment she always believed would come. On April 2, that moment arrived. In a move that signals both continuity and change in Jamaica’s tourism sector, Crichton was appointed managing director of the 72-year-old institution, becoming the first Jamaican and the first woman to hold the post. Her elevation came against the backdrop of renewal.
Auditor general flags ‘contract splitting’ at UHWI Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis has warned that some procurement heads are improperly splitting government contracts to avoid rules designed to prevent that practice. In a January performance audit of the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI), she found that the hospital divided projects into smaller components and used direct contracting to hire contractors. She noted that combining those works would have required a competitive tender process.
Students urged to embrace financial readiness for a changing Jamaica WESTERN BUREAU: Delano Seiveright, state minister in the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce, has called on Jamaican students to embrace financial readiness as a fundamental life skill, stressing that it is essential for independence, opportunity, and resilience in the rapidly evolving economic landscape.
Jamaica’s bittersweet reckoning WESTERN BUREAU: Jamaica is facing a bitter truth about its sweetest habit. From vending machines on university campuses to roadside coolers and taxi stands, sugary drinks have become the nation’s go-to refreshment. But behind every bottle of soda or sweetened juice lies a growing health crisis – one that doctors warn is quietly fuelling epidemics of hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease across the island.
Bartlett seeking to secure job security for medical students from his constituency WESTERN BUREAU: Following a situation last year, which saw several doctors who were trained in China finding it difficult to get accepted into local hospitals to do their internships, a push is now on to ensure that medical students from St James East Central are not similarly affected when they complete their training.
St James East Central students gifted tablets WESTERN BUREAU: Fourteen primary school students from St James East Central are now more empowered to further their education after being gifted with computer tablets by their member of parliament, Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett, last Friday. The tablets were handed over to the students during a formal ceremony held at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St James. The 14 tablets that were given out are from a batch of 20 tablets, which were provided through a donation from the Universal Access Fund.