Holness pressING FAST-forward Signalling that delays in the implementation of critical national investment projects will soon be a thing of the past, Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has indicated that his administration is advancing two powerful and complementary reforms – one aimed at building public infrastructure and the other focusing on accelerating and attracting transformational private investment. After making his contribution to the 2026-2027 Budget Debate in Parliament yesterday, the prime minister tabled legislation to establish the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA).
PM: Gov’t still hopeful Cuban medical programme can be made ‘compliant’ Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has sought to counter a growing argument that Jamaica abandoned Cuba when his administration ended the 50-year medical cooperation programme earlier this month, insisting that the Government has stood up for its Caribbean neighbour. Speaking in the House of Representatives yesterday, while making his contribution to the 2026-2027 Budget Debate, Holness reiterated the Government’s position that aspects of the programme, including how medics were being paid, run counter to local laws and several international conventions.
NHT ‘almost used as a goodie bag’ by PMs, says trade unionist Veteran trade unionist John Levy has poured cold water on Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness’ announcement of a reduction in housing interest rates for some civil servants, arguing that the National Housing Trust (NHT) is being misused. Levy, general secretary of the Union of Clerical, Administrative and Supervisory Employees (UCASE), told The Gleaner yesterday that successive administrations have “tinkered” with the Trust in ways that satisfy only a limited group of the population.
$80m payday for fraudster The Government has been ordered to pay almost $80 million to a man with dozens of fraud-related convictions after he languished in prison for six years and 11 months or 2,504 days in excess of his sentence mainly because of an administrative error by prison authorities. The Supreme Court yesterday ordered that Ray Morgan be paid $60 million or an average $23,962 per day in compensatory damages, $10 million in vindicatory damages, and $9 million in special damages, ending a lawsuit he filed against the State.
Holness sparks man-woman talk Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness’s assertion that gender is limited to male and female has sparked both backlash and praise, with critics contending that his remark points to a shifting global attitude towards the LGBTQIA+ community. “The comment is disappointing and unnecessary,” Glenroy Murray, executive director of Equality for All Foundation, told The Gleaner.
Divorcee loses property entitlement after 10-year delay in filing claim A woman who waited nearly a decade after her separation before filing a claim for her share in the family home has lost her entitlement to an equal half of the property. The woman was, instead, awarded a 35 per cent share of the property by Supreme Court judge Justice Andrea Martin-Swaby while her ex-husband was given a 65 per cent stake. Martin-Swaby said, “Had these proceedings been initiated early, it is my firm view that the claimant [the ex-wife] would have been entitled to her 50 per cent share, notwithstanding the lack of monetary contribution.
JPs urged to resist bribery temptation in duty Newly commissioned justices of the peace (JP) for Kingston are being encouraged to uphold the highest standard of integrity and to seek guidance from experienced mentors as they carry out their duties in service of the public. Addressing the more than 70 JPs yesterday, former Director of Public Prosecution Paula Llewellyn urged them to give of their best in the execution of their duties.
Holness in the hot seat Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness comes to the proverbial wicket today to make his 11th contribution to the yearly Budget Debate at a time when the country is said to be transitioning from recovery to reconstruction post-hurricane Melissa. Jamaica also, like many other countries, now faces mounting threats to its fiscal targets with the intensifying conflict in the Middle East and its related impact on oil prices.
Fraud accused’s true identity uncovered in $352m mortgage loan scam Dwayne Pitter, a resident of Bay Farm Villa in St Andrew, is the person who allegedly used a fictitious name to get mortgage loans totalling $352 million from four commercial banks over a one-month period in 2024, law-enforcement authorities have charged. The loans, all in the name ‘Odain Anthony Lawes’, were used to ‘buy’ upscale St Andrew properties that had been secretly and “fraudulently” transferred from their legitimate owners, The Sunday Gleaner reported last month, citing claims made in a lawsuit filed against one of the banks.
St Elizabeth farmer loses acres of pumpkin to black rot fungus Just months after losing her entire pumpkin crop to Hurricane Melissa, 30-year-old St Elizabeth farmer Sherka Graham is facing the same predicament once again. This time, the culprit is a fungus, causing black rot to appear on the crop. It has destroyed the more than 8,000 pounds of pumpkin on her five-acre farm.