Commentary

In this 2024 photo, police tape is seen at the scene of a shooting in Porus, Manchester.
January 12, 2026

Nicola Satchell | Falling murders, rising responsibility

Jamaica is experiencing a rare and welcome moment. Murders are falling significantly. Yet, alongside this achievement lies a troubling counter-trend. Fatal police shootings have increased sharply,…
Jamaica does not approach rental housing from a lightly regulated position. The Rent Restriction Act already limits rents and evictions for certain categories of older residential properties, tying permitted rent to assessed values and requiring official a
January 12, 2026

Landlords at a crossroads as England reforms rental law and Jamaica maintains rent controls

Proposed and enacted reforms to rental housing laws overseas are renewing debate in Jamaica about how far governments should go in regulating private property, as England prepares to implement…
Women atop a tractor support farmers as they protest at the Arc de Triomphe against the European Union's negotiations over the Mercosur trade deal with five South American nations.
January 11, 2026

Editorial | Navigating uncertainty

Modern economics used to treat uncertainty like bad weather. When recession threatened, uncertainty rose. When growth returned, it eased. During supply shocks or financial disruptions, you wait until…
January 11, 2026

Floyd Morris | Dementia, disability and development

Approximately 50 years ago, in the rustic rural community of Bailey’s Vale in St Mary, I was exposed to the frightening challenges of dementia. My grandmother was diagnosed with the disease that would…
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January 11, 2026

Garth Rattray | Stop HIV testing for work medicals

I was drawn to The Gleaner editorial of Saturday January 3, ‘HIV treatment at crossroads’. It outlined and went into depth regarding Dr Richard Amenyah’s warning that “some of the global gains against…
Howard Beckford
January 11, 2026

Howard Beckford | Jamaica and the politics of chaos after Hurricane Melissa

In the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, Jamaicans are again confronting a familiar but uncomfortable truth: disasters do not affect all groups equally. Some communities quickly regain normalcy while…
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January 11, 2026

Orville Taylor | Reality cheque: Monroe doctrine

Sunday cornmeal and peas, cooked with coconut milk. No chicken from the store or corner shop. The rooster, ‘Bigga’, was sacrificed to feed us. A beautiful Dominica fowl with black, white and grey…
Debris surrounds damaged homes along the Black River, Jamaica, in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa.
January 10, 2026

Editorial | Urgency of mitigating climate change

The recent recognition of Jamaican climate scientists Professor Donovan Campbell and Dr Shanecia Lester of The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, is commended and welcome. They contributed to…
January 10, 2026

Tony Deyal | Days of love and Bajan

I was in Barbados where my column was named, ‘Saturday’s Child’ and I got enough jokes by the people about how this “show-and-show” man could be called a “child”. My response was, “I think your wife…