Lead Stories

Elderslie in St Elizabeth after the passage of Hurricane Melissa.
December 9, 2025 by Livern Barrett

HURRICANE FARE HIKE

Taxi operators between Santa Cruz and several hurricane-ravaged communities in northern St Elizabeth have hiked their fares by more than 400 per cent, angry residents have complained. Instead of the…
Carl Grant, councillor for the Lluidas Vale Division in St Catherine, seeks to reassure resident Sharon Small, whose one-bedroom house was blown away by Melissa’s outer bands.
December 9, 2025 by Ruddy Mathison

Feeling forgotten

Several residents of St Catherine who suffered significant damage to their homes as a result of Hurricane Melissa’s outer bands are expressing frustration that their cries for help have gone…
Former Prime Minister P. J. Patterson speaking with The Gleaner at his St Andrew home on Tuesday.
December 9, 2025 by Erica Virtue

Patterson: Include political parties, churches and artistes in rebuilding process

Retired former Prime Minister P. J. Patterson has indicated that the island’s two main political parties and parliamentary system must be pivotal in the rebuilding efforts in the aftermath of…
December 9, 2025 by Neil Armstrong

Some Jamaican farm workers returning from Canada have lost homes

Several Jamaican workers of the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) in Canada have lost their homes and businesses as a result of Hurricane Melissa, and some are still unable to reach their…
Ainsley Henry
December 9, 2025 by Olivia Brown

Forests show signs of ‘burn’ after Melissa

In the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa – a Category 5 system that ravaged sections of Jamaica – Jamaica’s forests tell a story of both devastation and endurance. Across several parishes, trees have…
Keenan Falconer, economist.
December 9, 2025 by Edmond Campbell

Melissa leaves big bill behind

At least one economist has indicated that the damage to the country’s infrastructure, spanning housing, water, electricity, telecommunications, and roads could reach an estimated US$16 billion (J$2.5…
Sixty year old Juliet Clarke of Ipswich, St. Elizabeth, sits atop the rubble of her three bedrood board house after it collapsed during the passage of Hurricane Melissa.
December 9, 2025 by Livern Barrett

‘God is good and we still have life’

An open cellar beneath the ruins of her house is where Juliet Clarke now lives with her three-year-old granddaughter and a mentally-disabled man she cares for, but that has not shaken her faith. The…
Dr Christopher Tufton (left), minister of health and wellness; with Lieutenant Colonel Gail Ranglin Edwards (second left), director of the Health Services Corps of the Jamaica Defence Force, at the Ministry of Health and Wellness PAHO/WHO Health Cluster Hu
December 9, 2025 by Sashana Small

EMTs ready to roll

Twenty-one emergency medical teams (EMT) from 14 international organisations have expressed their readiness to support Jamaica’s recovery efforts following the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa.…
Dr Alison Thompson (centre) flanked by two Operation Blessing volunteers.
December 9, 2025

Third Wave Volunteers bring urgent relief to Jamaica’s hardest-hit communities

Western Bureau: When Dr Alison Thompson and her team arrived in western Jamaica after Hurricane Melissa, what they found stunned even a veteran of more than two decades travelling to disaster zones. …