Since the 1970s, Jamaica has advanced women’s rights. However, a growing, rarely discussed concern has emerged: the rise of anti-male sentiment and systemic disadvantages affecting young black Jamaican males. Jamaica’s top quintile is dominated by...
In May 2022, public health organisations and advocates across Jamaica welcomed the announcement of the Green Paper for the National School Nutrition Policy (SNP). Developed by the Government of Jamaica through the Ministry of Education and Youth (...
Growth of one per cent a year won’t cut it. At that rate, it will take 70 years for the Jamaican economy to double in size and to bring the island’s per capita GDP in range of some of its smaller eastern Caribbean CARICOM partners. The recently re...
I am glad that at that the first working meeting of the newly elected House of Representatives, the Leader of Government Business, Floyd Green, decided to suspend, and not pass the motion to constitute the members of the sessional committees and to...
At the height of the 2025 general election, it was announced that the minimum wage will be increased incrementally with the intent to double it in five years. I felt a chill run through me because, although I am cognisant of the needs of the many,...
Caught between a rock and a hard place, the Jamaican citizens are facing a small set of criminals, including unfortunately, family members, who are hell-bent on causing mayhem. These heartless scoundrels seem to have no limit to their savagery....
This article looks ahead about our country decades in the future. It is not about our current government. It is about a growing feature in our democracy. It’s about us. The headlines shouted low voter turnout in the recent elections in Jamaica....
People, especially those in public office, should know when it is sensible to shut their mouths and humbly accept culpability for their wrongs, rather than attempt an obfuscatory spin that merely ties themselves into knots. Keisha Lewis, the...
‘Don’t give up on yourself, you are more resilient than you think — asking for help is nothing to be ashamed of’.’ I came across this quote recently and it gave me pause as I considered the recent deaths of Jamaicans because of suicide. Anyone can...
“Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for the best live shows from the funniest stand-up comedians, ranging from witty and irrelevant to deeply raunchy.” Well, I look for that in both ways - firstly, because I loved humour almost from...
According to the Oxford Dictionary, the word “exonerate” means “to absolve from blame for fault or wrongdoing”. The Merriam-Webster dictionary from the other side of the pond defines it as “to clear from accusation or blame”. On neither side of...
What exactly constitutes political activities? Dr Aujae Dixon, a Jamaican junior doctor, who participated in the September 3 general election as the People’s National Party (PNP) candidate for the Clarendon North Central constituency, has been...
This week’s special report by the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) on fatal shootings by the police during planned police operations (PPO) is probably discomfiting reading for the brass of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF). Not...
THE CURTAINS had barely come down on last Sunday’s Crime Stop 36th Anniversary Gala event at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel, when news came of Jamaica’s latest mass shooting, this time in Linstead, St Catherine where five people were killed, including a...
Even as this newspaper shares the national outrage over the murder of five people – including a four-year-old child – in Sunday’s mass shooting in the community of Commodore, Linstead, St. Catherine it is not our sense that the incident meets the...
On October 2, the world commemorates the life of Mahatma Gandhi as the International Day of Non-Violence, which was declared by the United Nations in 2007. Mahatma Gandhi’s voice emerged from India, yet his message was universal: that justice and...
This newspaper may have misread Prime Minister Andrew Holness’ posture on constitutional reform in the immediate aftermath of last month’s general election. As we indicated in our October 2 comment in these columns, The Gleaner assumed that it was...
ILLEGAL TRADE is one of the reasons why Jamaica’s 2018 national trade policy promoted the mainstreaming of trade, ensuring that trade, legal and illegal, are reflected in the policies of the relevant ministries, department and agencies, and are...
“Money is a factor. But poor operational controls and weak leadership are at the heart of the sport’s problems. I’ve watched too many teammates struggle to compete in a sport they love without the support they need ... I am done pretending this...
In Apocrypha, our favourite fantasyland where all politicians are friends and Oma D’unn solves political problems by parable, a spotlight was on lawyers. Chief Prosecutor Pauline Broadback decided to consult Oma after a contentious interview by...
The recent report of big losses being sustained by Jamaica’s government-run aerodromes highlights both the collapse of internal airline travel and the government’s struggle to breathe life into a limping domestic aviation sector. That, however, is...
Perhaps it’s a case of the maxim that no news is good news. Which, of course, is not always that case. That is why The Gleaner expects from the Office of the Political Ombudsman a full report and analysis of its activities during the recent...
Why is the Caribbean suddenly the focus of lobbying by groups like the World Vapers’ Alliance, Smoke Free Sweden and We Are Innovation? The answer is clear; our region is being targeted as an entry point for industry-driven narratives designed...
Sickle cell disease (SCD) results from the inheritance of a sickle cell gene from both parents or a sickle gene from one parent and another abnormal haemoglobin gene from the other parent. This causes abnormalities in haemoglobin, which is a...
