Jamaica health ministry sets $1b maintenance fund as audit flags slow Melissa relief spending

The Government will put one billion dollars into a dedicated pot to maintain public hospitals, clinics, and their equipment, with tighter rules for private firms that win upkeep contracts.

Portfolio Minister Dr Christopher Tufton outlined the plan while speaking in the House on Tuesday as part of his 2026–2027 sectoral debate contribution. He said the money would back a stronger inventory and condition survey of ministry assets, common quality benchmarks, grouping of sites for planning, and written service standards for each installation. Work streams will cover mechanical and electrical systems, plumbing, air conditioning and ventilation, and lifts.

Dr Tufton added that contractors who want ongoing ministry business will face key performance indicators. He argued the era should end in which a single vendor could hold extended work without local stock or staff, forcing parts or specialists to be flown in from Europe at short notice. Suppliers would need demonstrable skills and on‑island resources. Further particulars on the fund would come later, he said.

Separately, an Auditor General’s Department review of Hurricane Melissa relief money has raised serious questions about oversight of spending at the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management. By 23 February 2026 the agency had used about 26.2 million dollars, roughly 1.8 per cent of roughly 1.44 billion dollars donated to help storm‑affected people. Investigators pointed to weak financial supervision, procurement tracking that fell short, and accountability gaps across the recovery effort. They also cited 34 million dollars in roofing supplies that could not be traced because delivery paperwork was missing, and 141.1 million dollars in commitments that lacked confirmed proof of payment. Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis noted that ODPM still sat on large unspent balances linked to donations for Melissa and for the earlier Hurricane Beryl season, sharpening concern about planning and how fast assistance reaches the ground.

Across the Caribbean, the Caribbean Examinations Council is telling students and teachers to treat artificial intelligence as a normal classroom tool that still demands disciplined, honest use in school‑based assessments. Director of Operations Dr Nicole Manning said CXC accepts platforms such as ChatGPT and Gemini as part of how young people learn, but has published standards for when and how AI may appear in marked work. She cautioned that automated “AI detectors” are imperfect: polished human writing can be mislabelled, while lightly edited machine text can slip through. CXC therefore will not base academic judgments on detector output alone and expects teachers—who follow learners across terms—to remain the main judges of whether submitted work matches a pupil’s known voice, reasoning, and effort.

The Earthquake Unit at the University of the West Indies said a magnitude 4.4 event near eastern Jamaica shook communities at about 3:20 on Wednesday morning, with reports from several eastern areas. The tremor occurred at a focal depth of about eleven kilometres.

In comments to RJR News, economist Donovan Wignall, a former senior figure on the Economic Programme Oversight Committee and treasurer of the Small Business Association of Jamaica, warned that Jamaican households may have to trim consumption as inflation climbs. Consumer prices rose 4.3 per cent in the year to March and the Bank of Jamaica is forecasting about 7.5 per cent by December, with Hurricane Melissa and conflict in the Middle East among the pressures. Mr Wignall said that although ad valorem fuel taxes yield more revenue when pump prices jump, the administration is unlikely to channel those receipts into food subsidies; instead, he expects the funds to help narrow budget borrowing, leaving shoppers to adjust to dearer goods and services.

Hugh Reid, managing director of JN Life Insurance, told RJR News Jamaica’s pension sector remains small—on the order of four billion United States dollars against a global pool he put near thirty trillion—and needs structural change, including automatic enrolment for workers entering employment. Only about one in five of the island’s roughly 1.3 million workers belongs to an approved retirement arrangement. Mr Reid endorsed proposals from Pensions Industry Association of Jamaica president Sagicor Jamaica president (as transcribed) and noted that Prime Minister Andrew Holness said last week that auto‑enrolment would become official policy.

For the 12 May trading session, the Jamaica Stock Exchange recorded heavy turnover in Trans Jamaica Highway Limited, Jetcon Corporation Limited, and Kentire Holdings Jamaica Limited, which together accounted for a large share of volume, with brokers reporting continued appetite for transport, distribution, and dividend‑oriented names. Bank of Jamaica same‑day foreign‑exchange tables showed active trading in the United States, Canadian, and United Kingdom currencies, with posted sell and buy rates moving in line with global liquidity conditions that importers and borrowers must track when timing payments.

Regionally, Barbados Ambassador to CARICOM David Comissiong said several jurisdictions are seeking entry or upgraded standing in the bloc. Martinique has completed steps to associate membership once French parliamentary approval for privileges and immunities for secretariat staff was settled, and he listed interest from French Guiana, Aruba, and the Dominican Republic at associate level, while the British Virgin Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands are pursuing full membership.

Cuba’s ambassador in Georgetown, Jorge Soberón, told Nightly News Havana remains willing to discuss fresh medical cooperation even after Guyana allowed a bilateral agreement to lapse and the large Cuban brigade withdrew. He recalled nationwide placement of Cuban clinicians, more than 284 000 surgeries, and assistance at more than 60 000 births, and said future arrangements depend on Guyanese authorities.

Eastern Caribbean Central Bank Governor Timothy Antoine used the ECCB Connects web series to launch a 2026–2031 “Big Push” strategy for the eight‑member currency union, centred on higher incomes, stronger resilience, and lower reliance on imported food and fossil fuels. He cited outreach feedback and stark statistics—heavy food import dependence, fossil‑dominated power, and many residents still outside high‑speed digital networks—as the basis for targets that include wider participation in capital markets, skills reform, a one‑quarter cut in the food import bill, tripling renewable electricity from a ten per cent base, universal broadband, and cheaper regional shipping.

In sport, Kemar Ricketts has taken over as Calabar High School’s senior football technical director from Jeremy Miller after steering Treasure Beach FC clear of relegation in the Jamaica Premier League. He described building a lasting academy structure at a school with deep tradition and said he would not promise silverware but would commit fully to the corporate‑area schoolboy competition he has long respected.

In Antigua’s West Indies Championship playoff, Trinidad and Tobago Red Force led Barbados Pride by 37 runs on first innings and pressed their advantage on day three. Pride was dismissed for 296 after resuming on 262 for nine, still 37 behind Red Force’s 333. Joshua Bishop, left on 99 in Pride’s first dig, took four for 60, with three for 49 from 21 overs by Roston Chase. Red Force reached 209 for seven in their second turn at the crease, led by Cephas Cooper’s unbeaten 101 from 192 balls with 14 boundaries.