Six killed and two critically injured in Falmouth bypass crash

Six people were killed and two others left in critical condition following a motor vehicle crash on the Falmouth bypass in Trelawny this morning. The circumstances surrounding the collision had not yet been established.

National Road Safety Council chairman Dr Lucien Jones said the deaths brought Jamaica’s road toll since the start of the year to 156. Although the council recently noted improvements in road fatalities, Jones said deaths had risen sharply since June and warned that the summer could be particularly severe. He called for the Road Traffic Act to be implemented fully, alongside public education, enforcement, training and retraining.

In Montego Bay, the St James Municipal Corporation is advancing infrastructure projects nearly a year after Hurricane Melissa damaged sections of the city last October. Mayor Richard Vernon said Tourism Enhancement Fund financing would support rehabilitation of the Harbour Circle roadway from Howard Cooke Boulevard to Pier 1, sidewalk improvements in the city centre and along St James Street, and paving work at Lawrence Lane and Long Lane. Construction is scheduled for August through October as the first phase of a wider beautification programme.

Vendors on roads adjoining St James Street, including Lower Lawrence Lane and Church Lane, are also expected to receive lighting, paving, standardised tables and tents. Vernon said municipal officers were placed on two shifts and were working with the Jamaica Constabulary Force to reduce pavement congestion and maintain order.

Students who sat Caribbean Examinations Council May-June 2026 examinations may access preliminary results online from 11 a.m. on Tuesday, August 18, the regional body announced yesterday. More than 100,000 candidates typically take the examinations annually, generating hundreds of thousands of subject entries throughout the Caribbean.

The University of Technology is meanwhile developing a master plan to address infrastructure deficiencies and establish its campus as a STEM hub. President Dr Kevin Brown told the Ministry of Education’s higher-education conference in Hanover that projects include a two-megawatt solar and battery system, water conservation measures, and reinvestment of electricity savings into the institution.

UTech also wants approval for a 1,000-bed student complex on three acres beside Papine High School and a 50-bed staff facility. Brown said the university currently has no staff housing, affecting employees who travel from outside Kingston and accommodation for visiting international academics.

In New Haven, Duhaney Park, crews are clearing sections of the Duhaney River and undertaking erosion-control work to improve drainage in the low-lying community. Councillor Michelle Thomas Nelson toured the sites this week. Residents welcomed the project but requested maintenance every six months or annually and raised concerns about crocodiles reportedly entering yards during floods. One resident said two were caught last year. Authorities are expected to continue the mitigation programme.