Jamaica Restates Anti-Terror Stance as Cannabis Rules, Dairy Push and Guyana Ferry Lead Monday News

Jamaica has restated its support for international action against terrorism and emerging transnational security threats at recent United States Ministerial Talks in Washington, D.C. Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister Kamina Johnson Smith led the Jamaican delegation to the meeting of representatives from 68 countries, which examined politically motivated violence, terrorism and regional security challenges.

Johnson Smith said terrorism in all its forms must be rejected and cannot be defeated by any single state. Jamaica’s domestic terror threat level is assessed as low, she added, but the country must stay alert to risks that include the misuse of state institutions to advance political agendas in ways that undermine democratic norms and the rule of law. She also warned that criminal networks involved in firearms and drug trafficking could be exploited by terrorists, and called for coordinated global responses that recognise the particular constraints facing small island developing states.

At home, the government has launched consultations to strengthen Jamaica’s sacramental cannabis framework and clarify how the law on religious ganja use should work. Justice Minister Delroy Chuck, Culture Minister Olivia Grange, and Ministers of State Marissa Dalrymple-Philibert and Danno Seiveright met senior technocrats after a cannabis industry development task force urged a coordinated review. Discussions covered recognition and oversight of sacramental organisations, approved cultivation sites, cultivation and possession limits, transport arrangements, enforcement, and the line between sacramental use and the regulated commercial cannabis industry.

Agriculture Minister Floyd Green, launching a heifer redistribution programme in St. Thomas, said 400 pregnant heifers will go to dairy farmers across Jamaica to lift milk production and improve the genetic quality of the national herd. The Jamaica Dairy Development Board is spearheading the effort. “What we’re doing today is building the base of our dairy sector so that we can reach back to the heights where we can look to supplying milk for the entire Caribbean,” Green said. Annual milk output has fallen from 50 million litres to 13 million litres. Separate Group chief executive Richard Pandoi backed the programme, saying the sector can again supply Jamaica and the wider English-speaking Caribbean.

In business, Sancia Templer, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, urged micro, small and medium-sized enterprises to formalise and remain tax compliant so they can compete for government contracts—including a 20 per cent public procurement set-aside—and raise between $50 million and $100 million on the Jamaica Stock Exchange’s micro market. She spoke at the Small Business Association of Jamaica’s Growth and Resilience Conference at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel. SBAJ first vice president Dr Norman Grant said a planned buy-local campaign will encourage purchases of domestic farm goods to cut import dependence and foreign-exchange outflows, complementing the Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association’s Buy Jamaican drive.

Regionally, passenger ferry MV Bereima capsized and sank off Guyana’s north Atlantic coast on July 18 while travelling from Georgetown to Port Kaituma with 133 people aboard. A distress call at 11:01 p.m. Saturday triggered search and rescue. Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness extended condolences to President Irfaan Ali and the people of Guyana; CARICOM also expressed solidarity with affected families.

In sport, Spain beat Argentina 1-0 in extra time at New Jersey Stadium on Sunday to win the FIFA World Cup 2026, with Ferran Torres scoring the decisive goal—Spain’s first title since 2010. Separately, Minister Grange paid tribute to West Indies cricket legend Sir Garfield Sobers, who died at his Barbados home on Friday, July 17, aged 89, recalling his unbeaten 365 against Pakistan at Sabina Park in 1958.