Jamaica weather trough, NWA leadership search and crime updates lead CVM noon bulletin

Jamaica remains under unsettled conditions as a tropical wave, interacting with a monsoon trough from the Panama region and an upper-level feature, continues to bring showers and thunderstorms across sections of the island. Meteorologist Javoy Sawyers said the system should move west of Jamaica by midweek into Thursday, with conditions expected to dry out closer to the weekend.

Sawyers said the Atlantic hurricane season, which began on June 1, still requires serious preparation despite expectations linked to El Nino, including hotter, drier conditions and reduced hurricane activity. He warned that tropical storms, hurricanes or periods of heavy showers remain possible between June and November and beyond. Intermittent showers and thunderstorms were forecast for most parishes, especially southern and eastern areas, before easing toward midweek.

The Government has started the process of finding a new chief executive officer for the National Works Agency, bringing Everton Hunter’s 14-year leadership period toward an end. A job advertisement published by the Ministry of Economic Growth and Infrastructure Development listed the starting salary at just over $17 million, with applications due by June 19, 2026.

The People’s National Party Youth Organisation has also demanded a public apology from Young Jamaica and the Jamaica Labour Party’s communications task force over statements about Opposition Leader Mark Golding’s 2024 statutory declarations. PNPYO General Secretary Peter-Gay Ferguson said the declarations had already been certified by the Integrity Commission and published in the Jamaica Gazette on May 26, 2026.

In crime news, 36-year-old Jamaican-American Aldine Blake has been charged with murder and breaching the Immigration Act after his wife, Kadian Bradshaw, was allegedly stabbed to death. He is due in court on Friday, June 12. In Westmoreland, police charged 21-year-old Joshua Vase, also called Josh, of Negril, over the killing of restaurant operator Nashan McGibbon and the shooting of a 64-year-old doctor at Flag City Restaurant in Negril.

CVM also reported on Kingston caterer Paula Ming, 60, who is seeking help to fund a knee replacement expected to cost more than $2 million as she battles stage-four kidney disease and other health complications. Separately, Negril Tourism Destination Council Chairman Richard Wallace said last Friday’s all-island power outage underscored the need for businesses and households to improve backup electricity and water storage systems.