Consumer confidence slips 2.3% as heat hits egg farms and Old Harbour fire leaves 27 homeless

Consumer confidence in Jamaica fell by 2.3% in the latest Business and Consumer Confidence Indices, presented Tuesday, July 21 by Market Research Services Limited executive chairman Don Anderson, who linked the decline to higher living costs and a weaker view of current business conditions.

Anderson said the share of people who rate present business conditions as good dropped from 22.4% in the second quarter of 2025 to 16.8% in the first quarter of 2026, and further to 16.2% in the second quarter. “Fewer and fewer persons are considering that the current business conditions are good,” he said, adding that consumers are becoming more cautious about challenges ahead.

Business confidence, by contrast, rose by 2.3% among 116 firms surveyed. Anderson noted that the business reading remains below levels seen in 2025 and later periods, and that business responses tend to be less volatile than those of consumers over the years.

Separately, egg producers are struggling as summer temperatures climb. Mark Campbell, owner of Campbell Egg Farm Limited, which mainly supplies Jamaica’s North Coast, told TVJ News that extreme heat has inflicted heavy losses. He said laying birds cope poorly with heat and prefer roughly 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and that farms are being redesigned because many poultry houses were not built for prolonged intense heat. For houses already affected, he recommended temporary irrigation on rooftops, especially between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.

The Ministry of Agriculture is also stepping up checks on imported produce after a multi-state US outbreak of cyclosporiasis, an intestinal illness caused by the parasite Cyclospora cayetanensis. US officials have tied cases to shredded iceberg lettuce, prompting a recall and a wider probe. As of July 18, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported more than 1,600 confirmed cases and 94 hospitalisations. Jamaica’s Plant Quarantine and Produce Inspection Branch has tightened monitoring of imported iceberg lettuce and other leafy vegetables, strengthened port surveillance, and continues verifying the traceability of imports.

In St. Catherine, 27 people from one family were left homeless after fire destroyed several houses at 30 Burke Road in Old Harbour early Friday about 3:00 a.m. Resident Sherika Hall said she woke to shouts of fire and found her car and surroundings ablaze. “When I look outside here, my car was on fire and there was a lot of fire out here,” she said, describing how she grabbed clothes, food, phones and tablets before fleeing. She estimated firefighters took about 45 minutes to arrive, saying one truck was sent to Burke Road in Spanish Town while the Old Harbour unit arrived with only a half-tank of water.

Her 17-year-old daughter, who has cataracts in both eyes and no longer attends school, was pushed down as relatives fled; Hall said a nephew carried the girl to safety. Police dismissed talk of a family feud as rumour and said arson is not currently suspected, though an electrical cause remains a possibility until proven. Aid has come from churches, schools, justices of the peace, police, political representatives and neighbours. Hall said the family remains upbeat, often singing, playing music and dancing together.