Opposition presses government to publish US third-country nationals transit deal as integrity and homicide probes unfold

The government is defending its agreement with the United States to temporarily receive third-country nationals who would transit through Jamaica en route to their home countries, even as opposition figures and analysts demand full public disclosure.

Information Minister Dr Dana Morris Dixon told a Jamaica Information Service ministerial update that the arrangement is narrow in scope and carries strict safeguards. She said the programme is a US initiative already used elsewhere, and stressed it is separate from talks about skilled workers and farm workers linked to Minister Marks.

Opposition spokesperson on security Fitz Jackson told CVM News that questions he raised in Parliament remain unanswered. He called for the memorandum of understanding to be tabled before implementation, asked what benefits Jamaica would receive, and questioned whether persons described by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio as deportees with serious criminal records could be allowed to move freely in Jamaica. National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang has denied reports suggesting 10,000 arrivals, and the government has referred to a figure of 25, though Jackson said contradictory statements undermine public trust.

Political analyst Dr Nadine Spence argued on CVM's Lead Story that Parliament and the public must be fully informed about the arrangement and any benefits Jamaica may gain.

Separately, attorney Abraham Dabdoo, representing Minister without Portfolio Dr Andrew Wheatley, challenged an Integrity Commission report alleging illicit enrichment. He said the commission wrongly excluded roughly $160 million in rental income from tenants at premises Wheatley owns locally and overseas, insisting that omission skewed its findings.

Senate President Tom Tavares Finson, speaking at a Thanksgiving service held by the Jamaican Judiciary, paid tribute to former Court of Appeal President Justice Ian Fort as a distinguished jurist whose fairness and dedication strengthened the legal system.

Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness told a Rio Hotels and Resorts 25th anniversary event that Jamaica must become a destination of choice for tourists, investors, businesses and skilled workers.

In Manchester, police recovered a decomposing body from bushes along Wind Road near Mandeville Infant School and the Mandeville Youth Innovation Centre on Friday morning after passers-by raised an alarm shortly before 8:00. The remains were sent to the morgue pending autopsy.

In St Elizabeth, residents found a torso along a bush track around 9:00 p.m. Thursday. Silo division councillor Audi Meyers said the partial remains lacked a head, hands and feet, and appealed for information in what he described as a normally quiet community.

Internationally, the World Health Organization reported that 75 healthcare workers in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been infected with Ebola since the current outbreak began, with 17 deaths among them.