Supreme Court restrains Bounty Killer as Jamaica weighs land and recovery issues

The Supreme Court has issued an injunction barring dancehall entertainer Rodney Price, known as Bounty Killer, from publishing defamatory statements about fellow artiste Clifford Smith, known as Mr. Vegas, while their defamation case continues.

The order, made at a Wednesday hearing on an application by Smith, prevents Price from referring to Smith by name, image or description in connection with remarks that could harm his reputation until the trial is completed. The court did not approve every order sought by Smith’s lawyers. His attorney, Alexander Shaw, said the decision protected reputation while recognising freedom of expression, adding that free speech does not include a right to defame.

Lawyers for Price, Christopher Townsend and Casey and Kennedy Sherman, said the court rejected wider limits requested by the claimant and instead made a narrow interim order. Smith filed the lawsuit on January 14 over Instagram posts allegedly made or shared by Price earlier this year. He says the publications damaged his reputation in Jamaica and overseas, and is seeking damages for defamation and negligence.

In other national developments, Prime Minister Dr. Andrew Holness has directed Minister without Portfolio Robert Montague to speed up work through the National Land Agency to help Jamaicans on generational and idle lands enter the formal titling system. Holness said government-held land belongs to the public and must be managed through orderly settlement, warning that informal occupation can leave communities without roads, water and sewage and reduce the value of land development.

In St. James, the JPS Foundation and Janet Richards Foundation joined more than 30 volunteers to refurbish the Salvation Army Basic School on Barnett Street in Montego Bay for Labour Day 2026. Work included painting, repairs to hurricane-damaged areas, fence and slide repairs, mural restoration, planting and cleaning.

The broadcast also reported continued debate over the appointment of retired Major General Ambassador Anthony Anderson as chief executive officer of the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority. Senator Abka Fitz-Henley said 120 applications were received, including 85 for the CEO post, before seven people were shortlisted. Government Senator Marlon Morgan defended Anderson’s selection, citing his military, policing and engineering background, while rejecting opposition concerns about the recruitment process and oversight of the authority.