Over the years I have been a direct beneficiary of Cuban medical assistance. Members of my own church family, as well as countless residents of Port Antonio and the wider parish of Portland, have received care from Cuban physicians and nurses whose dedication and conspicuous competence earned the deep respect of our community. To speak plainly: their presence mattered. They strengthened our hospitals, steadied our clinics, and brought reassurance to families facing illness

Jamaica, like many small nations, faces a critical challenge: building a knowledge-driven economy in an increasingly competitive world. Modern industries—from digital technology to renewable energy to biotechnology—require a workforce capable of sophisticated thinking. If our education system does not consistently produce such individuals, we will remain dependent on low-value economic activities and vulnerable to global shocks. Sixth Form therefore represents more than an

Is it an exaggeration to call this an “epidemic”? I think not. If we look at the hallmarks of depression—anhedonia (loss of interest), fatigue, and a sense of hopelessness—and map them onto our national productivity figures, the correlation is staggering. We are a nation in a state of prolonged, untreated grief and systemic burnout. By pretending we are a “chilled” people, we ignore the high-cortisol reality of Jamaican life. We have one of the highest murder rates per capi

Our seismic exposure, hurricane vulnerability, grid scale and fiscal realities make FOAK SMRs an imprudent gamble. If we are serious about competitiveness, we must look beyond brute-force energy expansion and towards precision. The real opportunity lies in aligning Jamaica’s renewable trajectory with the emerging quantum frontier. Quantum is not brute force; it is precision force. This distinction matters for Jamaica. Our renewable trajectory — solar, wind, storage and