News

St Catherine High announced a 12:30 pm dismissal, while Marlie Mount Primary closed at 1:00 pm. Old Harbour High has shifted classes online for grades 7-9, but maintained in-person classes for senior students on the morning shift. Similar notices were also issued by Davis Primary in Old Harbour North and Mavisville Prep in Kingston. 

The Meteorological Service warns that conditions are expected to deteriorate throughout the day, with widespread showers and thunderstorms affecting all parishes.

Heavy and continuous rainfall over the last 16 hours has led to widespread flooding and landslides, with several areas in southwest St Catherine, including Old Harbour affected.

The community of Bushy Park is facing particularly severe conditions. A makeshift footbridge built by residents after the original structure was destroyed in July was swept away by the surging Coburn Gully. This has left the community divided, further compounding the already difficult living conditions.

Officially closed since 2022 due to safety concerns, the bridge has remained a vital but hazardous passage for pedestrians attempting to travel between Spring Village and Gutters.

Despite warnings, people continued to use it until the underlying earth gave way, exacerbated by yesterday’s heavy rainfall and flooding from the Coburn Gully, which overwhelmed its banks after 16 hours of torrential downpour.

Political analysts and global citizens have been weighing on the outcome of the 78-year-old Trump leading the Republican party to a convincing victory despite numerous polls forecasting a much tighter contest that was too close to call one way of another for either candidate.

Among those conducting a post mortem of the US Election after former president Trump left Democrats licking their wounds, is Jamaican lawyer Melissa Simms who spent much of youth and adult life here in southwest St Catherine.

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The destruction of the Bushy Park bridge by Category 4 Hurricane Beryl has effectively isolated the eastern side of the community, forcing residents to undertake long, costly, and sometimes dangerous journeys to access essential services and transport.

According to Stephen Shaw, the manager of communication and customer services at the National Works Agency (NWA), these corridors – the Bog Walk Gorge (from Spanish Town to Ewarton) and the roadway from Barton to Ginger Ridge, particularly at Connors – are impassable due to multiple obstacles such as massive boulders, fallen trees, and blocked drains.

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With incidents including the destruction of pipes, theft of essential equipment, and even burglaries of classrooms and the kitchen, the school community faces an ongoing crisis that threatens the educational environment of its 467 students.

While all parishes were restored, one business customer in Port Esquivel, southwest St. Catherine, remains without power due to difficult access through swampy terrain. JPS noted it is working on rerouting the line supplying this facility west of Old Harbour town to restore service as soon as possible.

JPS President & CEO, Hugh Grant, expressed his satisfaction with the early restoration efforts, emphasizing that the company met its tight timeline without any safety incidents.

Dead is Andre Williams, approximately 27 years old, of Station Lane in the fishing community.

According to information reaching Old Harbour News, about 2:30 pm Williams, who goes by the alias ‘Curry’ or ‘Curry Gravy’ was at the Old Harbour Bay market house when he was attacked by a lone gunman who shot him multiple times at close range.

The gunman fled the scene while Williams died on the spot.

Police investigators believe the murder of Williams stems from a longstanding feud between gangsters from Station Lane and a neighboring enclave called Dagga Bay.

However, in an advisory moments ago, the country’s largest telecommunications service provider, says the prolonged disruption is “due to accidental damage to our infrastructure by the JPS [Jamaica Public Service]”.

The silver lining here is that data services have remained functional, meaning customers still have access to the internet through mobile data.

Flow did not indicate a restoration timeline but advised customers that “our technical team is working to restore services as quickly as possible”.