On Christmas Day, Jamaicans will join Christians across the world in celebrating yet again the birth of the Christ child, symbolising the love and sacrifice He delivered to mankind the hope that the global family will know peace, if we find it in our hearts to care more for each other.

This year has been nothing if not tumultuous for the world, through the many conflicts and disasters that beset us. The appearance of a new world order in the making has lent widespread uncertainty, making it more difficult to rely on the once-cherished notion of the Caribbean as a zone of peace.

There is uneasiness as the machines of war in our Caribbean space herald even greater uncertainty, notably for the tourism industry, on which our hope is built for a speedy economic and social growth.

Closer home, Hurricane Melissa has largely defined how the Jamaican Christmas will look and unfold after the battering ram effect on the island from the destructive storm that will hitherto determine the course of life here, at least for the foreseeable future.

It is now indelible history that the hurricane made landfall on Jamaica’s south-west coast on October 28, 2025 as one of the strongest Atlantic storms to be recorded, blasting maximum sustained winds of 185 miles per hour with fearsome flood waters and landslides, leaving 45 dead and counting.

Yet, in the language of Christmas, we can all celebrate the glad tidings of great joy that the human family poured out on Jamaica, assuring us that we do not walk alone as we seek to rise from the death, devastation, and desolation that the storm left in its wake.

Such was the goodwill demonstrated towards us by countless organisations and individuals that a large number of them in the Diaspora are hoping that there will still be time to ship — duty-free — the numerous barrels, boxes, and containers of relief supplies they have collected before the December 31, 2025 deadline.

Jamaicans have also rallied to their compatriots, opening hearts and hands to help ease the pain of their suffering. We’re especially pleased with the many organisations that have focused on making Christmas merry for the hurricane victims, including children, many left homeless and with little on their backs.

One very happy announcement coming days before the blessed day is the acquisition of 10 new tipper trucks valued at $200 million by the State-run National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) to strengthen the national clean-up programme in parishes impacted by Melissa. We are especially happy to hear that these trucks will be dispatched across the 16 affected constituencies that have been identified in the badly hit western region, according to Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness at Tuesday’s handing-over ceremony.

More good news, we are told, is that the addition of the 10 new trucks will allow the NSWMA to redeploy vehicles that had been diverted from their core function of collecting municipal waste, enabling them to resume that service.

The eventual removal of the estimated 4.8 million tonnes of debris left across the island by Melissa will bring a sense of relief and return to beauty for the affected communities, which we all await. After all, cleanliness is next to godliness.

From our Jamaica Observer family, we say Merry Christmas, everyone and enjoy the holidays all.