The very day that Energy Minister Daryl Vaz warned that we should be conserving, we were stuck in traffic. The following day, last Friday, it was even worse on the north coast road and in Kingston — bumper-to-bumper traffic.

Some countries have reduced their workweek to four days to cope with rising gas prices. While those countries suffered immediate effects, Jamaicans benefited from a government subsidy which kept gas prices stable over the past four weeks. However, Minister Vaz explained that our budget will not be able to stand the strain of further subsidies.

He noted that the protocols which had been in place to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic may need to be considered. We hope the call for conservation will be heeded, especially if we can keep our schools offering face-to-face classes. Some children are still recovering from the learning loss which occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. We learnt from educators that there was a pause in their socialisation and so re-entry to the physical classroom was challenging, with increased incidents of antisocial behaviour — bullying and moodiness— among students.

There was a glimmer of hope in the announcement that oil had been found in our coastal waters. However, it will take time and funding for us to access this precious resource. We will not have its benefits in the near future.

All this stems from a war in the Middle East involving the US, Israel, and Iran. Iran’s Strait of Hormuz has been blocked then unblocked, and over the weekend blocked again. Twenty per cent of the oil used globally is shipped through this narrow channel. The political issues which have led to this impasse are complicated and perplexing. Here on our little rock, we can only tighten our belts and pray for peace.

Digicel at 25

It was an exciting moment when a youthful Seamus Lynch called to say that our agency was selected to provide public relations for Digicel. In September 2000 I arranged for Seamus and Board Director Leslie Buckley to attend Gordon House to finalise the Digicel investment with then portfolio Minister Phillip Paulwell.

With the arrival of Marketing Director Harry Smith (now chair of Digicel Jamaica), Chairman Denis O’Brien inspired the most innovative launch we had yet seen in Jamaica. At the event at Jamaica Pegasus hotel, on April 19, 2001, mobile phones lit up and Jamaica experienced a new telecom experience. Now, instead of lining up to sign a contract, make an expensive downpayment, and pay for calls received as well as sent, any ordinary Jamaican could walk into a store, buy a phone, and get connected. In one month, the 100,000 phones projected for a longer period sold off.

Digicel sponsored The University of the West Indies chair for telecoms held by Dr Hopeton Dunn, who, in his presentation, showed how the company’s service had changed the lives of fishermen, market vendors, and other working folks. The Digicel network spread to markets worldwide, and at the Haiti launch, O’Brien told veteran journalist Cliff Hughes that he wanted “The Jamaican DNA” to be stamped on the company’s operations, and Jamaican staffers were able to bring their unique approach to these markets.

In 2004, O’Brien launched the Digicel Foundation, serving Jamaica, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago as well as Papua New Guinea. In Jamaica alone, US$51.4 million has funded 1,718 projects, which have positively impacted 858,165 people. It was a privilege to have served as chair of the foundation for 10 years, the dedicated team members have given people with special needs pride of place, promoting digital education and community development.

In recent years the company has faced financial challenges, and even then they did not halt the work of the foundation. May Digicel continue to endure and shine like their long-standing brand ambassadors, Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.

Farewell to the best of us

On Friday, family and friends gathered at Sts Peter and Paul Church to celebrate the life of a legendary Jamaican — Alma Mock Yen — who transitioned earlier this year at 97 years old. As educator, journalist, author, and parish councillor, Alma, as I called her, demonstrated how one life can be a catalyst for the success and welfare of so many others. She did everything with passion as her media students at Carimac have attested. She was so bright and bold that at the age of 14 she was teaching literature at Merl Grove High School.

Alma’s book,
Rewind, on the evolution of broadcasting in Jamaica has received rave reviews and is required reading for any self-respecting media course. Her students have continued throughout the years to celebrate her, with a 97th surprise birthday party last year and a Public Broadcasting Corporation of Jamaica (PBCJ) exhibition on her phenomenal journey.

I had to blog this comment by Alma in 2024 on
Facebook after incidents of violence: “We are disintegrating as a people and under deep amnesia as a nation if we think others are not noticing the correlation between the too much make-up, too short skirts, too gaudy outfits on both sexes, too little reading and listening, too little training of children in the way they should grow, too little faith in anything spiritual that might help guide us through the dark tunnel of our own Disney World of misunderstandings.”

Let Alma’s passion for her beloved country move us to becoming our best selves.

On Saturday, the faithful gathered at the Holy Trinity Cathedral to say farewell to a unique Jamaican, Bishop Burchell McPherson. His close friend Ambassador Aloun Ndombet Assamba spoke of this teenager from eastern St Andrew who was converted to Catholicism after joining the youth organisation and appointed by Archbishop Samuel Carter to become the first lay person to manage the St Pius X Catholic Church on Bay Farm Road.

Bishop Burchell then studied at St Michael’s Seminary to become a priest, but remained humble and engaging with the youth of his parish. She related an incident at DuPont Primary and Infant School that could have turned ugly when Father Burchell was called. “He arrived in his black shorts and his blue T-shirt, and something happened…let me tell you, things turned once people realised that this black Jamaican giant of a man was our priest.”

She spoke about his guidance of the young people in the parish: “He is the reason why they became the people they are today. Many of them are teachers all over the world, many of them are professional people. The ones who live abroad are professional people, and it is because St Pius the 10th church and the rectory, in particular, was a haven for them.”

A representative of the Jamaica Agricultural Society spoke of Bishop Burchell’s leadership as former chair of Food For the Poor Jamaica, helping small farmers to get housing and supporting agricultural projects which assisted over 22,000 farmers.

Jamaica has been blessed by the work of Alma Mock Yen and Bishop Burchell McPherson. Our deepest sympathy to their loved ones. May their souls rest in peace.

Jean Lowrie-Chin is an author and executive chair of PROComm, PRODEV, and CCRP. Send comments to lowriechin @aim.com.

Motorists navigate heavy water on Short Hand Road in St Andrew on Tuesday as heavy rain pelted sections of the Corporate Area, flooding streets and triggering traffic snarls. Photo: Naphtali Junior

Denis O’Briena

Bishop Burchell McPherson.