With downsides all around, Jamaicans need some upbeat news. We are therefore pleased that Finance Minister Mrs Fayval Williams has found it possible to assure us that the economic outlook, just under a year after Hurricane Melissa, is nowhere near as bad as had been feared.

Mrs Williams recalls that, following the hurricane in late October, the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) projected that the country would not get back to its pre-Melissa level of output until the last quarter of 2028.

Now, she tells us the PIOJ expects that the economy will begin to see growth by the second quarter of 2027 — “six quarters earlier, a year-and-a-half earlier”. According to her, the PIOJ has been able to revise its forecast “because the out-turn keeps getting better”.

Nonetheless, Mrs Williams concedes that not everybody is feeling the upsides “just yet”. And, furthermore, inflation — largely fuelled by the USA’s war on Iran and resulting surge in oil prices — had triggered inflation at 7.5 per cent as measured in July.

How Jamaica battles its way past the various economic and social challenges will largely depend on the capacity and determination of our people to respond. Such as the resilience shown by Half Moon luxury resort at Rose Hall, just west of Montego Bay, and the nature adventure park and tours operator Chukka Jamaica.

Both entities were reported by our journalist covering the 2026 Jamaica Product Exchange as saying that they are looking beyond the devastation from Melissa to refresh, redesign, and rethink.

Half Moon resort’s Sales and Marketing Director Ms Sharon Logan indicated that, as a result of Melissa’s impact, there have been improvements across the 400-acre property, including its rooms, meeting spaces, lobby, roads, and pool areas.

According to her, improved and expanded beaches have even resulted from “30 truckloads of sand” fortuitously washed up and left by the monstrous Category 5 storm.

And for Chukka Jamaica, the impact of the storm on the natural environment, such as rivers on which the adventure and tour company heavily depends, has forced a move to more efficient processes.

“We have had to look at things we have never thought [about]… it really has had us reflecting on our own processes and procedures and being more efficient in how we deliver our experiences,” explained Chukka Jamaica’s Ms Ilia Tomlinson.

Also, as Jamaicans rebuild after Melissa, we believe Sandals Resorts and its charity arm Sandals Foundation, have provided wonderful inspiration.

Immediately after Hurricane Melissa cut its devastating path through western Jamaica — coming ashore in eastern Westmoreland and exiting over Trelawny — Sandals announced that staff employed at badly damaged, shuttered hotels would remain on the payroll.

Now we hear that restoration work, which in ordinary circumstances would have taken three years to complete, has been done in nine and a half months.

And not only has Sandals — a cornerstone of Jamaica’s life-giving tourism industry —battled its way back to its feet with admirable speed, it has thrown its weight behind the hard-hit education sector.

Sandals Foundation has reportedly invested $214 million in partnership with like-minded others in the restoration of schools in western and northern parishes, including structural rebuilds, re-roofing, solar power and water security upgrades.

That’s a path all of corporate Jamaica needs to follow.