Bark Di Trute, the blog for Jamaicans at home and abroad. Bark Di Trute welcomes your financial support and materials submitted for publication. Please add your comments to the blogs. Comments that are libellous, abusive, or nonsensical will be deleted. This blog is about sharing information, helping others, and lobbying for a better life for us all.
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| Mrs Zeana Smith has died |
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| These are Holland High School students in a 2016 JIS picture with Principal Pauline Reid. The students followed the rules and did well at their CAPE and CSEC examinations |
We live in a society where many feel they can do what they want to do and they can redesign the rules for organizations. The first thing I had to understand as a student, and my parents had to understand also, was what was required for me to graduate from school and to get a diploma. If you are brighter than the sun and you do not know what the requirements are for graduation, then a peeni wallie light is brighter than you.
The Gleaner headline of July 21, 2026, screams, "GRAD HEARTBREAK - Trelawny school snubs top student over missed grade nine exam." First, what does snubbing have to do with missing a grade nine examination? The administration has decided what the requirements are for graduating and getting a diploma. The loud bawling of the Gleaner's headline and the crocodile tears in the article cannot meet the graduation requirements.
I have a strong feeling that the writer of this article and many others probably did not meet the requirements for graduation, and that is why they are not able to think logically. If the ministry is able to allow one student to graduate who did not meet the requirements, then that would be corruption.
This Holland High School student has decided that she has achieved certain standards; therefore, she did not need to do the examinations. It sounds as if she and her mother are running that school.
She will learn that in society, organizations set their standards, and so do professional examinations. You cannot tell them whether to award you a diploma, a certificate, or a degree, for example. There will be no Ministry of Education to run to.
I have said it before, many of us in the media are helping to tear down the country. It seems to me that parents and students have taken over the educational system. Probably they should set their own requirements, teach their children at home, and give them their diplomas.
The challenge is that this student's name has been broadcast to the world, and many prospective employers might be unwilling to take her on because she could be seen as one who does not follow the rules. Oonu love to run to the media with matters that can be handled locally and discreetly.
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Remember to have your prostate checked out by the doctor, or you might see your maker earlier than he had planned.
Please add your comments at the bottom of the blog.
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Without your support, Bark Di Trute could fail to bark one day. Send your ideas, stories, and news by WhatsApp at (876) 816-5261.
You can view the blog with your computer at https://vderby.blogspot.com, and you will be able to see the various links. For example, there is a link that takes you to the calendar to see what is happening on the weekend. You can even search the site for articles. There is also a weather link, which you can use to track hurricanes.
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The following report was sent to me by someone who bought a new 2026 JETOUR T2 motor vehicle from Tyre Warehouse Ltd., located at 1 Mannings Hill Road in Kingston. If you have bought a vehicle from this car dealer and you had challenges with your vehicle, add your comments at the bottom of this blog and send a WhatsApp message at (876) 816-5261 outlining your challenges.
I purchased a brand-new Jetour T2 with the expectation of owning a safe and reliable vehicle. Instead, my family and I have experienced an ongoing series of troubling brake-related issues from virtually the beginning of ownership.
My first brake complaint was made the day after delivery, when the vehicle had essentially no meaningful mileage. Since then, the front brake rotors have been replaced, yet the same symptoms returned within weeks, while the vehicle still had well under 10,000 km.
The dealer has concluded that the condition resulted from "excessive and continuous braking" and described it as a "driver habit." Based on that conclusion, my request for relief was denied.
However, my concern extends beyond brake rotor wear. On multiple occasions, the vehicle has behaved in ways that raise serious safety questions. While descending hills, the steering wheel and entire vehicle pulsated heavily under braking after recent rotor shaving.
More concerning, the vehicle has unexpectedly applied the brakes on local roads with nothing in its path, coming to a sudden, hard stop before hesitating to accelerate again.
One particularly distressing incident occurred as my family was leaving my father's funeral. While moving slowly in a line of traffic departing the cemetery, the vehicle abruptly braked without warning, despite there being no visible obstruction or pothole.
Experiences like this have left us fearful of driving the vehicle. I fully respect that mechanical faults require technical investigation.
However, I struggle to understand how "driver habit" alone could explain a brake complaint reported virtually immediately after delivery, the recurrence of the same symptoms after new rotors were installed, and the additional behavior of unexpected braking and delayed acceleration.
My purpose in sharing this experience is not simply to seek accountability for my own situation but to encourage a thorough, independent examination of these safety concerns so that no other family is placed at unnecessary risk.
Vehicle safety should never be open to doubt.
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Remember to have your prostate checked out by the doctor, or you might see your maker earlier than he had planned.
Please add your comments at the bottom of the blog.
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| Click Here. |
Keep abreast of the news and information in the world. Bark Di Trute, a Jamaican blog, is packed with accurate information. Click the following link and get information at your fingertips. WhatsApp link is: https://chat.whatsapp.com/C9bkP96JIN2JgHiuktY3Jj
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| Click here and win. |
It's best to view this blog on your computer at https://vderby.blogspot.com.
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Without your support, Bark Di Trute could fail to bark one day. Send your ideas, stories, and news by WhatsApp at (876) 816-5261.
You can view the blog with your computer at https://vderby.blogspot.com, and you will be able to see the various links. For example, there is a link that takes you to the calendar to see what is happening on the weekend. You can even search the site for articles. There is also a weather link, which you can use to track hurricanes.
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Bark Di Trute received the following message from Dr Barbara Carby.
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| Dr. Barbara Carby |
Mr Darby,
The efforts of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security to engage with seniors are to be commended. I decided to send this after having received the notice that life certificates can now be returned by email. A most welcome step that saves us a trip to the post office or the ministry.
I then learned that the ministry also organizes a Spelling Bee for seniors as well as a market at which farm produce can be bought. There is also the annual National Senior Citizens Month celebration, and no doubt there are other activities of which I am not aware. Kudos to the MLSS for recognizing the important contribution of senior citizens to the country and for continuing to engage with them.
Editor's Note
The Ministry should promote the fact that the Ministry is allowing pensioners to send in their life certificates by email. The pensioners must be happy that we are retiring the old system of dealing with Life Certificates.
Thanks for your feedback, Dr Carby. This will be brought to the attention of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.
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Remember to have your prostate checked out by the doctor, or you might see your maker earlier than he had planned.
Please add your comments at the bottom of the blog.
______________________
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| Click Here. |
Keep abreast of the news and information in the world. Bark Di Trute, a Jamaican blog, is packed with accurate information. Click the following link and get information at your fingertips. WhatsApp link is: https://chat.whatsapp.com/C9bkP96JIN2JgHiuktY3Jj
______________________________
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| Click here and win. |
It's best to view this blog on your computer at https://vderby.blogspot.com.
_________________
Without your support, Bark Di Trute could fail to bark one day. Send your ideas, stories, and news by WhatsApp at (876) 816-5261.
You can view the blog with your computer at https://vderby.blogspot.com, and you will be able to see the various links. For example, there is a link that takes you to the calendar to see what is happening on the weekend. You can even search the site for articles. There is also a weather link, which you can use to track hurricanes.
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Contributed
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| Michael Spence |
The question of PNP leadership is now being confronted. Do Mark Golding, Julian Robinson, Damion Crawford, Nickiesha Burrell "Nicki B", or Peter Bunting have the charismatic, dancehall-rooted appeal needed to mobilize voters? Even if any one does, charisma alone will not shift Jamaica’s political economy. Real power here does not reside in Parliament alone. It resides with the economic elite—roughly 1 per cent of the population.
Any serious reform must be negotiated with that group, because they set the terms on which the country operates. Not the noise in the dancehall.
The terms today are defined by a Motorized Pyramid Scheme Economic Model. MPSEM is not built on production. It is built on extraction: ticketing, taxation, fees, high duties, and penalties. Its foundation is the estimated 700,000 motor vehicles on our roads. We have created a system that taxes movement instead of rewarding output.
Running parallel to this is a second economy, one that is growing just as fast. A lucrative crime industry that feeds on the same conditions of low production, high cost, and few legitimate opportunities.
We cannot campaign our way out of this, and we cannot ticket our way out of it either. If Jamaica is to change course, the next leadership will need more than crowd appeal.
It will need the will to confront the economic interests that benefit from MPSEM and the courage to replace extraction with production as the basis of our economy. Without that, transformation will remain a slogan.
Michael Spence
Michael Spence is a graduate of Cornwall College and the University of the West Indies. He is a trained teacher, a sociologist, and a writer for Bark Di Trute.
Email: Micspen2@hotmail.com
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Remember to have your prostate checked out by the doctor, or you might see your maker earlier than he had planned.
Please add your comments to the blog.
______________________
Keep abreast of the news and information in the world. Bark Di Trute, a Jamaican blog, is packed with accurate information. Click the following link and get information at your fingertips. WhatsApp link is: https://chat.whatsapp.com/C9bkP96JIN2JgHiuktY3Jj
______________________________
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| Click here and win. |
It's best to view this blog on your computer at https://vderby.blogspot.com.
_________________
Without your support, Bark Di Trute could fail to bark one day. Send your ideas, stories, and news by WhatsApp at (876) 816-5261.
You can view the blog with your computer at https://vderby.blogspot.com, and you will be able to see the various links. For example, there is a link that takes you to the calendar to see what is happening on the weekend. You can even search the site for articles. There is also a weather link, which you can use to track hurricanes.
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Contributed
The leaked voice notes allegedly from members of the People's National Party's National Executive Committee have shifted the debate beyond ordinary political disagreement. If authentic, they raise legitimate questions about how the Opposition approaches its role in Jamaica's democracy.
According to the reported recordings, discussions were not limited to examining the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA) on its merits. Instead, the conversation allegedly focused on what political strategy would be most effective in weakening public support for the initiative.
One of the most striking statements attributed to a PNP NEC member was that "the corruption argument is not going to be attached to [Major General Antony Anderson] so easily" because of his reputation for integrity and public service. Another voice is reported as saying that NaRRA represented the Jamaica Labour Party's pathway to a fourth consecutive term and that the PNP needed to "play our ball game of politics."
If those recordings accurately reflect the discussion, they present a troubling picture.
In any democracy, the Opposition has a duty to scrutinize government policy, expose waste, question procurement, and demand accountability. That is not only legitimate—it is essential.
But there is an important distinction between investigating evidence of wrongdoing and discussing how to make corruption allegations politically effective, particularly when the same conversation acknowledges that the individual in question enjoys a reputation for integrity. That distinction matters.
The Jamaica Labour Party has seized on the recordings in a strongly worded press release, describing them as evidence of "delay tactics" aimed at slowing reconstruction efforts and a willingness to use "baseless allegations" to damage the reputations of respected public servants. The JLP argues that the recordings reveal an intention to prioritize political advantage over national recovery.
The government's characterization is, of course, partisan and should be viewed in that context. However, the contents of the alleged recordings themselves are what have attracted public attention. Equally noteworthy is what has happened since.
To date, there has been no public denial from the PNP disputing the authenticity of the voice notes or claiming they were fabricated or manipulated, at least based on publicly available reporting. In politics, silence does not necessarily amount to an admission, and there may be strategic, legal, or other reasons why a party chooses not to respond. Nevertheless, the absence of a clear public denial has allowed the recordings to dominate the public conversation and has fueled speculation about their authenticity.
The larger issue extends beyond one political party. Jamaicans expect robust political competition. They expect governments to be challenged and oppositions to be vigilant. What they should not expect is a political culture in which success is measured by finding the most effective way to discredit national initiatives regardless of their potential benefit to the country.
If NaRRA fails, it should be criticized with facts, evidence, and accountability. If it succeeds in helping communities recover after a devastating hurricane, that success belongs first to the Jamaican people—not to any political party.
Politics works best when debate is rooted in truth rather than strategy alone. If public confidence is undermined by tactical messaging instead of evidence-based criticism, trust in democratic institutions suffers.
Ultimately, the leaked recordings—if authentic—raise a broader question: Should Jamaica's political parties compete over who can govern better, or over who can more effectively obstruct the other's success? That is a question every Jamaican voter has a right to ask.
Contributed by Anthony Fisher
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| Anthony Fisher |
Anthony Fisher attended Frome Technical High and Illinois State University. He has a BSc in Mass Media. A former videographer at the Jamaica Information Service, he is now a multimedia communication specialist at the University of Illinois.
Anthony is a member of the diaspora who continues to show keen interest in Jamaica. We appreciate members of the diaspora supporting Bark Di Trute.
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Remember to have your prostate checked out by the doctor, or you might see your maker earlier than he had planned.
Please add your comments to the blog.
______________________
Keep abreast of the news and information in the world. Bark Di Trute, a Jamaican blog, is packed with accurate information. Click the following link and get information at your fingertips. WhatsApp link is: https://chat.whatsapp.com/C9bkP96JIN2JgHiuktY3Jj
______________________________
|
| Click here and win. |
It's best to view this blog on your computer at https://vderby.blogspot.com.
_________________
Without your support, Bark Di Trute could fail to bark one day. Send your ideas, stories, and news by WhatsApp at (876) 816-5261.
You can view the blog with your computer at https://vderby.blogspot.com, and you will be able to see the various links. For example, there is a link that takes you to the calendar to see what is happening on the weekend. You can even search the site for articles. There is also a weather link, which you can use to track hurricanes.
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