climate resilience

In recent years, the idea of a “strong home” in Jamaica has taken on new meaning. It’s no longer enough to talk about square footage, finishes, or market value. Strength now has to account for weather patterns that are no longer predictable, rising construction costs, changing family structures, and a growing awareness that the way we build today shapes how safely — and comfortably — we live...

Jamaica has always understood property as something deeply human. A house is not just shelter; it is inheritance, security, sacrifice, and, often, the single largest investment a family will ever make. From modest board homes to hillside villas, from commercial buildings in Half-Way Tree to apartments rising across Kingston’s skyline, Jamaican real estate has traditionally been grounded in physical...

Jamaica has always known how to rebuild. Not in the glossy, headline-friendly way, but in the real way—slow mornings after hard nights, neighbours checking on neighbours, zinc roofs patched before dreams are repainted, and families quietly deciding what comes next. In the shadow of Hurricane Melissa, many Jamaicans are still finding their footing, recalculating priorities, and asking not just where...

Jamaica’s housing crisis did not begin this year, nor will it end quickly. But if we are honest with ourselves, the gap between who housing is being built for and who actually needs housing has widened even further since early 2025. Rising prices, climate shocks, insurance costs, and constrained lending have combined into a quiet but relentless squeeze—one that is now reshaping who can realistically...

Why the Rebuilding Phase Will Reshape Jamaica’s Economy for Years to Come When a nation survives a storm like Hurricane Melissa, the first instinct is to mourn what has been lost: homes, crops, roads, stability, and in some cases, peace of mind. But the Jamaican spirit has never stayed down for long. We are a country shaped by challenges—economic shocks, natural disasters, shifting global...

There are moments in a country’s life when everything stops pretending. No press release.No politics.No polite language. Just truth standing in the open. That’s what happened when Hurricane Melissa crossed Jamaica. Not just roofs gone.Not just roads ripped open.Not just farms flattened and coastlines chewed away. What disappeared was the old comfort that Jamaica could rebuild forever...

THIS PIECE REFLECTS ON JAMAICA’S RELATIONSHIP WITH LAND AND PROPERTY ACROSS PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE, SHAPED BY HISTORY, CLIMATE, AND GLOBAL INFLUENCE. He stands facing us, eyes steady, unblinking.Green, gold, and black are not just painted on his face — they are carried in him. Not costume. Not performance. Inheritance. Behind him, the island’s colours refuse to stay flat. They spill into...

There are moments in a nation’s story when buildings become more than walls, roofs, and foundations. They become symbols—of resilience, renewal, and the stubborn optimism that lives in people who decide to rebuild after everything around them has fallen away. Jamaica, having just endured a Category 5 hurricane, has entered one of those moments. Yet, beneath every home rebuilt, every community...

Hurricane Melissa was not merely a storm. It was a moment of reckoning — a brutal reminder that beauty and fragility often share the same horizon. In two short days, the Caribbean’s most vibrant island was rewritten. Jamaica’s economy, its infrastructure, and the very way people inhabit space have been reshaped by an invisible force of wind and water. Nearly J$1 trillion in losses. Over a hundred...

1. Darkness Falls A storm passed, but the real tempest is the silence that follows. Jamaica’s power grid is still buckled; JPS flickers like a dying candle. Flow is down. Digicel, too. The hum of Wi-Fi routers is gone, replaced by the hiss of kerosene lamps and the rhythm of hand fans. The majority of the country has all but come to a standstill. There’s no sugar-coating it — this is the...