LITTLE LONDON — Still without power almost two weeks after Hurricane Beryl knocked out electricity in some sections of the country, frustration has turned to anger being played out in pockets of protest by residents who have had enough. There were three in Westmoreland on Tuesday, two of them fiery.

The complaints are similar: nearby areas have power, so why don’t they; unscrupulous individuals are charging them to restore the electricity supply and life is a miserable blend of heat, mosquitoes and just general discomfort. From as early as 5:00 am Tuesday residents of Sheffield blocked the community’s main road, leaving hotel employees and others trying to make their way to work stranded.

“We waah light,” demanded Shawn Wright, who vowed the blockage would be remounted as soon as it was cleared by the police.  She told the Jamaica Observer that the heat and mosquitos had become unbearable.  “How comes some people get back light and we cyaan get back none?” Wright queried.

The same question was asked during the first fiery protest in Little London which began shortly after noon. Tempers flared along with debris placed on the road and set ablaze. Residents used fallen utility poles, trees, old appliances and other items to block the intersection that connects Grant Bush and Little London. Those gathered said they were protesting the lack of electricity within several communities including Grant Bush and Ebenezer.  As firefighters fought to extinguish that blaze and clear the blockage, they were alerted to another fiery roadblock less than 1,000 feet away in Ebenezer. That fire reportedly started shortly before 1:00 pm.

According to a resident who gave his name as “Code One”, they understand that service was disrupted because of the hurricane but they took to the streets because they think they are being ignored. He pointed out that electricity had been restored to surrounding communities but Grant Bush was still in darkness at night. In his view, he could see no major damage to infrastructure that would cause a delay in service being provided to his community.

“Wi nuh have nuh bruk post, wi nuh have nuh tree inna road; every post and line good. Cottage has light, Johnson Bush has light. Inna London town has light and all now wi nuh have no light! How come Grant Bush nuh have no light?” he raged. The Jamaica Public Service (JPS) has repeatedly explained that service disruption may be caused by damage that is not immediately apparent to the untrained eye. It has also provided steady updates on the progress being made along with warnings not to be tricked into paying to have power restored.

On Tuesday, some protesters alleged that money is changing hands and communities that pay have had their electricity restored. A day earlier, JPS issued a press release highlighting a report from the Westmoreland police that they had arrested a man who had been caught soliciting payment from residents and promising to have their power restored. The utility company said the man was neither a JPS worker nor contractor. Repeating appeals first made two days after Hurricane Beryl, the company then reminded the public that legitimate JPS workers will have photo ID on their person and no JPS employee will be soliciting payment to have electricity reconnected.

On Wednesday, Code One complained that even though representatives from the JPS visited and conducted an assessment of the area two to three days ago, that has not translated into visible progress in getting power back on in his community. He estimated that he has been spending approximately $5,000 daily to purchase gasoline for his generator. (Jamaicaobserver)…[+]

LIMA – Authorities in Paraguay seized over 4 tons of cocaine with a market value of around $240 million inside a shipment of sugar that was destined for Belgium, the country’s anti-drug agency Senad said Tuesday.

The cocaine bust – named “Operation Sweetness” – is the largest in the country’s history and was carried out in capital Asuncion’s seaport, according to Senad.  Senad said that after “detecting a suspicious shipment” it coordinated with other government agencies to carry out the drug bust, adding that currently more containers are being inspected and that “all investigative proceedings are focused on the criminal structure that set in motion the logistics of mobilizing the megaload mainly for the European continent.”

One person has been detained, a truck driver who allegedly dropped off the drug shipment at the seaport, Senad’s Minister Jalil Rachid told Paraguayan network ABC. Rachid provided few details into the investigation but said an organized criminal group was likely behind the shipment.

“Nowadays, drugs don’t leave Paraguay, the drugs are confiscated here in our territory, and now the big challenge is to prevent drugs entering Paraguay, clearly the country is not a cocaine producer,” Paraguay’s President Santiago Peña told local media after the drug bust. Peña said the country is “used as drug route and obviously this (bust) is going to discourage (traffickers).”  “I think this is a signal sent to organized crime groups to stop using Paraguay, because they will be met with authorities that are determined,” the president said. (CNN)…[+]

MALAYSIA – Relatives of passengers killed when Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over Ukraine gathered with officials at Australia’s Parliament House on Wednesday to mark the 10th anniversary of the tragedy that claimed 298 lives. One of those relatives, Paul Guard, mostly blames the conflict raging in eastern Ukraine a decade ago for the missile attack that killed 38 Australian citizens and permanent residents including his parents, Toowoomba doctors Roger and Jill Guard. I don’t think anyone intended to bring down a passenger plane. So in that sense, I’m heartbroken that the conflict continues,” Paul Guard told Australian Broadcasting Corp ABC

But I think that a lot of families would really have just liked an acknowledgement that what happened was wrong and that Russia should not have been waging war,” the son added. The conflict has since escalated into a full-scale war with Russia’s invasion of its smaller neighbor in February 2022.The pro-Russia rebel-held border region from where a Soviet-era Buk surface-to-air missile was fatefully launched and the fields where much of the debris landed after the Boeing 777 disintegrated is now territory controlled by the Russian military. Moscow has repeatedly denied responsibility for MH17’s destruction and refused to hand over two Russians and a Ukrainian convicted by a Dutch court in absentia in 2022 of murder.

Russia continues to be pursued under international law by the Netherlands through the European Court of Human Rights and by Australia and the Netherlands jointly through the International Civil Aviation Organization Council, or ICAO, over its alleged role in bringing down MH17. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong told Wednesday’s service she was appalled” that Russia had withdrawn from the ICAO proceedings in June.

The case will continue and we will not be deterred in our commitment to hold Russia to account,” Wong told the gathering that included foreign diplomats. Today, on behalf of the Australian government, I recommit again to our collective pursuit of truth, justice and accountability for the outrages perpetrated on 17th July, 2014 she added. A commemoration is also planned in the Netherlands later Wednesday at a monument near Schiphol Airport, from where MH17 left on its way to the Malaysian city of Kuala Lumpur. Australian Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus will represent Australia at that monument, where 298 trees were planted to commemorate each victim and sunflowers like those that grew at the crash site. He expected the Netherlands-Australia case against Russia would be back before the ICAO in October despite Moscow’s withdrawal. (CCN)…[+]