The Beharie Letter: Second Looks, November 15, 2026

Good morning, friends, and happy Sunday.

This week’s news has a common thread: second looks. A hospital Jamaica’s prime minister now says should have been rebuilt from scratch, oil approvals Norway must redo, and a climate summit measuring its promises against what is actually needed. Here are six stories worth your coffee this morning. And if you missed it, yesterday I published A Jamaican Christmas vs a Norwegian Jul, just in time for the season.

This week’s six stories

1. Montego Bay’s emergency department finally reopens

After nearly a decade of disruption, Cornwall Regional Hospital in Montego Bay reopened its Accident and Emergency department on Friday. The trouble began in 2017, when staff complained of noxious fumes and services were moved out to facilities across St James, Trelawny and Hanover. What first looked like an air-conditioning repair turned into gutting the 52-year-old, ten-storey building.

At the opening, Prime Minister Andrew Holness apologized to western Jamaica for the delay. He also admitted that tearing the building down and starting again might have been quicker, and said that going forward it makes more economic sense to replace old buildings than to rehabilitate them. Then he went further. Jamaica has not built a public hospital in more than four decades, he said, so the expertise to deliver one efficiently has faded. The country has the money but lacks “an embedded culture of quickly converting the capital budget into concrete.”

The new department is twice the size of the temporary space, with a CT scanner, digital X-ray and its own operating theatres. A question worth sitting with: how does a country rebuild the skills it stopped using?

2. Norway’s Supreme Court sends three oil fields back for review

On Friday, Norway’s Supreme Court ruled that the government’s approvals for three North Sea developments were invalid: Equinor’s Breidablikk and Aker BP’s Tyrving and Yggdrasil. The case was brought by Greenpeace Nordic and Natur og Ungdom (Young Friends of the Earth Norway).

The issue was the environmental assessment. By six votes to five, the court’s Grand Chamber held that the state must assess the emissions from burning the oil and gas, including emissions released outside Norway, and weigh them together with other existing and approved projects on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

It is worth being precise about what the ruling does not do. Production does not stop. The oil companies were not parties to the case, so their licenses do not automatically lapse. Instead, the government must reconsider each approval using the correct procedure, and Energy Minister Terje Aasland said the shortcomings would be fixed as soon as possible. The campaigners say the ruling changes Norwegian oil policy for good.

For everyone who works on the shelf, the ruling sets the bar future approvals will be measured against: climate assessments must now cover combustion emissions and the cumulative picture.

3. Jamaica’s tourism comeback heads into winter

A little over a year after Hurricane Melissa struck Jamaica as a Category 5 storm, the island’s tourism industry is heading into the winter season with more rooms and more flights. According to the Jamaica Tourist Board, more than 75 percent of hotel rooms are operating, with 90 percent projected to be available by December 1. Airlines have added service from the United States, Canada and Latin America.

Some well-known resorts are coming back after long closures and major renovations. Sandals South Coast in Whitehouse reopens this Wednesday, November 18. Sandals Montego Bay and the renamed Sandals Caribbean Cay, formerly Sandals Royal Caribbean, follow on December 18. Other properties expected back for the season include Coyaba Beach Resort, Bahia Principe Explore Runaway Bay and JOIA Rose Hall by Iberostar.

Every reopened hotel means work for housekeepers, cooks, drivers, craft vendors and the farmers who supply the kitchens. Recovery is uneven, and not every community has bounced back at the same pace. If you are planning a winter trip home, or recommending Jamaica to Norwegian friends, there are now more rooms to choose from.

More: Hurricane Season and Norwegian Winter: Preparing for the Weather You Live With

4. Safer streets, but still too many deaths on the road

Jamaica’s murder figures continue to fall. Last year the country recorded fewer than 700 murders for the first time in more than three decades, and by early October murders were down another 24 percent. September’s 36 murders were the lowest monthly total in more than 30 years. National Security Minister Horace Chang credits investment in police numbers, technology and training, while cautioning that the gains cannot be taken for granted.

The roads tell a harder story. On Thursday the Gleaner reported that 300 people have died on Jamaica’s roads this year, the 14th year in a row the toll has reached that mark. That is about 8 percent fewer than at this point last year, when Jamaica went on to record 374 road deaths. The last year below 300 was 2012. Motorcyclists account for almost a third of the deaths, and the National Road Safety Council is calling for more training, licensing and insurance for riders, along with stronger enforcement against speeding.

Slow down, wear a helmet, and if you ride, get licensed and insured.

More: Top Five: Iran Blockade, Eisenkot, Road Deaths, Gangs and BVI

5. Winter power bills push Norway’s prices up

Prices in Norway rose 3.6 percent in the year to October, up from 3.4 percent in September, according to Statistics Norway (SSB). The main driver was electricity. Including grid rent, electricity cost 12.8 percent more than a year earlier, even though many households now pay a fixed price through the Norgespris scheme. Fuel was up 25.8 percent over the same period.

Part of the jump is a comparison effect. Last October, the introduction of Norgespris and a lower electricity tax pulled measured prices down, so this October looks expensive next to it. Underneath, the picture is calmer: core inflation, which leaves out energy and tax changes, eased to 2.7 percent, and food prices rose only 1.4 percent. Norges Bank held its policy rate at 4.5 percent on November 5.

Heading into the darkest months, it is a good time to check which electricity agreement you are on and what it costs you, and to set something aside for January bills.

More: Moving to Norway for Work: A Practical Guide for Caribbean Professionals

6. COP31: one table, two very different stakes

The UN climate summit COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye, enters its second and final week tomorrow, running until November 20. Governments remain divided over two big questions: money for adaptation and the future of fossil fuels.

On adaptation, countries agreed last year to at least triple finance for developing countries by 2035, but they still disagree on how to measure it, including which baseline to use. UN Secretary-General António Guterres, at his last COP before leaving office, warned that even tripling adaptation finance would meet less than 30 percent of what vulnerable countries need, and called for taxing fossil fuel windfall profits to help pay. On energy, Brazil presented a roadmap for transitioning away from fossil fuels, while oil and gas producers defended their development priorities. Australia, which is leading the negotiations, has circulated proposals for a final outcome.

For our two countries, the stakes look very different. Jamaica, still rebuilding after Melissa, is exactly the kind of country adaptation finance is meant for. Norway, one of Europe’s main energy suppliers, faces questions about its own production, sharpened by this week’s Supreme Court ruling. Watch how the final text treats both.

More: Top Five: COP31, Deportations, Negril Roads, Land and Lime

Closing thought

A hospital that should have been rebuilt, oil approvals that must be redone, climate promises measured against real needs. Each story asks the same question in a different place: what will we do differently next time?

Thank you for reading. Share this letter with someone who would enjoy it, and reply anytime. I read every message.

Blessings,
Colin

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