Government backbencher Lester Mike Henry, who attended three of 53 parliamentary sittings last year, has sought to defend his extended absence, noting a knee injury that required surgery. The 88-year-old, who serves as member of Parliament (MP)...
A UNIVERSITY professor says job descriptions for members of parliament (MPs) in Jamaica are “useless” because of the Westminster system of government practised which cannot facilitate them. “The MPs know this but they are in a political quagmire...
INTENSE CRITICISM of political representation across the island has triggered a debate on whether members of parliament should reside in their constituencies, a move one public commentator says is worthy of legislative exploration. Only one of the...
THERE HAS been radio silence from the Public Service Commission (PSC) on the court-ordered reinstitution of Dean-Roy Bernard days before the three-month deadline is set to expire. Bernard, the permanent secretary in the education ministry, was “...
THE STATE’S Mines and Geology Division (MGD) has joined the discourse on the suitability of Jack’s Hill in St Andrew for multifamily housing developments, describing the area as “highly prone to a number of geo-hazards”. Much of the hill,...
THE PARLIAMENTARY Opposition has described Prime Minister Andrew Holness’ tabling of a white paper detailing the job description for government ministers as “a start” but said the independence and effectiveness of the legislature is what will...
The multifamily housing developments taking place in Jack’s Hill, St Andrew, have been flagged as “potentially problematic” by Professor Simon Mitchell, the country’s foremost geologist. Mitchell’s position follows concerns raised by residents of...
The Andrew Holness Administration has turned to its international financial partners for assistance in “lifting Jamaicans out of poverty”, declaring that the current economic stability alone would not achieve this. Speaking ahead of a closed...
HEAD OF the Meteorological Service of Jamaica, Evan Thompson, on Wednesday put the country on notice to brace for warmer conditions in the coming months amid an expected rise in temperatures. Thompson, who was speaking at a post-Cabinet press...
A COMPANY registered in Castries, St Lucia, is behind work being done for a proposed housing development on Tavistock Terrace in Jack’s Hill, which caused the collapse of a hillside in the affluent St Andrew community last week. The company,...
A FINAL round of mediation between lawyers representing Member of Parliament (MP) Fitz Jackson and Scotiabank, over the fee applied to encashing a cheque, ended in a stalemate yesterday, forcing the matter to go to trial. The mediation was ordered...
DR KENNETH Russell, one of three people vying to replace Lisa Hanna as the People’s National Party’s (PNP) standard-bearer in St Ann South Eastern, says a nod for him is the party’s best bet at reuniting its extremely splintered base there and to...
IN A telephone conversation with her son Evando on Sunday, Evadnie Smith expressed a burning desire to retire and return home to Jamaica. After years of working in the United States, the latter part of which she spent as a nanny, the 56-year-old...
An apparent impasse between the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) and the developers of the St Jago Hills housing scheme in St Catherine has resulted in a five-month water lock-off in the community, forcing residents to fork out as high as $21,...
PERSONAL INJURY attorney-at-law Vaughn Bignall has been brought before the disciplinary committee of the General Legal Council (GLC) over allegations of professional misconduct involving a decade-old matter. The complaint was brought by 43-year-...
Nigel Jones, the attorney-at-law for government minister Zavia Mayne, has said that millions of dollars paid to his client by the Factories Corporation of Jamaica (FCJ) as part of a land acquisition deal in 2011 “would have been justifiable in the...
Thousands of public passenger vehicle (PPV) operators across the island have been priced out of a $200-million loan earmarked by the Government for the sector after microfinance institutions (MFIs) proposed a slew of requirements for loan take-up,...
The Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) is forecasting that more educators will leave the sector in the coming months amid frustration over continued discrepancies with their salaries. In a Gleaner interview on Friday, JTA President La Sonja...
The Court of Appeal has quashed an application by the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) for residents of Hope Pastures in St Andrew to provide a $6-million security for costs ahead of their appeal of a ruling by the Supreme Court in June last year....
THE CHURCH has called Everald Warmington’s latest public furore an embarrassment to the Government and has questioned Prime Minister Andrew Holness’ seeming reluctance to rein in the minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and...
People’s National Party (PNP) Councillor Lambert Weir is pleading ignorance of the law after the Integrity Commission (IC) ruled that he be charged for breaches of the Corruption Prevention Act and the Integrity Commission Act. The revelation of...
The majority of women working on the seasonal farm work programme in Canada have poured scorn on Jamaican liaison officers there, asserting that the group mandated to ensure that they are treated fairly has been unethical and unresponsive to...
The apparent rise in the illegal administration of dental procedures locally has triggered a warning from the health authorities that these black-market routines may result in life-threatening illnesses or death. The alarm comes amid several social...
The University of the West Indies (UWI) has been forced to cut back on security at its Mona campus in St Andrew after falling into arrears with service provider Guardsman Group Limited. The decision comes amid several robberies and attacks on...
Trade unionist Helene Davis White, who headed a fact-finding team appointed by the Government to investigate the working conditions of Jamaican farm workers in Canada, has shed more light on the findings of the probe, which failed to unearth...
