The decision of Andrew Holness’ government to again postpone the local government election (LGE), constitutionally due in November 2020, is a significant factor in the current evolving Jamaican political landscape. Jamaica Labour Party government...
Tourism has the potential to transform the lives of a significant number of Jamaicans because of its linkage to other industries. A responsible government works to ensure that policies are in place to facilitate real transformation. Jamaica’s...
Presidential and legislative polls were recently conducted in Nigeria under very difficult circumstances. A botched change of currency that prevented depositors withdrawing their funds demonstrated yet again the rank incompetence and callous...
After clumsy initial communications between the Government and the Jamaica Teachers’ Association, (JTA), the parties have come to a stalemate. The minister of finance threw down the gauntlet: $12 billion, take it or leave it. Sixty per cent of the...
I have a friend, a math professor, who tells me that he once instructed Nigel Clarke when he was studying financial mathematics. “Looking back, what stands out is his burning ambition, not just to do well at university, but to attain something...
It seems Nigel Clarke sees media coverage of the SSL fraud saga as undeserved adverse comment on his stewardship of the financial sector. Why do I say this? Well, he wrote a Gleaner Op-Ed piece (January 28) and, in opening the Budget Debate,...
Over the past few decades, there has been a groundswell in calls for better governance of sport organisations from governments, media, athletes, fans, sponsors, and other stakeholders. This has been fuelled by scandals involving corruption and the...
The global food security crisis reveals an increase in the undernourishment prevalence, reaching higher than in 2015, when countries first agreed to eradicate hunger by 2030 as one of the SDG targets. In the Caribbean, between 2014 and 2021, hunger...
In furtherance of executing the goals and objectives under Plan Secure Jamaica, the Government has not only sought to strengthen the security forces, but has ensured the upgrade and modernisation of the institutions that offer critical support to...
I’ve repeatedly warned you we don’t have democracy in Jamaica. The latest confirmation came on February 21, in Parliament, where a farcical display by Government MPs saw them using their majority to bulldoze a fourth Local Government Election...
We were seated at a semi-private section at the rear of a small joint close to the Cross Roads area. My sociologist friend was at one end of an old wooden table. She was sipping a beer. The place and the afternoon was cool and quiet and perfect for...
“... May God punish those who constructed these buildings that collapsed and whoever did not inspect them ...” wailed Zahide Acikgoz on Al Jazeera News 129 hours after the Turkey-Syria Earthquakes. Acikgoz and two of her children survived. She was...
By now every media consumer knows of the kerfuffle over timing of Integrity Commission’s (IC) reports on its investigations of a 2006-2009 relationship between PM and Westcon Construction Limited. What was that relationship? As MP, Andrew Holness...
There is a significant political view that a feeling of arrogance has gained footing inside the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), and in the medium to long term, it may not work to the JLP’s advantage. It goes like this. The JLP’s default mode on its...
While US President Joe Biden was touring Ukraine in a surprise visit to show support for the war effort, his rival, President Donald Trump, was addressing the home-based tragedy of the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, and its impact on...
The recently deceased Brazilian footballer, Pelé – Edson Arantes do Nascimento – was born in October 1940 to Dondinho and Celeste. He grew up in a shack in the poverty-stricken Brazilian town of Três Corações, playing football barefoot on the...
Recently, I encountered the South Coast Highway Improvement Project (SCHIP) roadworks on my way to Bull Bay. Apart from the poor state of the roads, I noticed a grey film covering anything close to the road - trees, light posts, cars, shops, houses...
The ocean is a trillion-dollar business. Globally, the goods and services generated each year from the ocean are worth an estimated US$2.5 trillion though the ocean itself as an asset is worth far more, at least US$24 trillion. Certainly, for 49 of...
Jamaica’s attempt to apply Westminster to a three million population with just 63 MPs has succeeded only in creating Government by Diktat. For example, last Sunday I queried Nigel Clarke’s facile assertion that files are “cleared” whenever a new...
Ever since Barbados declared itself a republic and swore in Dame Sandra Mason as president in 2021, there have been more and more calls for Jamaica to do the same. For years, since gaining independence from Britain in 1962, some activists have been...
I tend to fall on the side of Jamaicans who believe that maximum penalties ought to be imposed on convicted baby killers, rapists of all types, rampaging shottas, and those in an irreversible embrace of the gun. Like some of you reading this, I do...
Jamaicans all over the world are riveted by the allegations of a multibillion Jamaican dollar fraud in the securities/investment sector. Undoubtedly, the news is more widespread because of the allegations that track legend Usain Bolt lost millions...
One should not be afraid to reaffirm one’s understanding of a norm or a class construct even if its admittance or discovery is socially embarrassing. Let’s use lottery scamming as an example. Most law-abiding Jamaicans believe that it’s wrong. And...
Health inequality is a legacy I did not want to inherit, yet it invaded my earliest memories as a black girl in Jamaica and an adult in the United States. I learned that race, class, and colour can determine your access to resources and quality...
Whenever life’s vicissitudes rubbished my predictions or promises the Dunce’s consolation was always “If a macca mek it jook yu!” On Tuesday readers learned why I’ve been avoiding comment on the specifics of SSL fraud allegations shocking the...
