This article looks in two parts at the erosion of trade policy space in global trade. Part I focuses on the incompatibility with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules of GCT levied solely on imports. Part II observes that regional and inter-...
To me, Maureen McGovern’s haunting melody of There’s Got to Be a Morning After, from the film The Poseidon Adventure (1972), resonates with hope, a powerful sentiment needed as we face the challenges currently afflicting Haiti. Inspired by this...
When I migrated from Jamaica in 1979 to America, the word diaspora was not in my vocabulary. With the recognition and the introduction of ‘diaspora’ that was meant to forge a deeper relationship between Jamaicans at home and abroad, I have watched...
So the Attorney-General (A.G.) has refused Gleaner’s Access to Information Act request for a copy of his Opinion delivered to the Speaker regarding tabling of Auditor-General (AudGen) reports. According to Gleaner, admittedly an interested party, A...
The Bob Marley: One Love blockbuster movie opened in theatres across the globe on Valentine’s Day. It resurrected a Rastafari concept that provides a potent counternarrative to the popular use of violence as a power mechanism. Bob Marley: One Love...
In 2016 and in 2020, I allowed myself to feel political emotion for the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP). So I voted for the party in the general elections held in those years. Of course, to anchor myself to political sanity, in 2020, I was convinced...
Social disorder. Prisons emptied of violent criminals by gangs looking to rebuild their ranks. Schools, hospitals, and pharmacies targeted for looting and frequently burned. Corpses left rotting in the streets for fear of succumbing to the same...
“There was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat on it … Do not be afraid … He is not here; for He is risen,” wrote Matthew in Chapter 28. So, what should be...
There was an article in The Observer of March 27 titled ‘Grange, Wehby see positives in international participation at Champs’. Of course, all actions carried out by man have positives or they would not be done. It depends on the perspective. Some...
Basil Jarrett wrote an article in The Gleaner on March 21, titled ‘No Champs for me this year’. On March 31, 2024, Lascelve Graham followed up with ‘Champs and its crippling effect on socialisation system’. Both these articles have sparked...
Given how crucial regional cooperation is to Africa where intra-regional trade is a paltry 14 per cent, there was a surprisingly muted response to the recent death, at 98, of one of last century’s greatest architects of regional integration:...
One of the main ideas behind the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) administration’s decision to award the political class whopping salary increases, seemingly in the dead of night while the people were sleeping, was its possibility to be a buffer to...
In his Budget presentation on March 19, the Opposition Leader, Mr Mark Golding, offered his viewpoint on national security. He indicated that it should be viewed in a comprehensive way to include non-traditional security concerns such as education...
There’s plenty to criticise this Government about (and I’m always happy to oblige) but none of those issues involve its stellar performance in tourism. By the end of 2019, just before the plague arrived, tourism revenues as a percentage of GDP rose...
Historically, well within the lifetimes of my parents and me, there have been several instances where nations that have experienced extreme social upheaval have emerged as champions of economic productivity in the modern era. Consider starring...
Many are not aware that I represented my beloved alma mater, St. George’s College (STGC) at Champs. No, I was not in the mould of a Usain Bolt. In fact I must have been considered by the coach to be numbered among those of little talent, who had...
There’s seemingly widespread misunderstanding of the meaning of “conflict of interest” especially as it relates to public officials where the relevant “conflict” is one of duty and interest. Several comments on last Sunday’s column ( Behind Every...
To watch the devolution of a party whose effective governance was on full display during the peak of COVID-19 in just about all of 2020 is painful. That was just four years ago. But, let us jump the gun. The political and governance concerns...
In November 2024, I had the pleasure of travelling to Ghana to participate in the African Reparations Conference hosted by the African Union Commission and the Government of The Republic of Ghana. It was an inspirational event with people from...
Jamaica possesses the highest proportion of urban residents on informal land holdings within the Latin American and Caribbean region, surpassed only by Haiti. This is not surprising when considering that 350,000 parcels or 40 per cent of all...
Yet again the nation’s parliament, purportedly where currently overpaid members are required to “make laws for the peace, order and good government of Jamaica”, was converted to a puerile poppy show. It all began with an unfortunate slip of the...
I was never quite comfortable when the prime minister’s wife was made Speaker of the House in September 2023. To be clear, it wasn’t a moment that earned any special applause and, the way I figured it, it was not something that ticked off the...
If a dog bites a man, that’s not news, but if a man bites a dog, that’s news. So, on February 26, when Aaron Bushnell, a 25-year-old serviceman in the United States Air Force set himself on fire in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington to...
In Haiti’s heart, a heavy sigh, Where gunshots pierce the morning sky. Innocent lives, a fleeting breath, Lost in a rainless storm bringing death. And even sadder, children stand, Books unopened, dreams in sand. Empty...
Having dropped the ball on Haiti, apparently shameless CARICOM leaders are huffing and puffing in an inelegant scramble to appear to retrieve it. I TOLD YOU three months ago the situation in Haiti was far more important to CARICOM than any fool-...
