Jamaica

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC- Dr. Olive Lewin the well known Jamaican musicologist, folklorist and founder of the Jamaican Folk Singers is dead.

Lewin, 85, who died on Wednesday, dedicated her life to keeping the nation’s traditional songs alive by researching, collecting and recording anthologies for the benefit of future generations.

In the 1980s Lewin also spearheaded the Jamaica Memory Bank Project, at the direction of Prime Minister Edward Seaga, which focused on the recollections of Jamaicans from all walks of life, recording and transcribing their stories.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Observer - STRAPPED for cash and looking forward to signing a US$958-million loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by month end, the Jamaican Government is continuing to court other multilaterals, Finance Minister Dr Peter Phillips said yesterday.
On Monday the management of the IMF indicated that it will be making the recommendation to the Board that the loan be approved when it meets some time this month. It also indicated its intention to move the initial loan of US$750 million to US$958 million (over four years).

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Gleaner - Visitor arrivals fell by six per cent in 2012 but new Tourism Minister Shawn Crockwell is confident Bermuda can bounce back this year and cash in on a number of market opportunities.
Crockwell, whose One Bermuda Alliance has been in power for just under four months, told a news conference on Tuesday that visitor arrivals dropped from 655,000 in 2011 to 615,000 last year.
Air arrivals fell by less than two per cent, but cruise arrivals, after a record high year in 2011, saw a nine per cent decline because of 20 fewer ship calls.

KINGSTN, Jamaica - MRS Margaret Thatcher, who secured her place in British history as the first and only female prime minister of Great Britain, died yesterday at the age of 87 years. Referred to as the "Iron Lady", the epithet given to her by cold war Soviet Union, Mrs Thatcher ruled for 11 divisive years (May 1979 - November 1990), winning three consecutive general elections. To supporters she was a saviour who rescued Britain, and to critics she destroyed comity in favour of greed.

KINGSTON, Jamaica - Whatever your view, good or bad, of Margaret Thatcher, the former British prime minister (PM) who died on Monday, there is no gainsaying that she was a transformative figure whose influence transcended the United Kingdom (UK). Further, in our current circumstance, Baroness Thatcher, her politics, and the way she forced Britain to confront its economic demons have relevance for Jamaica.

KINGSTON, Jamaica - One of Jamaica's closest allies at the end of the Cold War in the 1980s was Great Britain under then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as the Conservative Party in that country and the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) shared a similar vision. Dubbed the 'Iron Lady', Thatcher was a close political ally of former prime minister of Jamaica, Edward Seaga, described as another leader of steely mettle. Both flaunted implacable demeanours as they steered their ships of state through the turbulent waters of a world fiercely divided by political ideology.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – A member of the British Royal family is due here on April 15 for a five-day visit, it has been officially announced. A government statement said that Prince Michael Of Kent, will attend a special luncheon hosted by Governor-General, Sir Patrick Allen on April 16 and also pay an official visit to the Sir John Golding Rehabilitation Centre and the Mona Geo-Informatics Institute, at the University of the West Indies. The following day he will call on Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller and Opposition Leader, Andrew Holness.

KINGSTON, Jamaica - Private-sector leaders say reports yesterday that Jamaica could have a new deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by month end will have some immediate positive impact, but warned that it cannot be business as usual. With the continued devaluation of the Jamaican dollar, the heads of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ), the Jamaica Manufacturers' Association (JMA), and the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC) all agreed that stability in the foreign-exchange markets would be one of the immediate impacts of the pending IMF agreement.

KINGSTON, Jamaica- The Ministry of Finance and Planning has subdued its glee in reacting to the likelihood of an inked deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by month end, which could result in a cumulative drawdown of around US$2 billion from the Fund, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and the World Bank over the next four years. "We are looking very good. Technically, there is an agreement, but in reality, we don't have it as yet," stressed a senior official from the ministry.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Lawyers for a Jamaican national who claimed that their client had been discriminated against because of her nationality when she travelled to Barbados on March 14, 2011 called for substantial compensation as the matter resumed at the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) on Monday. Attorney Michelle Brown told the six-member CCJ panel of judges that the regional court, should also lay down firm guidelines pertaining to the treatment of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) nationals at airports throughout the 15-member regional grouping.