Jamaica

By mahtabala, 2 May, 2013

WASHINGTON, CMC – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Wednesday said it had approved US$932.3 million loan under its Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for Jamaica. The four-year EFF will support the Jamaica government’s comprehensive economic reform agenda and forms a critical part of a total funding package of two billion US dollars from Jamaica’s multilateral partners including the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), with each having preliminarily agreed to allocate US$510 million over the next four years.

By mahtabala, 30 April, 2013

KINGSTON, Jamaica - Any legal measure implemented by local and foreign law enforcement agencies to combat the drug trade is welcomed by this newspaper.
For we are resolute in our belief that the trafficking of narcotics is a most abominable crime for which those found guilty must feel the full weight of the law.

By mahtabala, 30 April, 2013

today KINGSTON, Jamaica - Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller will make her contribution to the 2013/2014 Budget Debate today.
Simpson Miller will make her presentation in Gordon House, on the heels of the Opposition Monday saying that Jamaicans can expect the speech to be filled with “fluff” and “rhetoric”.

By mahtabala, 30 April, 2013

KINGSTON, Jamaica - Jamaica has secured 1.6 million air seats into the island this summer, with the bulk coming from the United States — the island's major market — even as the country continues to woo visitors from the non-traditional areas of Eastern Europe and Latin America.
This is welcome news for the many tourism interests now gathered in Montego Bay for the 21st staging of the island's premiere trade show, Jamaica Product Exchange (JAPEX), at the Montego Bay Convention Centre.

By mahtabala, 29 April, 2013

KINGSTON, Jamaica – (Today), Barbados will celebrate National Heroes Day, and highlighting the activities will be the presentation of the prestigious Clement Payne Appreciation Award to legendary Barbadian novelist, political commentator, essayist, and public intellectual, Mr George Lamming, appropriately marking the 60th anniversary of the publication of his seminal work, In the Castle of My Skin.

By mahtabala, 29 April, 2013

KINGSTON, Jamaica - Jamaica's former Prime Minister PJ Patterson receiving South Africa's highest award presented to non-nationals, the Order of the Companions of OR Tambo, from President Jacob Zuma at the annual Freedom Day ceremony in Pretoria on Saturday. The Order, instituted on December 6, 2002, is awarded to foreign nationals (heads of state and governments) and other foreign dignitaries for friendship shown to South Africa. It is designated an order of peace, co-operation and active expression of solidarity and support.

By mahtabala, 29 April, 2013

KINGSTON, Jamaica - THE recent decision by the South Africa Government to confer on Guyana's late President Forbes Burnham its highest national honour designated for outstanding foreign citizens- — the Oliver Tambo Award (gold) — has drawn strong criticisms from two well-known Jamaican scholars and Pan-Africanists — Dr Rupert Lewis and Dr Horace Campbell.

By mahtabala, 29 April, 2013

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The European Union is providing J$2.5 billion (One Jamaica dollar = US$0.01 cents) in grant funding to boost the delivery of maternal and paediatric health care in public health institutions in Jamaica. Health Minister Dr. Fenton Ferguson said the allocation is expected to further advance the government’s efforts to meet the United Nations (UN) Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for significant improvements in these two key areas. Dr.

By mahtabala, 29 April, 2013

KINGSTON, Jamaica - THERE is an unfortunate pride that is linked to owning national airlines in the Caribbean. It is a pride that goes before a fall. Successive Jamaican governments held on to Air Jamaica although the airline bled money and depended heavily on massive financial support from taxpayers. The taxpayers' money could have been used to finance sustainable projects that would have created and maintained employment and generated revenues. But in the minds of decision-makers in successive Jamaican governments, keeping Air Jamaica flying was important for national pride.

By mahtabala, 26 April, 2013

KINGSTON, Jamaica - Chris Gayle's astonishing 175 not out in the IPL is still being widely talked about. The innings itself is astonishing enough_ 175 from 66 balls with 17 sixes is unheard of, and the admission by Chris that he "slowed down" in the middle is mind-boggling.
We celebrate the innings and, indeed, the man now, but the real significance of what Chris Gayle and his flashing blade might come to mean for cricket down the road might be lost on most of us.