Jamaica

By mahtabala, 23 April, 2013

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The Jamaica government, insisting it is committed to facilitating the media in its work, Monday said it would hold discussions with the Press Association of Jamaica (PAJ) and other media stakeholders “on the matter of protocols governing media interviews with the Prime Minister”. The announcement by the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) follows criticism by the PAJ over what it termed the deliberate efforts to shield Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller from facing answering questions from the media on current and controversial national issues. .

By mahtabala, 23 April, 2013

KINGSTON, Jamaica - RENOWNED Jamaican scientist Dr. Henry Lowe and his cancer research team received a big boost over the last several weeks as one of their peer-reviewed research papers on the anti-cancer properties of the Jamaican Ball Moss has generated great interest in the international scientific community.

By mahtabala, 23 April, 2013

KINGSTON, Jamaica - For decades, wherever he has stood, especially with regard to football, Austin 'Jack' Warner left a stench - of the type most people associate with corruption. That, of course, has never been proven where such things are determined - in courts of law. What was unique about Mr Warner, though, is that those closest to him seemed to lack the olfactory capacity for his range of scents. That deficiency, Mr Warner seemed to assume, was universal, particularly in Trinidad and Tobago, his home. Accusations against him were to be denied and toughed out. Life would go on.

By mahtabala, 22 April, 2013

KINGSTON, Jamaica - There is much anxiety today among Jamaicans at home and abroad concerning Jamaica's economic future. Those who have been brave enough to look over the economic precipice often return to the fold with grossly disturbing news.

By mahtabala, 19 April, 2013

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, CMC – Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves will join leaders from across the Commonwealth’s small states at a high-level conference on governance in London from April 23 to 25. The Vincentian delegation will also include the Prime Minister’s wife, Eloise, Minister of National Reconciliation, Maxwell Charles, and Cabinet Secretary, Susan Dougan. While in London, Gonsalves is scheduled to meet Vincentians in the High Wycombe area on April 25 during a town hall meeting.

By mahtabala, 19 April, 2013

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The Jamaica government has presented a J$521 billion (One Jamaica dollar = US$0.01 cents) tax free budget to Parliament with Finance Minister Dr. Peter Phillips indicating that the aim of the Portia Simpson Miller administration is to collect outstanding taxes and remove some distortions such as zero-rated electricity charges. “You will note and no doubt the other members will note that this administration has presented a fully funded budget, there are no new taxes in this budget,” he told legislators on Thursday.

By mahtabala, 19 April, 2013

KINGSTON, Jamaica - The Portia Simpson Miller administration is expected to ink an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by early May. In a Gleaner interview following his opening presentation to the Budget Debate yesterday in Gordon House, Finance and Planning Minister Dr Peter Phillips said he is expecting to sign the IMF agreement for an Extended Fund Facility by the time he closes the Budget Debate. Dr Phillips will be closing the Budget Debate on May 1.

By mahtabala, 19 April, 2013

KINGSTON, Jamaica - THE Government has once again tabled Bills in the House of Representatives as it pushes to keep its promise to replace the United Kingdom-based Privy Council with the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as Jamaica's final appellate court.
Leader of Government Business in the House, Phillip Paulwell, gave notice of first reading of the Bills on behalf of Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller yesterday during the meeting of the Parliament at Gordon House in downtown Kingston.

By mahtabala, 18 April, 2013

KINGSTON, Jamaica - Like President Obama, this newspaper hopes that America will soon find out who is responsible for Monday's bombings in Boston and that they are made, as he puts it, "to feel the full weight of justice".

By mahtabala, 18 April, 2013

KINGSTON, Jamaica - FOR the last 40 years, Jamaica has continued to suffer from a low growth rate, which averages approximately of 0.8 per cent per annum. The national debt now stands at $1.7 trillion, about 140 per cent of our GDP, which has effectively forced us to return to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for financial assistance. The tragic state of our economy is further compounded by a high energy bill, declining productivity, and an import bill that is unsustainable.