Commentary

The Government’s plan to sharply increase jail sentences for people convicted of homicide, we continue to feel, will at best prove symbolic. It may make the Holness administration appear tough on crime, but with little or no real deterrent effect...

This week, in this series looking at traditional agricultural exports, I am focusing on coffee. Jamaica’s Blue Mountain Coffee is recognised by the International Coffee Organization as a high quality specialty coffee. The demand for Blue Mountain...

Recently, I came across a post on a social media platform where someone expressed the view that our Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Government is corrupt. Someone else commented on the post asking “what about” the People’s National Party (PNP), that...

​It is not clear what specific objections the old boys’ and parent-teacher associations have against Sian Wilson’s possible elevation as principal of Calabar High School. Whatever those are may be legitimate and should be heard. Nonetheless, this...

Several days ago, China’s economic report for Q1 2024 was released. The GDP increased by 5.3 per cent year-on-year, the value added of high-tech manufacturing increased by 7.5 per cent, the investment in fixed assets increased by 4.5 per cent, and...

What fortune to be born in this era! We have seen our first female prime minister, chief justice, and commissioners of correction and Customs, and were it not for the shameless bias, and yet unexplained actions of the powers that be, we would have...

We must rid ourselves of the Privy Council because its retention is an unacceptable expression of our independence and sovereignty. By the same token, we must rid ourselves of the UK Monarchy and embrace Republicanism because the retention of the...

I dedicate this piece to my father (God rest his soul), who was a loyal, patriotic, hard-working, public servant and visionary who wasted his breath on the political bureaucrats of his day. He spent almost his entire working life at the Kingston...

Biotechnology is often compared to a double-edged sword as it can have both good and bad consequences. Biotechnology’s dual nature as both a catalyst for progress and a potential source of disorganisation raises profound ethical questions about...

It is hard to muster much sympathy for a government that responds to serious concerns with half-measures. A week ago Jamaica’s Constitutional Court struck down an amendment to the nation’s highest law rushed through the lower house in a day,...

Jamaica’s formal recognition this week of Palestine as a sovereign and independent state is a profoundly moral decision that places the island on the right side of history. Notably, Jamaica became the 140th of the 193 members of the United...

Next July, my childhood idol Iron ‘Mike’ Tyson comes out of retirement for a second time, this time to beat some guy named Jake Paul. This is Mike’s second fight since he and Roy Jones embarrassed themselves in 2020. But given how desperate we were...