Commentary

WITH JUST 131 days gone so far in 2023, the banking and security sectors seem intent on dethroning perennial favourites – local politics – for the title of Newsmaker of the Year. If you work in any of these two industries, the last four months have...

On this special Teachers’ Day and on behalf of everyone at the Ministry of Education and Youth (MOEY), I encourage all Jamaicans to pause and appreciate the important role that all our educators play in building our nation. Your selfless dedication...

When, and if, Jamaica becomes a republic, switching from being a monarchy and having King Charles III of the United Kingdom (UK/Britain) as its national Head of State, would the relationship between the two countries change? The simple answer is no...

Restrictive rules at domino tournaments that kill the game’s spirit are meant to reduce cheating. Most no-talent players utilise a “code” whose sophistication is directly proportional to their egos. Basic codes involve words but finger, hand or...

It’s here at last. The long-awaited report on conditions of work by farm workers in Canada, which was promised by the Ministry of Labour in February this year, focusing on investigations relating to the conditions under which farm workers function...

Hopefully, Jamaica’s request for a probe into what it implies was a damaging leak in the deliberations to choose a new principal of the Mona campus of The University of the West Indies (UWI) does not descend into a bitter standoff that politicises...

Some time ago, a man who used to intermittently seek my financial assistance brought his friend to see me. He introduced his friend as someone who was just released from prison and was experiencing difficulties. He asked if I would be able to give...

In 1990 an American videographer did a documentary, titled H-2 Worker, outlining horror stories of migrant farm workers in the United States and in particular Florida sugar plantations. I use the term plantation, with all of the imagery that it...

Late Thursday (May 4) night, National Integrity Action (NIA) received a letter by email from the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Legal and Constitutional Affairs, dated May 4. The letter read in part, “re consultation on constitutional...

Media freedom in the Americas, from Canada in the North to Argentina in the South, with the Caribbean in-between, did not rank very well in the 2023 World Press Freedom (WPF) Index. In a measurement of 180 countries and territories, only Canada -...

I must begin by declaring interest: I was board chairman for Holy Trinity Secondary School in 1994; it became a Comprehensive High School in 1995, and when I demitted office in 2000 it had become Holy Trinity High School. Through all this time (...

There is a greater sense of assuredness, if not a hint of swagger, in the leadership of the People’s National Party (PNP), since the opinion polls in March that showed the party running neck-and-neck with the Government. Not unreasonably, Mark...