Commentary

The Roman god Janus is always depicted with two faces – one turned backwards and the other forward. The month of January is named after him (I don’t hear any protests that this month has been named after a pagan god), and January 1 is a good day...

Like the rest of the world, Jamaica is striving for increased development to meet the needs of its citizens and satisfy an increasing standard of living, but this is often at the expense of the environment. This approach to development is highly...

With some of Jamaica’s top trade unionists posting reminders about the Government’s year-old review of how it prices the jobs state employees do, it might be useful for Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke to provide an update of the project, as well...

This month is the 48th anniversary of the move by Michael Manley, Forbes Burnham, Eric Williams and Errol Barrow to establish diplomatic relations with Fidel Castro’s Cuba. That decision by the leaders of Jamaica, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and...

“I would rather die on yonder gallows than live in slavery.”– Sam Sharpe One hundred and eighty-eight years after his death, Sam Sharpe Day is a reality. December 27 has been proclaimed Sam Sharpe Day by Governor General Sir Patrick Allen. It...

On the face of it, Prime Minister Andrew Holness deserves credit for having learnt from his Government’s previous botched effort to establish a national identification system (NIDS), which the Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional. “I...

My young friend Sydney has given up the tutorial teaching he was doing at the university level. The frustration of trying, mostly unsuccessfully, to reach his class virtually has taken its toll. At least one-half of his students have had no...

Many persons across the world suffer from the fear of democracy; the fear of allowing other people to voice opinions freely and to contribute to their country’s decision-making. What drives this is a smelly kind of arrogance that assumes that...

Having banned cigarette smoking in public places seven years ago, it’s surprising that it has taken so long for Jamaica to move towards an expanded regulatory framework for the tobacco industry, so as to bring the island into greater compliance...

My skin has a mild contusion from self-inflicted pinching because I woke up the day after Christmas with a deep appreciation for life and the little things that truly matter. My maternal grandmother, who was an even 70 years old when I started to...

I purchased a house in the Kingston 6 area back in 2003. At the time, there was a large piece of land towards the back of my house which spread across the back of other houses on my road. Upon purchasing my property, one of the first things that I...

Measured against most of its CARICOM neighbours, the Jamaican passport is worth very little. The power of a passport is measured by the number of countries a passport holder can visit for tourist purposes, without having to obtain a visa or with...