The quick, tangible response to Crystal Clarke’s story of need is a reminder that we are still a community of kindness. A 34-year-old mother of eight children without a roof over her head and rendered jobless by the COVID-19 pandemic, Miss Clarke’s...
I will never forget the unsolicited proposal submitted by Chinese interests to convert National Heroes Circle and surrounding communities into the Government Oval, hosting all the ministries of government, as well as supporting residential and...
It is always very interesting hearing persons complain about how ‘old’ our politicians are. To hide the obvious age discrimination, they say something along the lines of “They are not forward-thinking” or “We need young, fresh minds in politics”....
Assuming Greg Christie spoke with the authority of his bosses at the Integrity Commission (IC), the Government should not only address the easy-to-fix operational and staffing issues he highlighted at the agency. It should move quickly, too, to...
HOPEFULLY, IT is now settled policy. As we have urged for years, Prime Minister Andrew Holness last week announced that his Government was out of the business of managing sugar factories, or otherwise bailing out the sugar industry. “The...
Recent scandals involving Petrojam and the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries (MICAF) have highlighted issues that arise with the excessive involvement of political actors in the functioning of the public sector. However,...
Jamaica’s justice system seems to be ‘kneeling on the neck’ of mentally ill inmates, violating their constitutional rights as they languish in pris ons. Even more shocking is that successive governments seem to have shown no empathy, so nothing has...
J.C. Hutchinson was not held to account for his misbehaviour. Neither was Daryl Vaz, earlier. Which, again, calls into question how deeply committed Prime Minister Andrew Holness is to the accountability and public trust upon which he promised to...
Pandemic, like all other diseases, can be categorised as one form of natural disaster like earthquake, hurricane, extensive wildfires, accidents, famine, war, etc. These cyclical phenomena affect not only human population but animals and plants...
Canada, although having a long-standing relationship with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and its Member States, being in the hemisphere and the Commonwealth and the third major trading partner, does not usually generate much attention and...
The death last week of John Lewis, the black American congressman, was recorded but wasn’t big news in Jamaica. It should have been. Especially at this time, in the context of the Black Lives Matter-inspired global demonstrations against systemic...
Food remains a necessity for the well-being and survival of our population, and the Jamaican agri-food sector and all its stakeholders have automatically assumed the spotlight since COVID-19. More people are eating home-prepared meals, as physical...
On May 28, 2020, The Gleaner published an unprecedented 48-page broadsheet supplement replete with the most glowing and comprehensive tributes to the late Oliver Clarke, who passed away on May 16. There were in excess of 100 tributes and as many or...
As a male gynaecologist, much of what I learnt in medical school and during my postgraduate training was written and taught to me by men. Indeed, men have contributed greatly to women’s health. For example, the Pap smear, named after the man whose...
My piece of June 29, 2020, ‘Please do better to fight COVID-19’, spoke to wide-spread lack of mask wearing, ineffective mask wearing, poor hand hygiene and poor physical distancing. I used to check the online Gleaner to see if and how bloggers...
National Integrity Action recently added their strong voice to those of us concerned that scores of public corporations handling billions of taxpayer dollars every year do not bother to file their annual reports and accounts for parliamentary...
It makes sense that senior law-enforcement and security officials, and not only the minister, be authorised to requisition from telecommunications companies information about people suspected of using their networks to commit crimes or undermining...
“Did you cheat on your wife with any of the principals … ?” That was the half-question posed by Zahra Burton (she appears to have been cut off mid-query). It was a follow-up to The Gleaner’s far more polite interrogatory – which had been dodged –...
The events of the last week have highlighted more than ever the need to fix this country. More scandals and more mud-slinging from both sides of the political fence a la Box A in the Corruption Game. On one hand, we see the cost of corruption from...
Six years ago, this newspaper’s financial analyst, A.C. Count, who was in the habit of reviewing the financial reports of state-owned companies and other government bodies, was often frustrated that the information with which he had to work was out...
With the greatest of respect, I am firmly of the view that Prime Minister Andrew Holness “fly pass him nest” a few days ago when he made uncharitable comments about Michael Manley. In a news story in The Gleaner, July 10, 2020, it was reported that...
Mike check! One two. There is a danger in politicians pointing to a glorious past and suggesting that we make the country great again because whenever we dig up old compost to unearth old bones, we invariably discover stuff that the historians find...
Almost all of us have recited this commitment in our National Pledge: “I promise to stand up for justice …” To stand up for justice is to demand accountability, to make what is wrong right. Over many years, many of us have been standing up:...
CHAKA-CHAKA SPELLING Jamaica Public Service (JPS) shuda shame. Dem name a mud. Nuff smaddy outa road a call dem thief. Uptown an downtown! Pon Saturday, July 11, demonstration gainst JPS keep up front a dem office pon Half-Way Tree Rd. Dr Marc...
This was, perhaps, waiting to happen. The community of August Town did not record a single murder in 2016, and this was cause for celebration. Perhaps there was some complacency in the months ahead – and a little naivety as well. However, from the...
