Commentary

The logic of neoliberalism tells us that the role of the State is to facilitate the private sector, and shares of profit (growth) will trickle down to the people. What happened to the profits accumulated since KFC has been operating in Jamaica when...

THIS NEWSPAPER is sympathetic to Jamaica’s position that the island’s students will not be ready for the Caribbean Examination Council’s (CXC) exams for regional secondary schools in July. Nonetheless, Karl Samuda, the de facto education minister,...

It’s hard being born Canadian if your ambition is to be a real-life version of movie tough guy Jean-Claude Van Damme ( Blood Sport, Death Warrant, Universal Soldier, Last Action Hero). The same goes for being Belgian, of course, but Van Damme just...

The coronavirus pandemic is still taking its toll. Some individuals, businesses, and government entities have stayed strong, working as hard as ever. Thank heavens for that! For others, it is hard to capture the image of those who write and phone...

FOUR YEARS ago, the Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CAPRI) made what was considered a radical proposal about the funding of the National Housing Trust (NHT), the quango set up 44 years ago to finance homes for Jamaicans, especially poorer ones...

I mourn Fred Hickling’s passing. He and I started preparatory school together in 1950. His larger-than-life persona, bubbly and inquisitive, budded in those years. Our paths criss-crossed at debating and drama bouts during high-school years, his at...

WE ALL wonder if Jodian Fearon’s passing might have been avoided were it not for the delays caused when the possibility of COVID-19 reared its ugly head and further complicated her very difficult case. We expect that the upcoming inquiries will...

It has now been over 54 days since the Government initiated its first set of COVID-19 disaster management measures; with over 450 persons testing positive and very regrettably, nine deaths at the time of writing. As with most other countries,...

Our labour Government with a labour opposition has a lot of work ahead of it. It is bad enough that the 63 people whom we pay to pass laws to govern and protect us often drop the ball by treating their sittings as acts of one-upmanship and skylark...

Six years ago, a joint select committee of Parliament recommended that the INDECOM Act be amended to assert the power of the security forces’ oversight body to independently prosecute law-enforcement officers who use excessive force against, or...

“Don’t worry,” my friend told me. “This coronavirus wouldn’t last long. It was made in China.” Given the seriousness of the situation, I was stunned for a moment, and then I realised that humour continues to be the best and, many times, only...