The Gleaner shares the observations of letter writer Monique Grant in this newspaper on Wednesday. Public entertainment events in Jamaica, she concluded, do not have to result in traffic gridlocks, or the residents of nearby neighbourhoods being...
I will reach my 80th year tomorrow (August 10). As I said in a previous article, last week really, you can live without sex, but now your glasses. You and your teeth don’t sleep together (and as you get older, your wife as well). I used to have...
On August 5, a website I had never encountered published a hatchet job on Albert Ramdin, who took office as Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) less than two months ago. The article claimed to expose “lavish spending” and...
If it were solely an act of celebration, the conferring by the St Vincent and the Grenadines of citizenship on the living members of the West Indies men’s team that won the inaugural cricket World Cup in 1975 would still be an important...
We have come a far way. Since the bloodiest election in 1980, political tensions have subsided drastically. Increasingly, Jamaicans have been safer on our roads at or around the time of general elections and people are generally more tolerant of...
There are two major ‘Gag Clauses’ in Jamaica’s Integrity Commission Act (ICA). One is embodied in Section 53(3) and the other is in Section 56(1). The ‘Gag Clause’ in Section 53(3) of the ICA prohibits the Integrity Commission (IC) from telling...
Kirk-Anthony Hamilton is right in his call for Caribbean CEOs to robustly integrate artificial intelligence (AI) tools into their operations, or risk their businesses being left behind. But, even as private firms, insofar as is possible, grasp the...
TWO INTERESTING developments occurred last week in the world of statistics and data analysis. The first was US President Donald Trump’s dismissal of the head of the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, just hours after the agency reported that job growth...
IT WAS a very hot Sunday morning, and we decided to get out of the house and enjoy breakfast by the sea, for a change. We headed to Fort Clarence because at that time of the day, anywhere else would have been crowded. We arrived at 11 a.m. We were...
At last month’s 30th Session of the Assembly of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) in Kingston, Jamaica reaffirmed its support for a strong, rules-based regime for the mining of metals from the deep ocean floor. “The determination of...
KINGSTON, THE capital of Jamaica, up to 1962, when the island became independent, was a quite vibrant city. Many of us of a certain age can recall visits to downtown Kingston in the late 1950s and early ‘60s for shopping, the department stores on...
“ Old pirates, yes, they rob I, Sold I to the merchant ships, Minutes after they took I, From the bottomless pit” — Bob Marley, Redemption Song EMANCIPATION ON August 1, 1838, saw the abolition of slavery as a racially oppressive...
There are no claims, insofar as The Gleaner is aware, of Jamaica’s national data collectors deliberately falsifying statistics, or being politically pressured to do so. If there are flaws or shortcomings or inadequacies in national statistics, it...
Child abuse is on the rise in Jamaica and has been publicly condemned by all the usual suspects. This is yet another issue we prefer to address by talking rather than doing. So I might as well make child abuse the subject of another of my arcane...
The ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) went into full campaign mode last Wednesday by mass distributing a document containing a list of what it describes as 256 “solid achievements.” The booklet, featuring the image of prime minister and JLP leader...
At their summit in Montego Bay last month, Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders pledged to “expedite negotiations” with Bermuda for its accession to full membership of the community. What the heads of government didn’t disclose, however, was the...
While we do not share party political persuasions, I respect Andrew Holness, the gentleman personally, and moreso the office he holds in trust for all of us. Both of us are Jamaican nationalists and public servants who have “chosen Jamaica” before...
Access to affordable housing is a cornerstone of any thriving society. Yet for many, homeownership remains elusive with rising costs being a major challenge. The National Housing Trust (NHT) has stepped in to provide solutions that include improved...
In an increasingly unstable world, energy independence is no longer a lofty ambition – it’s a necessity. As geopolitical conflict disrupts fuel supply chains, those at the end of the chain suffer: Inflation eats away at household budgets, prompting...
I remember having to catch water in drums from a neighbour’s hose for almost a year in a severe drought in the 1980s. It was peculiar that B St James Hamilton, permanent secretary for the Ministry of Education, home on the adjacent street in New...
That there is a question of its relevance and some believe that the process is over, is evidence that Emancipation needs to not only be celebrated, but that its significance, the legacy of slavery, and the African antecedents, all need to be...
Dominica’s prime minister, Roosevelt Skerrit, is obviously well-intentioned in floating the possibility of inviting Palestinians to relocate to his country. Indeed, it is a worthy humanitarian gesture from the leader of a small Caribbean country...
In 1974, Prime Minister Michael Manley announced in an eternally memorable Budget Speech – easily the most famous Budget Speech in the history of independent Jamaica – the introduction of a policy of free education. “Free education is change”...
This year is on track to be one of the hottest years on record. The most significant cause of this global heating is the burning of fossil fuels (oil, gas and coal) – and if the world does not rapidly phase out these sources of energy, every year...
I have the kind of medical practice wherein the people who decide to trust me with their health come from all walks of life and some live in inner-city areas. Consequently, they often tell me of some of the happenings in their environment. Many...
