Robert Montague seems determined to complete a coup within the police force by arrogating to himself powers that are beyond the scope of his ministerial purview and definitely beyond his competence. And like any coup-plotter, the national security...
I just burned 1,200 calories. I left the pizza in the oven. That is a joke, because these days I have eschewed pizza. Papa John's can starve for all I care. I will play dominoes but not eat them.The fact, though, is 800 calories. I stared at the...
A new envoy is in town, and he has big ambitions. We refer to the newly accredited British high commissioner to Jamaica, Asif Ahmad.Two of his big interests are security and trade. On the matter of security, Jamaica can do with all the help it can...
Published:Friday | September 8, 2017 | 12:00 AMJaevion Nelson
The proponents of the zones of special operations would have you believe that those of us who are expressing concerns are politicking or simply not interested in tackling crime and violence.It's unfathomable that concerns about the necessity and...
Published:Friday | September 8, 2017 | 12:00 AMPaula C. Madden
I was in the Iqaluit Airport recently. Iqaluit is the capital and only city in Nunavut. More on that later. I was waiting for my luggage to make its way on the conveyor belt to me before it drops...
Robert Montague is not unique among Jamaica's national security ministers in attempting to ingratiate himself with the police force. They see it as good politics. It is a way to develop a personal, influential and well-muscled power base. With...
When a festering sore requires radical treatment, a Band-Aid won't help. Sometimes applying inappropriate treatment to a chronic problem makes the condition worse. It all depends upon how insightful the diagnosis is.Jamaica suffers from an epidemic...
I am a big fan of Shakespeare, and one of my favourite Shakespearean plays is Much Ado About Nothing. Benedick and Beatrice are tricked into confessing undying love for each other. Another lady, Claudia, is tricked into not responding to the...
Published:Wednesday | September 6, 2017 | 12:00 AM
As Jamaica surpassed 1,000 murders for 2017, courtesy of the 200-plus gangs wreaking havoc on the citizenry, it came to pass that King Andrew and his wise men[tors] decreed that the first zone of special operations (ZOSO) would be Mount Salem,...
Published:Wednesday | September 6, 2017 | 12:00 AM
Say it is not true - the reports that members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) are required by policy to give notice of six months before resignation is effective and failure to do so would lead to a fine and/or imprisonment. Further, the...
Published:Wednesday | September 6, 2017 | 12:00 AM
Like the different people you meet each day, hurricanes have their individual personalities, but for you to determine one's unique make-up, it is necessary that you meet face to face and spend some time with each other.It is, of course, not out of...
Published:Wednesday | September 6, 2017 | 12:00 AM
Until Winston Green's sudden death last month, the pending by-elections to fill two vacant seats in Jamaica's House of Representatives were trending towards a run-of-the-mill, even boring affair.The fact is that the constituencies of South West St...
The Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA) has achieved nothing since 2008. If you believe I am making it up, go check the organisation's website at jta.org.jm. Under the link, History of the JTA, the entity lists the major things it has achieved since...
I didn't know his given name. On campus, he was known as Chubby, a dread with a bicycle and a green thumb who worked in the Maintenance Department for many years. Involved in a job-related accident some years ago, Chubby was waiting to collect some...
Given what the security forces say is a tactical shift in their Mount Salem operation aimed at deterring and capturing criminals, we expect fewer complaints from residents who want to go about legitimate business but don't possess identification...
Robert Bermudez's installation six weeks ago as chancellor of the University of the West Indies (UWI) has been cursorily reported upon in the region, with no, or little attention, of what it might mean to the institution and on that score, guidance...
At the end of the second week of August 2017, The Gleaner published a picture of the officials of the University of the West Indies (UWI) and the Jamaican Constabulary Force (JCF) regarding the institution entering into the realm of police education...
We've all had that moment where you wished people would just mind their own business and stay out of yours. The culprit is often that nosey neighbour who just happens to hear the details of every argument, knows exactly who is sleeping with whom,...
When Prime Minister Andrew Holness said Mount Salem in St James selected itself as the first zone of special operations, he was very much spot on. That suburban Montego Bay community was selected based on historical data, and the history of crime in...
On the night of July 9 last year, three-year-old Nevalesia Campbell in Orange Hill, St Ann, went missing. The gruesome discovery of the child’s body in a gully the next morning sent ripples of shock, anger and disgust across the country. She...
Jamaicans nowadays understand more than in the recent past how important good education and training is to personal success and national development. We used to revel in mere access to schooling. Now we want quality for all. This is good.This...
The sole purpose of traffic signals is to prevent damage, injury and death from accidents and crashes. The very first traffic signal was invented by a British railroad signalling engineer, John Peake Knight. It was a manually controlled, gas-...
How well or poorly a government protects its citizens testifies to the success or failure of that government possibly more than anything else . A government that can't guarantee the security of its citizens, especially from dangers from within its...
Quite expectedly, and not without good reason, Kenya's Supreme Court is being globally praised as an emergingprotector of democracy following its ruling last Friday annulling the August election victory of President Uhuru Kenyatta.The court, in a...
Having, unwittingly, we believe, staked a fair bit of his premiership on its outcome, Andrew Holness has finally cast the dice on his zones of special operations project to tame Jamaica's crisis of crime.Last Friday, Mr Holness, in his role as...
