Jamaica’s love affair with the British royalty puzzles me. I hold no fascination for royalty of any kind. Specifically because it is a made up descriptor arranged by families who through the centuries acquired power through thuggery and ownership...
In the wake of the current Russian invasion of Ukraine, the European Union (EU) sought to cash in on its multilateral relationships, including with Africa. The EU tried to win as many of the continent’s 54 votes – nearly a third of the 193-strong...
The unseemly politicising of Parliament was never more evident than during last week’s kerfuffle over numbers. One man sey ninety-nine. Di nex’ man sey sixty-five. Den di two a dem scratch and claw fi days over who right. Of course, as usual with...
International Women’s Day (IWD) is celebrated on March 8, and for 2022, the theme chosen by the United Nations (UN) was Gender Equality Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow. This focus highlights the intersection between gender equality and climate...
So the line of government ministers resigning suddenly under clouds of suspicion lengthened as Bobby Montague left the ball hurriedly at 10:59 p.m. on March 10 before his carriage could turn into a pumpkin at midnight. With apologies to John Deacon...
Bauxite was discovered in Jamaica in the 1940s while processing to alumina began in the early 1950s. Based on currently known bauxite deposits, the Mines and Geology Division predicts that Jamaica’s bauxite-alumina industry could last for another...
This is from Reuters, dated Tuesday, March 15: “… that is because Russia’s role as one of the world’s top commodity producers has sent prices and global inflation skywards.” The key words are “global inflation skywards”. US President Joe Biden told...
I am too old to be activist; but not too old to urge. And when the urging is about human existence – perhaps the years impose a duty. I reflect on two prime ministers of Sweden it was my privilege to know. Sweden itself is a country that has made...
The main factor that had me fearing Dennis Meadows was how he came across in his many posts on Facebook. In those that were controversial and came close to skating on the thin ice of corruption, the former deputy chairman of the Firearm Licensing...
This is a dangerous moment for Europe and for freedom-loving people around the world. By launching his brutal assault on the people of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has also committed an assault on the principles that uphold global peace and democracy...
I’m always amazed at the hype attending finance ministers’ annual opening of the Budget Debate. I’ve said it before. It’s worth repeating. Jamaica’s budget process doesn’t include input by the people, or to any significant amount, the people’s...
For more than a decade during my time at Jamaica Environment Trust (JET), we received complaints from Jamaicans who lived in the proximity of the bauxite industry, either mining or processing facilities, regarding adverse impacts on their health...
As the world moves ahead to mark International Women’s Day, the clock on women’s rights is moving backwards. All of us are paying the price. The cascading crises of recent years have highlighted how women’s leadership is more crucial than ever....
There has been lots of media attention on Jamaican students studying in Ukraine and a microscope on their journey from the war zone. As usual, tribal trolls on social media have turned it into a huge political squabble, beginning with much-deserved...
It is widely accepted that “crime prevention is a long-term goal, but crime reduction is an immediate need”. It is my position, and that of the Government, that in order to achieve the sustainable crime reduction that we desire, we must, as a...
During a Harvard Law School lecture last April, Justice Stephen G. Breyer of the US Supreme Court made clear that he viewed the judiciary as divorced from politics. Once a judge takes an oath, he declared, “(T)hey are loyal to the rule of law, not...
Children are consuming an enormous amount of unhealthy and ultra-processed food that is helping to drive up the already alarmingly high rates of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the country. Earlier this year, I wrote in this paper that...
As we move towards our 60th anniversary of independence, we can benefit from reflecting on the forces that drive the underbelly of our political system. As a people, we are deeply patriotic, and a national consensus pervades our society on all...
The shocking events in Ukraine have been a wake-up call to the world. Both the United Kingdom and Jamaica were quick to respond, and there was no equivocation in either the words of my Prime Minister Boris Johnson or Jamaican PM Andrew Holness’s...
The narrow strip of roadway leading to Hopie’s bar spot in the depressed community takes you to a ramshackle settlement on a hill. It is semi-rural St Andrew. The road has never been paved. and I am forced to slow to a crawl as I gingerly drive my...
An imminent Royal visit has created a social media stir with too many people seriously proposing the young couple be unkindly treated. But neither William nor Kate has done anything to hurt Jamaica. So why are we being mean to people who didn’t ask...
Africa is set to endure another year of living dangerously in 2022. Even as sovereign foreign-currency-denominated debt has surpassed $1 trillion, with only 10 per cent of Africans having been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and as over 12...
It is not often that I make such a big boo-boo on a particular subject, especially after I had written ‘with authority’ about it in previous months. Last Sunday my column, titled ‘FTC wasting time firing blanks at Supreme Ventures’, had missed the...
“A people without knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots,” wrote the Rt Excellent Marcus Mosiah Garvey. We lament the destruction of Jamaica’s historic courthouses, and share some architectural and...
The invasion by the Russian Federation of the sovereign state of Ukraine has been roundly condemned by most countries of the world. However, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced his support of it. Had President Maduro stopped short at his...
