It has recently been reported that a young man was convicted of the crime of practising obeah in the St James Parish Court and punished with a fine. The facts appear to be that the police executed a search warrant at his home and found it to have...
I wish to thank Tashiba Julius and the St Mary Ambassadors for Change for their letter to the editor, published in The Gleaner on Wednesday, May 7, highlighting concerns regarding the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH)....
If Marcus Garvey could have imagined what an executor of his vision for Africa’s development could look like, he might have pictured President Ibrahim Traoré and his revolutionary model for Burkina Faso’s development. It is worthwhile sketching a...
Over the Easter weekend, I attended church in Montego Bay, and to my surprise, I was greeted by a new landscape of multistorey development clusters around the lagoon and its route into the parish of Hanover. The solemn three-hour Good Friday mass...
So, with the Teachers Council Bill passed in the Senate and on its way to the “Lower” House, once again Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) has thrown a tantrum and tossed its toys out of the pram. JTA is only reprising its puerile performance of...
On May 9, we commemorated the 80th anniversary of the Victory over Nazi Germany, honouring the heroism and self-sacrifice of those who fought to liberate the world from the tyranny of Nazism and fascism. This historic triumph stands as a...
Despite Government’s serial sulking; PNP’s asinine affectation; and some commentators’ perilous predictions, Constitutional Reform isn’t dead. It’s very much alive and well. A conversation stalled for 30 years was revived but, instead of asking for...
Jamaican women have contributed significantly to the voting process since the 1944 adult suffrage. However, there has been a significant decline in the number of persons who chose to vote in 2020. The voter turnout was approximately 37.85 per cent...
The Gleaner reported that “France’s president says that making Haiti pay for its independence was unjust” addressed the position of French President Emanuel Macron on the injustice imposed by France on Haiti over centuries. Macron stated that a...
Like many, I have been reading about the Chinese auto repair shops in the Corporate Area and St Ann. Customers rave about the quality of the repairs and stellar service received. I am not in the least surprised to read that the repair shop in St...
Militarism goes hand in hand with authoritarianism. While democratic values include popular participation in decision-making, checks on the power of government and the protection of people’s rights and freedoms, militarisation threatens democracy...
Pope Francis I (Jorge Bergoglio) who recently died, was the first ever pontiff from Latin America and the first non-European one in 1,300 years. The 88-year old Argentinian’s 12-year papacy transformed the 1.3 billion-strong Catholic Church into...
In the mid 1980s when many of our political leaders had not yet decided what percentage of Michael Manley they should be, it was accepted that the People’s National Party’s (PNP’s) Michael Manley was everyone’s ideal of the complete politician. The...
On December 17, 1936, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born in Flores, Buenos Aires, Argentina to Mario José Bergoglio and Regina María Sívori. Students of Numerology, an ancient Hindu science, recognise he was born on a “Number 8 Day” (1+7=8). In...
The opinion article by Howard Mitchell titled ‘Why Jamaica Must Defend Its Rum Heritage and Its Future’ presents a passionate defence of National Rums of Jamaica’s (NRJ’s) position in challenging the strict provisions of the Jamaica Rum...
Six hundred billion dollars. Let that sink in. According to Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Floyd Green, this is the sum that the Government of Jamaica now proposes to spend over the next six years to revitalise the Montpelier...
On April 14, Nationwide reported that “Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has accepted that the goal of transforming Jamaica into a republic at this time has been dashed. The prime minister places the blame of the failure squarely at the feet of...
Let me state right up front that I have been a sometime consultant to National Rums of Jamaica, further, I enjoy its product as much as I enjoy the products of its competitors. I therefore claim some knowledge of the subject. Few industries reflect...
The Government seems to have given up on the Jamaica Urban Transit Company’s mission of providing commuters of the Kingston Metropolitan Transport Region (KMTR). It is now devoid of policy, plan, operational goals or strategy and is subject to...
Verne Shepherd (VS) in conversation with Maria Alessandra Bollettino (MB) giving insights on Takyi’s revolt VS: Some years ago, as I was preparing to deliver the Chief Takyi Lecture I came across your PhD Thesis on the 1760 War in Jamaica led by...
The arrival of the Mexican Navy Sail Training Vessel, ARM Cuauhtémoc (BE-01), known as the “Ambassador and Knight of the Seas,” to the Port of Kingston from April 21 to 23, highlights Mexico’s maritime diplomacy and underscores growing significance...
I read this week with interest that the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is at it again. Carping about the Integrity Commission (IC). The Gleaner reported that Edmund Bartlett and Kamina Johnson Smith wrote to Justice Carol Lawrence Bestwick about the...
April 18 was the global recognition of the International Day for Monuments and Sites (IDMS). Its 2025 theme is “Heritage under Threat from Disasters and Conflicts.” The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) is promoting this,...
I know we’re in Silly Season but the latest political putridity crosses every red line ending up in an historic Portland Peninsula. Jamaicans woke up on Friday, April 11 to breaking news that the leaders of both houses of parliament had written to...
Despite recent verbosity from Constitutional Affairs Minister, another “General” Election is likely before July. The last PM who delayed the call due to another “call” endured a catastrophic weather event and lost an election she might’ve won....
