Let’s suspend security of tenure now
After 47 years of Jamaica’s Independence, it is more than obvious that we have not done a good job at managing our affairs. Jamaica is badly adrift and is on the verge of becoming a failed or rogue state.
Saving our country requires strong leadership and an urgent overhaul of the public bureau-cracy, which has failed at its job to effectively manage the country’s business and deliver first-rate services. The public sector needs an infusion of talent.
Public-service employment arrangements, inherited from less complex economic times, make it difficult to import talent into the bureaucracy or to remove employees, except for the most egregious misbehaviour.
Given Jamaica’s crisis, we must declare a period of public emergency, allowing for the suspension of security of tenure for civil servants as well as an impartial assessment of the people now employed and the jobs they perform.
Part of a revolution
The bottom line is that public-sector reform must not merely be an accounting exercise for dealing with immediate fiscal problems. It is part of a revolution.
The best talent, regardless of political antecedent, must be employed to do the job.
Concomitant with the over-haul of the public sector, Government, in consultation with the private enterprise and civil society, must establish policy priorities for creating the environment conducive to social stability, economic growth and job creation.
We must demand action from the Government and hold them accountable for performance.
Similarly, the political execu-tive must retreat from its generally incompetent dabbling in bureaucratic management, leaving that job to those for whom it is intended – the public servant. The politicians must do their own job of establishing policy and holding public service managers accountable for theirs.
In this rebuilding, Prime Minister Golding must assume the role of mobiliser-in-chief, exciting Jamaicans into wanting to be part of the renewal, rather than fleeing the country.Tough challenges
This revolution will, of course, face tough challenges, including many that require political consensus. Some of these include legislative changes to further modernise the economy, fight corruption and improve security and justice.
It is Mr Golding’s job, as prime minister, to lead this process. It is, however, neither his nor the ruling party’s alone.
The Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) must behave responsibly. Its own long, ineffectual period in government contributed to Jamaica’s decline. The PNP’s leadership has an obligation to contribute to the fix. They must be clear that they will be held to account if they are obstructionist.
Political parties and their leaders must no longer be allowed to manipulate poor, uneducated Jamaicans, whose votes they perennially milk for the advantage of the political class. A rejuvenated and newly assertive private sector and civil society must be vigilant and willing to speak out.
Lead the change – Renew private sector for a renewed Jamaica
Except for a handful of institutions and a few individuals, Jamaica’s civil-society and private-sector leadership has, for too long, been accommodating of incompetent management of the country’s affairs.
If our nation is to be rescued from its long and worsening economic and social crises, that will have to change. Private-sector institutions and leaders must find their voice, assert their influence and demand an environment that is conducive to growth and prosperity. Civic leadership must help liberate Government from its entrapments by outmoded economic policies which are supposedly good for the poor, but which really keep Jamaica in poverty.
This will require the willingness of business/civic leaders to identify weak political leadership, bad public-sector management, and to offer the private sector’s skill, insights and support to an often well-meaning, but mostly inefficient bureaucracy.
Corruption unacceptable
Politicians and bureaucrats, in this regard, must be told that corruption is just not acceptable in any form, and that our untrust-worthy police force and creaky justice systems have to be fixed. They must know, too, that civil society, broadly, but more specifically the private sector, will not tolerate the relationship, residual or otherwise, between political parties and community enforcers, which perpetuates garrison politics.
At the same time, the private sector must insist on a rebalanced economic environment. Undue tilt needs shifting in favour of margin gatherers to an even keel where real sectors, with a capacity to create jobs, can find a sustainable space.
Flexibility in fiscal reform
Economic reform must also include greater flexibility on the part of firms to reorganise, including making positions redundant, without risking staff’s existence, which is now often the case.
Existing laws require companies to meet the high cost of severance, especially when stressed firms can least afford to pay.
It is sort of like the private sector flip side to the near, if not absolute, security of tenure enjoyed by civil servants.
The private sector is not without history of leading change. It certainly has the leverage to demand it.
In the 1970s, a period of deep ideological schism, many Jamai-cans feared for their democratic freedoms. The late Carlton Alexander, CEO of Grace-Kennedy, and others, spoke out forcefully. In the process, they created the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica as an effective counterbalance to government policy. They helped win the ideological battle of the day.
With appropriate mobilisation and support, a similar victory is possible over today’s decidedly different, and perhaps even more profound, problems.
We want and deserve more
Jamaica is ill-served by a public bureaucracy that has retreated from its responsibility to manage. The problem is compounded by politicians who believe not only that the job is theirs but that they are capable of doing it.
The result is abject failure, exemplified by the embarrassingly small economic growth since Independence, deepening poverty, high levels of crime, poor performance in education, a decrepit justice system, inadequate infrastructure as well as social and physical decay. There is, too, our intensely competitive and divisive political process that often breeds violence and has difficulty in fostering consensus.
While our politicians stumble around in management roles that were not designed for them and for which most have neither skill nor training, their core policy functions are poorly handled or left largely unattended.
The executive has become, at once, formulators and implementers of policy in a system that lacks real oversight or accountability. Parliament operates inefficiently. Constituency representation is often weak and, in some cases, ‘outsourced’ to, if not outright criminals, people who operate close to the margins.
These, of course, are not new problems. Nor are they limited to any specific party or administration. But Jamaicans are fed up. They want and deserve better. The environment is ripe for change.
Listening to the people
The transformation must start with our leaders engaging in a frank conversation with the people, listening to our ideas, being willing to act decisively for the good of the country. Small parliamentary majorities can’t be held up as the reason for failing to do what is right; and should appropriate policies be predicated on their impact on the next election?
In other words, our call is for a leadership that is beyond declarations of integrity, but a readiness to respond to the hard tests when they come – such as extraditing accused criminals, whatever their status in a political constituency, or how strategic their support may be considered to a party.
Time to mount efforts
It requires, too, that politicians and their critical supporters stop exploiting the ignorance of portions of our population. It is also time for our leaders to mount credible efforts to dismantle political garrisons.
This restructuring must also include reform of the legislature. The Senate must no longer be used as a place to reward the hard-core party faithful or those who fail at the hustings. Its members should be bright people, allowing the Upper House to operate as a serious, deliberative chamber and from where governments can appoint key ministers.Sweeping changes
The legislature is not only inefficient, but expensive to operate. We propose that the seats in the House of Represen-tatives be cut from 60 to 45, the size of the Cabinet radically reduced, and better use made of backbenchers in the legislative process.
For two decades, Jamaica has talked local-government reform but has achieved little. We should cut the number of parish councils and consolidate their operations.
Parliamentarians must be paid decently but their remuneration should be linked to performance and a system of accountability. We must also introduce state-financed political campaigns, with clear limits on what parties can spend.
At the bottom line, we insist on a political process that is prudent and responsible, offering adequate representation to its constituents. It should be so structured to attract the best talent and the confidence to hold itself accountable for performance.
A Call to Action (Editorial Series) – Do it or leave!
Introduction:
Jamaicans have for decades complained about the state of our country – its poor economic performance, its poverty, its poor management, its crime, its violence. Many people have become fed up with the seeming inaction on the part of those we elect and the bureaucracy we pay to put things right.
Things cannot continue as they are; certainly not in these exceptional times. In a series of four editorials, The Gleaner is calling Jamaicans to action, to engage in a debate on the kind of country we want to live in, and to hold to account those who have abrogated their responsibility to manage, and to insist on a radical overhaul in the way we conduct our affairs. For it can’t continue this way.
Jamaicans are recognised as an exceptional and talented people. But for the nearly 50 years since Independence, our economy has been stagnant and the majority of our people live in poverty. Today, our country is adrift and confused.
This failure is primarily the result of public bureaucracy that has failed to perform, is managerially incompetent, and lacking in accountability.
And having been cowed by political bosses, our bureaucracy not only retreated from its central role of delivering quality service efficiently, but ceded its job to a political executive, whose role was conceived not to manage the government bureaucracy, but to establish policy and ensure accountability.
This failure of public-sector management tells in, among other things, our low quality of education, high crime rate, a justice system in which most people have lost trust, a corrupt police force, little or no economic growth and, ultimately, Jamaica’s underdevelopment.
In the 1960s, for example, Jamaica was on the lower rungs of the industrial development ladder and among the leaders on the human-development index.
Economic growth averaged six per cent a year. Singapore was still a rough-and-ready port city.
Today, Jamaica’s per capita GDP hovers at around US$5,000; Singapore’s is over US$31,000. Singapore is wealthy and orderly; Jamaica is lawless, disordered and seemingly ungovernable.
Yet, even as our bloated bureaucracy stagnates, it has been skilled at shaping a public sector to its own benefit and perpetuation. For instance, the Government’s direct wage bill is $127 billion, nearly $49,000 a year for every man, woman and child in the country, or approximately 12 cents of every dollar for all goods and services produced in Jamaica.
This, of course, does not include another $10 billion a year in non-contributory pension payments; duty concession on motor vehicles; massive leave entitlement; and for the central civil service, an anachronistic system of security of tenure. Looked at coldly, theirs, for all the complaints about pay, is essentially an easy, unproductive existence of little transparency and even less accountability.
This is unaffordable. It demands an urgent and radical overhaul. The current economic crisis and the reform of the public sector, mandated by Prime Minister Golding, provides a good opportunity that must be seized.
First, it must be made clear that transformation must be centred on fashioning the public sector to deliver services at lower costs and holding public-sector managers accountable. Jobs should be performance-based with clear systems to measure outcomes against deliverables. Employees should be paid for performance.
Anachronistic notions, such as security of tenure for public servants, must be revisited, making it easier to disengage non-performers. Indeed, we should perhaps declare a state of emergency on this matter, and urgently pass temporary legislation to allow for the necessary reforms.
While Prime Minister Golding and others in the political directorate are expected to set the vision, we expect that permanent secretaries and other senior public servants, in accordance with their job functions, must implement the plans. If they are incapable, they should go.
Welcome to Call to Action
Welcome to The Gleaner’s Call to Action blog.
The Gleaner will be publishing a series of front page editorials covering critical issues running from this Sunday, December 6 until Wednesday, December 9 and we want to hear from you!
Jamaicans have for decades complained about the state of our country – its poor economic performance, its poverty, its poor management, its crime, its violence. Many people have become fed-up with the seeming inaction on the part of those we elect and the bureaucracy we pay to put things right.
Things cannot continue as they are certainly not in these exceptional times. In a series of four editorials The Gleaner is calling Jamaicans to action, to engage in a debate on the kind of country we want to live in and to hold to account those who have abrogated their responsibility to manage and to insist on a radical overhaul in the way we conduct our affairs. For it can’t continue this way.
Follow the editorials and let us start the discussion.
http://gleanerblogs.com/calltoaction/
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Solution: Cooperate Tanzanian President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete wants agri ties with Jamaica
Kikwete wants agri ties with Jamaica
Published: Wednesday November 25, 2009
Published: Wednesday November 25, 2009
President of Tanzania Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete (left) and Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Dr Christopher Tufton, pat a 'Black Poll' bull, during a tour of the Bodles Research Centre in St Catherine yesterday. - JIS photo
Tanzanian President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete says he is impressed with Jamaica's agricultural research, and wants closer cooperation between both countries in that area.
"There is need for exchanging information and exchanging experience, and to use that experience for the benefit of our two peoples and two countries," Kikwete said yesterday, during a tour of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries' Bodles Research Station in Old Harbour, St Catherine. The tour formed part of the itinerary for his three-day state visit to Jamaica.
Kikwete said efforts are being made to transform the agriculture sector in his country to make peasant farming more productive.
"Our preoccupation is increasing about the use of water for our agriculture, meaning irrigation; the use of high-yielding seeds and the challenge is about its availability, and this is where the research institution comes in," he explained.
Echoed need
Agriculture Minister Dr Christopher Tufton welcomed the visiting president and his delegation for the tour, and echoed the need for cooperation.
"We're quite mindful of the fact that in Tanzania the bulk of your economic activity is in the area of agriculture," Tufton said, noting that almost 20 per cent of Jamaica's labour force is involved in agriculture.
"As a consequence, we share that important variable, and we believe that we can learn from each other."
Kikwete will leave Jamaica tomorrow for Trinidad and Tobago to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Port-of-Spain.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Make cadet training mandatory
Make cadet training mandatory
Published: Monday September 14, 2009
The Editor, Sir:
The cadet force is a disciplined organisation that takes on both military and community activities. Participation in cadet activities changes the lives of many individuals and it is a deterrent to indiscipline in our schools.
It has been established that some high schools across the country are experiencing problems with students' behaviour. In an effort to instil discipline and positive attitude in our youths, thus enabling them to become focus and responsible citizens, the Government should mandate that every public high school should have a cadet unit. I believe that there should be a partnership between the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Jamaica Combined Cadet Force (JCCF) where principals of the participating schools provide a designated teacher (male or female) to supervise or be placed in charge of the unit.
Drawback
The JCCF could provide the appropriate training and equipment, whereby the schools provide the space or storage facility for equipment, that is, uniforms, training manuals, etc. In the event there is a lack of space at the schools, then the MOE could provide a container for the purpose. A drawback to the effort is that many teachers might not see the cadet force as an option because service in such an organisation is voluntary. However, there are privileges that are associated with being a member of the JCCF.
With reference to St Thomas, most high schools are in need of active cadet units at those institutions. I strongly believe that if the Government embark on such an effort, then we will see some productive students growing up to become responsible adults.
I am, etc.,
CHARLIE BROWN
charliebrown1004@hotmail.com
St Thomas
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090914/letters/letters6.html
Published: Monday September 14, 2009
The Editor, Sir:
The cadet force is a disciplined organisation that takes on both military and community activities. Participation in cadet activities changes the lives of many individuals and it is a deterrent to indiscipline in our schools.
It has been established that some high schools across the country are experiencing problems with students' behaviour. In an effort to instil discipline and positive attitude in our youths, thus enabling them to become focus and responsible citizens, the Government should mandate that every public high school should have a cadet unit. I believe that there should be a partnership between the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Jamaica Combined Cadet Force (JCCF) where principals of the participating schools provide a designated teacher (male or female) to supervise or be placed in charge of the unit.
Drawback
The JCCF could provide the appropriate training and equipment, whereby the schools provide the space or storage facility for equipment, that is, uniforms, training manuals, etc. In the event there is a lack of space at the schools, then the MOE could provide a container for the purpose. A drawback to the effort is that many teachers might not see the cadet force as an option because service in such an organisation is voluntary. However, there are privileges that are associated with being a member of the JCCF.
With reference to St Thomas, most high schools are in need of active cadet units at those institutions. I strongly believe that if the Government embark on such an effort, then we will see some productive students growing up to become responsible adults.
I am, etc.,
CHARLIE BROWN
charliebrown1004@hotmail.com
St Thomas
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090914/letters/letters6.html
EDITORIAL - The Dickensian shame of Armadale
EDITORIAL - The Dickensian shame of Armadale
Published: Monday September 14, 2009
In a sense, the Armadale enquiry wasn't really necessary. It wasn't going to tell us anything that we didn't know. Most Jamaicans know about the horrible conditions at the so-called correctional centres and places of safety.
Sadie Keating's committee earlier this decade, for instance, documented rampant sexual and physical abuse at both government and privately run homes where children ought to believe they have bankable guarantees of refuge and well-being.
We are aware, too, of the beatings and torture in 2000 at the prison in St Catherine, and the findings of the sole commissioner who probed that atrocity. Before these, there was the report on the riots at the Tower Street Correctional Centre that highlighted the overcrowding at the prison, the ill-treatment of prisoners, and the general corruption of the system.
But even though there would be no grand revelations from Justice Harrison's probe of the events in May at Armadale, St Ann, where seven of the inmates of this facility for girls were burnt to death, we knew that it was important that we hear what happened and the circumstances in which it happened. For it is important, we feel, continuously to confront ourselves and to test our tolerance for indecency until, perhaps, we are at a point where we can no longer endure and, therefore, shame ourselves into action - to a behaviour for the better.
A degrading Dickensian hellhole
In the first regard, the enquiry did not disappoint, confirming Armadale as a degrading Dickensian hellhole for which no one, from top to bottom and in-between, assumes any responsibility and has no expectation of being held to account. Unless, perhaps, Justice Harrison deems someone criminally liable for starting the fire that caused the deaths and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions prefers charges against that individual.
But igniting the fire that caused the deaths and injuries was not the worse thing that happened at Armadale. The fire, the raw truth be acknowledged, was mere symptomatic of something far nastier and more corrosive than what is likely to have been a case of bad judgement: it is a toxic cocktail of abrogation of responsibility and indecent disrespect. So people who find themselves in a particular circumstance or are hemmed into a certain stratum are worthy, it appears, of not more than a Dickensian workhouse.
Psychotic behaviour
Should such an assertion be deemed unfair, how else then is the evidence of Dr Micas Campbell, who attended to the Armadale girls, explained?
Several of the 61 wards, she said, displayed various forms of psychotic behaviour, including hallucination and suicidal and homicidal tendencies. Some were particularly aggressive. Some suffered from depression and anxiety. But the State, in whose care they were placed, which had responsibility for their welfare, could not find it possible to ensure that teenage girls with deep psychological problems receive prescribed medication on a regular basis. Nor could Dr Campbell get two girls, with deeper problems, complicated by diagnosis of HIV, removed from Armadale. They died in the fire.
That attitude is symptomatic of a culture in which what happened at Armadale in May was entirely possible. What is worse, no one at any level of the system seems to feel responsible, which makes them irresponsible, and should go, starting at the top of the correctional system.
The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published. http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090914/cleisure/cleisure1.html
Published: Monday September 14, 2009
In a sense, the Armadale enquiry wasn't really necessary. It wasn't going to tell us anything that we didn't know. Most Jamaicans know about the horrible conditions at the so-called correctional centres and places of safety.
Sadie Keating's committee earlier this decade, for instance, documented rampant sexual and physical abuse at both government and privately run homes where children ought to believe they have bankable guarantees of refuge and well-being.
We are aware, too, of the beatings and torture in 2000 at the prison in St Catherine, and the findings of the sole commissioner who probed that atrocity. Before these, there was the report on the riots at the Tower Street Correctional Centre that highlighted the overcrowding at the prison, the ill-treatment of prisoners, and the general corruption of the system.
But even though there would be no grand revelations from Justice Harrison's probe of the events in May at Armadale, St Ann, where seven of the inmates of this facility for girls were burnt to death, we knew that it was important that we hear what happened and the circumstances in which it happened. For it is important, we feel, continuously to confront ourselves and to test our tolerance for indecency until, perhaps, we are at a point where we can no longer endure and, therefore, shame ourselves into action - to a behaviour for the better.
A degrading Dickensian hellhole
In the first regard, the enquiry did not disappoint, confirming Armadale as a degrading Dickensian hellhole for which no one, from top to bottom and in-between, assumes any responsibility and has no expectation of being held to account. Unless, perhaps, Justice Harrison deems someone criminally liable for starting the fire that caused the deaths and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions prefers charges against that individual.
But igniting the fire that caused the deaths and injuries was not the worse thing that happened at Armadale. The fire, the raw truth be acknowledged, was mere symptomatic of something far nastier and more corrosive than what is likely to have been a case of bad judgement: it is a toxic cocktail of abrogation of responsibility and indecent disrespect. So people who find themselves in a particular circumstance or are hemmed into a certain stratum are worthy, it appears, of not more than a Dickensian workhouse.
Psychotic behaviour
Should such an assertion be deemed unfair, how else then is the evidence of Dr Micas Campbell, who attended to the Armadale girls, explained?
Several of the 61 wards, she said, displayed various forms of psychotic behaviour, including hallucination and suicidal and homicidal tendencies. Some were particularly aggressive. Some suffered from depression and anxiety. But the State, in whose care they were placed, which had responsibility for their welfare, could not find it possible to ensure that teenage girls with deep psychological problems receive prescribed medication on a regular basis. Nor could Dr Campbell get two girls, with deeper problems, complicated by diagnosis of HIV, removed from Armadale. They died in the fire.
That attitude is symptomatic of a culture in which what happened at Armadale in May was entirely possible. What is worse, no one at any level of the system seems to feel responsible, which makes them irresponsible, and should go, starting at the top of the correctional system.
The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published. http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090914/cleisure/cleisure1.html
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Managing in times of recession: success through partnership and collaboration
Managing in times of recession: success through partnership and collaboration
Published: Tuesday September 1, 2009
Ibrahim Ajagunna, Director, Academic Studies, Caribbean Maritime Institute (CMI)and Fritz Pinnock,Executive Director (CMI), Contributors
The impact of the recent recession has had a tremendous effect on the shipping industry and Maritime Education in Jamaica.
Both are now downsizing in all aspects of their operations simply because of recession. It is important to recognise that the roots of a recession and its true starting point rest in several quarters of positive but slowing growth before the actual recession.
While this is so, it is also important to recognise other economic change variables such as national unemployment rates or consumer confidence and spending levels, which are all a part of the economic system and which must be taken into consideration when considering a recession.
In an economic environment where inflation is prevalent, people tend to cut out things like leisure spending and spend less on things they usually indulge in.
People will attempt to save more money than they usually do and sometimes they do so through wrong investments that yield super profit in a short time period. As a result of this people and businesses start finding ways to cut costs and avoid unneeded expenditures which will eventually lead to decline in the Gross Domestic Product.
As experienced recently in the shipping industry and other businesses in Jamaica, unemployment rates continue to rise because these companies start to lay off workers to cut more costs.
This however occurs because consumers are not spending like they use to do. These combined factors according to experts help to drive an economy into a state of recession. Economists also believe that this set of circumstances, coupled with the ability of people to get access to greater amounts of loan money, creates a cycle of unsustainable economic activity which may eventually grind an economy to a near halt existence.
Rough tide
These views are not different from experiences in Jamaica over the last few years.
The Hellenic Shipping News recently revealed the rough tide for shipping lines globally for which there has been sharp reduction in cargo volumes worldwide. The last six months for example have seen a huge amount of capacity changes in the container industry, including the lay up of vessels.
According to Hellenic Shipping News, many shipping lines have responded to this tide with job cuts, and increases in freight rates have sharply plummeted in the last few months since the meltdown started.
The chief executive officer of Maersk Line, Eivind Kolding, in an interview with Hellenic Shipping News said that more job losses are likely at Maersk Line in 2010. Also, as part of the economic recession fallout, the AP Moller-Maersk subsidiary has indicated it will charge $300 more per 20-foot equivalent unit (TEU) on its Far East to Mediterranean and Northern Europe lanes with effect from 1 July 2009.
There is no doubt that this will extend to the Caribbean making the cost of goods to the consumer skyrocket. The question is, could this be an opportunity for shipping lines to cut costs and increase their revenue using the recession as a yardstick? Can partnership and collaboration help resolve the present bottleneck? The answer to the last question may probably be yes based on the following.
Partnerships and collaborative arrangements amongst all stakeholders in the shipping industry is one effective way of achieving success in the industry. Partnership and collaboration is a process of joint decision making among autonomous and key stakeholders of an inter-organisational domain to resolve problems of the domain and/or to manage issues related to the domain. It occurs when a group of autonomous stakeholders of a problem domain engage in an interactive process, using shared rules, norms, and structures, to act or decide on issues related to that domain.
Future challenges
It can lead to better decisions that are more likely to be implemented and, at the same time, better prepare agencies and communities for future challenges. Partnerships and collaborative ventures can help to unite the multiplicity of interests throughout all sectors of the diverse shipping industry.
To realise the growth potential of the industry, it is important to develop a high-quality, profitable and sustainable activity, through a partnership of industry, government and other stakeholders. Such a common arrangement will allow the private sector to work in conjunction with the public sector on a wide range of issues, for example, policy formulation, infrastructure development and provision, the development of maritime facilities and amenities, marketing and promotion and the development of skilled personnel for the industry.
By developing interpersonal and inter-organisational linkages, managers can be better informed and make choices about future directions that are more likely to solve the problems at hand. Collaborative decision-making and on-the-ground partnerships can enhance the capacity of agencies and communities to deal with problems in the future.
Published: Tuesday September 1, 2009
Ibrahim Ajagunna, Director, Academic Studies, Caribbean Maritime Institute (CMI)and Fritz Pinnock,Executive Director (CMI), Contributors
The impact of the recent recession has had a tremendous effect on the shipping industry and Maritime Education in Jamaica.
Both are now downsizing in all aspects of their operations simply because of recession. It is important to recognise that the roots of a recession and its true starting point rest in several quarters of positive but slowing growth before the actual recession.
While this is so, it is also important to recognise other economic change variables such as national unemployment rates or consumer confidence and spending levels, which are all a part of the economic system and which must be taken into consideration when considering a recession.
In an economic environment where inflation is prevalent, people tend to cut out things like leisure spending and spend less on things they usually indulge in.
People will attempt to save more money than they usually do and sometimes they do so through wrong investments that yield super profit in a short time period. As a result of this people and businesses start finding ways to cut costs and avoid unneeded expenditures which will eventually lead to decline in the Gross Domestic Product.
As experienced recently in the shipping industry and other businesses in Jamaica, unemployment rates continue to rise because these companies start to lay off workers to cut more costs.
This however occurs because consumers are not spending like they use to do. These combined factors according to experts help to drive an economy into a state of recession. Economists also believe that this set of circumstances, coupled with the ability of people to get access to greater amounts of loan money, creates a cycle of unsustainable economic activity which may eventually grind an economy to a near halt existence.
Rough tide
These views are not different from experiences in Jamaica over the last few years.
The Hellenic Shipping News recently revealed the rough tide for shipping lines globally for which there has been sharp reduction in cargo volumes worldwide. The last six months for example have seen a huge amount of capacity changes in the container industry, including the lay up of vessels.
According to Hellenic Shipping News, many shipping lines have responded to this tide with job cuts, and increases in freight rates have sharply plummeted in the last few months since the meltdown started.
The chief executive officer of Maersk Line, Eivind Kolding, in an interview with Hellenic Shipping News said that more job losses are likely at Maersk Line in 2010. Also, as part of the economic recession fallout, the AP Moller-Maersk subsidiary has indicated it will charge $300 more per 20-foot equivalent unit (TEU) on its Far East to Mediterranean and Northern Europe lanes with effect from 1 July 2009.
There is no doubt that this will extend to the Caribbean making the cost of goods to the consumer skyrocket. The question is, could this be an opportunity for shipping lines to cut costs and increase their revenue using the recession as a yardstick? Can partnership and collaboration help resolve the present bottleneck? The answer to the last question may probably be yes based on the following.
Partnerships and collaborative arrangements amongst all stakeholders in the shipping industry is one effective way of achieving success in the industry. Partnership and collaboration is a process of joint decision making among autonomous and key stakeholders of an inter-organisational domain to resolve problems of the domain and/or to manage issues related to the domain. It occurs when a group of autonomous stakeholders of a problem domain engage in an interactive process, using shared rules, norms, and structures, to act or decide on issues related to that domain.
Future challenges
It can lead to better decisions that are more likely to be implemented and, at the same time, better prepare agencies and communities for future challenges. Partnerships and collaborative ventures can help to unite the multiplicity of interests throughout all sectors of the diverse shipping industry.
To realise the growth potential of the industry, it is important to develop a high-quality, profitable and sustainable activity, through a partnership of industry, government and other stakeholders. Such a common arrangement will allow the private sector to work in conjunction with the public sector on a wide range of issues, for example, policy formulation, infrastructure development and provision, the development of maritime facilities and amenities, marketing and promotion and the development of skilled personnel for the industry.
By developing interpersonal and inter-organisational linkages, managers can be better informed and make choices about future directions that are more likely to solve the problems at hand. Collaborative decision-making and on-the-ground partnerships can enhance the capacity of agencies and communities to deal with problems in the future.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
NCJRS Abstracts Database - Corruption and Regulatory Structures
"NCJ Number
207126
Title:
Corruption and Regulatory Structures
Author(s):
Anthony Ogus
Publication Date:
July 2004
Pages:
18
Type:
Legislation/policy analysis
Origin:
United States
Language:
English
Annotation:
This article examines the problem of suppressing corruption in developing nations, focusing specifically on a critique of the conventional, regulatory strategies espoused by Western institutions.
Abstract:
One of the major obstacles to economic growth in developing nations has been identified as corruption. Governments in these developing countries have fallen under increased scrutiny and pressure from the World Bank and other international organizations to combat the problem. Western institutions have been urging developing countries to adopt the regulatory methods used to constrain corruption in Western industrialized societies. These regulatory methods focus on greater accountability and transparency in decisionmaking and on intensifying law enforcement efforts. The author argues that these strategies are not necessarily appropriate for developing nations facing problems of restricted law enforcement resources and deeply culturally embedded practices of corruption. Rather than adopting the Western regulatory model, the author asserts that developing nations should focus on reducing the opportunities for corruption within the context of regulatory decisionmaking, instead of attempting to suppress it altogether. The key aspects of regulatory institutions and procedures that have the potential of achieving the goal of reducing opportunities for corruption are identified, some of which are inconsistent with regulatory methods recommended by Western institutions. Reducing opportunities for corruption will not only be a more effective means of controlling corruption, it will also demand fewer resources than the Western regulatory approach. References
Main Term(s):
Corruption of public officials; Developing Countries
Index Term(s): Law enforcement; Regulatory agencies"
http://www.ncjrs.gov/app/publications/abstract.aspx?ID=207126
207126
Title:
Corruption and Regulatory Structures
Author(s):
Anthony Ogus
Publication Date:
July 2004
Pages:
18
Type:
Legislation/policy analysis
Origin:
United States
Language:
English
Annotation:
This article examines the problem of suppressing corruption in developing nations, focusing specifically on a critique of the conventional, regulatory strategies espoused by Western institutions.
Abstract:
One of the major obstacles to economic growth in developing nations has been identified as corruption. Governments in these developing countries have fallen under increased scrutiny and pressure from the World Bank and other international organizations to combat the problem. Western institutions have been urging developing countries to adopt the regulatory methods used to constrain corruption in Western industrialized societies. These regulatory methods focus on greater accountability and transparency in decisionmaking and on intensifying law enforcement efforts. The author argues that these strategies are not necessarily appropriate for developing nations facing problems of restricted law enforcement resources and deeply culturally embedded practices of corruption. Rather than adopting the Western regulatory model, the author asserts that developing nations should focus on reducing the opportunities for corruption within the context of regulatory decisionmaking, instead of attempting to suppress it altogether. The key aspects of regulatory institutions and procedures that have the potential of achieving the goal of reducing opportunities for corruption are identified, some of which are inconsistent with regulatory methods recommended by Western institutions. Reducing opportunities for corruption will not only be a more effective means of controlling corruption, it will also demand fewer resources than the Western regulatory approach. References
Main Term(s):
Corruption of public officials; Developing Countries
Index Term(s): Law enforcement; Regulatory agencies"
http://www.ncjrs.gov/app/publications/abstract.aspx?ID=207126
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Wellness Tour cares for the elderly and children
Jamaica Gleaner Online
Wellness Tour cares for the elderly and children
Published: Tuesday June 23, 2009
Elderly patients listen attentively during the launch of the Wellness Tour, held at Swallowfield Chapel June 2-6.
The elderly and children from the Swallowfield community between June 2 and 6 received health care during the Shipping Association of Jamaica (SAJ), Rotary and Rotaract Club of Liguanea Plains (RCLP) 'Wellness Tour 2009' held at the Swallowfield Chapel.
A partnership between the SAJ, the Rotary and Rotaract clubs as well as Swallowfield Chapel, the four-day tour provided screening for vision, cholesterol, hypertension, diabetes, Pap smears and breast examinations as well as general medical check-ups. A team of seven doctors, including two ophthalmologists, nurses and personnel from the Diabetes Association of Jamaica provided medical care.
The first three days of the clinic were dedicated to the care of the elderly, who received free prescription medication, while Saturday was dedicated entirely to children of the community.
Great importance
Speaking at the launch, Diana Reynolds, human resource and development manager of the SAJ, noted that wellness was of great importance to the association. The desire to ensure the medical needs of individuals in our neighbouring Greenwich Town community led the SAJ to purchase this mobile clinic. The idea of the Wellness Tour, she noted, was the brainchild of the SAJ's general manager, Trevor Riley.
"We are proud to say that the clinic has grown beyond the Greenwich Town community and has spread its wings to communities across Jamaica, through its partnership with the Rotary Club of Liguanea Plains and the churches and schools which host the tour," Reynolds said.
She pointed out that the SAJ's focus on wellness was also staff oriented, noting that the association recently launched a staff wellness programme to help employees create a healthier lifestyle.
"We implore you, in this challenging economic climate, to focus on the health and well-being of your staff members, so they can be in the best of health to perform their respective duties," Reynolds said.
Michael Bernard, president of the Rotary Club of Liguanea Plains, said that the Wellness Tour assists the club in fulfilling its mandate of decreasing the child mortality rate. "It is a good fit that the Rotary Club would partner with the SAJ and the Swallowfield Chapel to extend health care and fellowship to the members of the community," Bernard said.
Pastor David Henry of the Swallowfield Chapel thanked the volunteers who came out to serve unselfishly. "As disciples of Christ, we at Swallowfield have been commissioned not only to spread the gospel but also to care for the sick and those in need," Henry said.
In its fourth year, the Wellness Tour has provided medical care to more than 3,000 children and adults in communities across the island. The aim of the tour is to provide medical screening facilities to individuals who face challenges accessing these services. Partners for the tour include the Diabetes Association of Jamaica, Foundation for International Self-Help, SecuriPro, Atlas Security, Maritime and Transport Limited and Marine Haulage.
Diana Reynolds, human resource and development manager of the Shipping Association of Jamaica, in conversation with Pastor David Henry (centre) of Swallowfield Chapel and Michael Bernard, president of the Rotary Club of Liguanea Plains, after the opening of the Wellness Tour at the chapel recently. Copyright Jamaica-Gleaner.com
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090623/shipping/shipping1.html
Wellness Tour cares for the elderly and children
Published: Tuesday June 23, 2009
Elderly patients listen attentively during the launch of the Wellness Tour, held at Swallowfield Chapel June 2-6.
The elderly and children from the Swallowfield community between June 2 and 6 received health care during the Shipping Association of Jamaica (SAJ), Rotary and Rotaract Club of Liguanea Plains (RCLP) 'Wellness Tour 2009' held at the Swallowfield Chapel.
A partnership between the SAJ, the Rotary and Rotaract clubs as well as Swallowfield Chapel, the four-day tour provided screening for vision, cholesterol, hypertension, diabetes, Pap smears and breast examinations as well as general medical check-ups. A team of seven doctors, including two ophthalmologists, nurses and personnel from the Diabetes Association of Jamaica provided medical care.
The first three days of the clinic were dedicated to the care of the elderly, who received free prescription medication, while Saturday was dedicated entirely to children of the community.
Great importance
Speaking at the launch, Diana Reynolds, human resource and development manager of the SAJ, noted that wellness was of great importance to the association. The desire to ensure the medical needs of individuals in our neighbouring Greenwich Town community led the SAJ to purchase this mobile clinic. The idea of the Wellness Tour, she noted, was the brainchild of the SAJ's general manager, Trevor Riley.
"We are proud to say that the clinic has grown beyond the Greenwich Town community and has spread its wings to communities across Jamaica, through its partnership with the Rotary Club of Liguanea Plains and the churches and schools which host the tour," Reynolds said.
She pointed out that the SAJ's focus on wellness was also staff oriented, noting that the association recently launched a staff wellness programme to help employees create a healthier lifestyle.
"We implore you, in this challenging economic climate, to focus on the health and well-being of your staff members, so they can be in the best of health to perform their respective duties," Reynolds said.
Michael Bernard, president of the Rotary Club of Liguanea Plains, said that the Wellness Tour assists the club in fulfilling its mandate of decreasing the child mortality rate. "It is a good fit that the Rotary Club would partner with the SAJ and the Swallowfield Chapel to extend health care and fellowship to the members of the community," Bernard said.
Pastor David Henry of the Swallowfield Chapel thanked the volunteers who came out to serve unselfishly. "As disciples of Christ, we at Swallowfield have been commissioned not only to spread the gospel but also to care for the sick and those in need," Henry said.
In its fourth year, the Wellness Tour has provided medical care to more than 3,000 children and adults in communities across the island. The aim of the tour is to provide medical screening facilities to individuals who face challenges accessing these services. Partners for the tour include the Diabetes Association of Jamaica, Foundation for International Self-Help, SecuriPro, Atlas Security, Maritime and Transport Limited and Marine Haulage.
Diana Reynolds, human resource and development manager of the Shipping Association of Jamaica, in conversation with Pastor David Henry (centre) of Swallowfield Chapel and Michael Bernard, president of the Rotary Club of Liguanea Plains, after the opening of the Wellness Tour at the chapel recently. Copyright Jamaica-Gleaner.com
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090623/shipping/shipping1.html
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Producing to survive instead of borrowing - KEN CHAPLIN
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Apart from the effects the global economic recession is having on Jamaica, the country's gravest problem is not producing enough goods and services to ensure economic stability and viability, yet it wants to enjoy a high standard of living mainly through borrowing upon borrowing.
All the statistics on the economy released by Finance Minister Audley Shaw in his 2009-2010 budget presentation point to the need for Jamaica to produce far more goods and services in order to survive, especially in the current world economic environment. The Gross Domestic Product is the most important barometer for measuring economic stability, in that it measures the value of goods and services produced by a country. If a country is not producing sufficient goods and services to maintain a level of economic and social stability, it cannot be said to be doing well. Jamaica is not doing well and has been borrowing money to survive instead of producing to survive.
The debt ratio to the GDP is staggering. At the end of March this year the ratio stood at 108.9 per cent. In actual figures, we owed $1.2 trillion dollars and we are still borrowing. Of a budget of $555 billion, $309 billion had to be reserved for debt payments. Under law, the first charge on the budget is debt servicing.
The expected revenue for the fiscal year will be $321 billion. Government will have to borrow $215.8 billion and impose $18.131 billion in taxes or 1.5 per cent of GDP to close the fiscal gap. The major portion of the revenue will come from an increase of $8.75 per litre in the Special Consumption Tax on petrol which is estimated to yield $13.3 billion, and broadening the General Consumption Tax (GCT) estimated to yield $7.5 billion. It has been widely recognised that the government has no other option but to increase taxes although the level of the increase in petrol prices and some of the items added to the GCT basket is being questioned. For example, it includes computers and books. This is unacceptable.
Some economists wanted the government to cut its spending, but others argue to the contrary that, like President Obama's administration, government should increase spending, give the economy a stimulus injection, especially in infrastructure development and create better conditions for increasing goods and services to improve the GDP standing. Hence this year 20 per cent of the intake from the SCT on fuel will be used on road rehabilitation, 35 per cent next year and 50 per cent in year three. There is also money for capital development, but many more incentives will be needed to enhance production appreciably. When Prime Minister Bruce Golding speaks in the budget debate today he is expected to announce other incentives to raise the level of the production of goods and services.
In his landmark contribution to the debate last Tuesday, Opposition spokesman on finance, Dr Omar Davies, proposed an economic recovery programme for national growth which would see an additional $6 billion added to the budget for capital programmes, including infrastructural works like draining, river training, reforestation and building retaining walls.
The programme, he said, could be financed by withdrawing $3 billion from the Universal Acess Fund and the Tourism Enhancement Fund. He suggested a tax regime which could result in the rolling back of the tax increase on petrol. Many people are calling Dr Davies' contribution as the most statesmanlike speech he has ever made in a budget debate, including those he made during his 14 years as minister of finance.
But to return to the importance of having a strong GDP. The fiscal deficit this year is targeted at 5.5. per cent of the GDP or $65.4 billion. Such a deficit is much too high for a small economy and shows that the country is living well above its means and has to increase its income considerably. The internationally accepted safe point is 3 per cent of GDP. We cannot compare our position with that of a large country like the United States which has a large economy and can cope with the problem better than a small country like Jamaica. Their deficit is running at about 8 per cent of the GDP. Another figure we have to watch is the current account deficit which, for the financial year just ended, was 19.2 of GDP, a deterioration of 3.9 per cent over the previous year.
As usual, government gives "a little something" to soothe taxpayers whenever it imposes taxation. It was a good decision to take the tax burden off PAYE employees. There are 1.3 million workers in the labour force of whom 323,000 are PAYE workers. For the workers, the income tax threshold is to be doubled from $220,500 to $440,000 by January 1, 2010, which means that an additional 85,000 people will no longer pay income tax, bringing the total to 132,000. Some 191,000 workers will take home an additional $55,000 per year. But there are nearly a million other workers outside the loop who are going to feel the bite of the tax increase on petrol. So when journalists asked Finance Minister Audley Shaw at his press conference whether the government would be considering increasing the fares charged by taxi operators, Shaw seemed upset by the question and referred the journalists to Transport Minister Mike Henry. It was a perfectly legitimate question, because in the past price increases in petrol have caused unrest as taxi operators passed on the increase to commuters.The truth is that the government should have discussed the matter with taxi operators before the tax and established a position prior to the announcement.
Another matter of concern is that up to the time of writing this column the additional list of items to attract GCT had not been completed. It seems to me that the list was put together hurriedly. When GCT was introduced during the Seaga administration in the 1980s, as communication consultant to the Revenue Board which was compiling the list, I noted that it took the team several weeks working long hours to prepare the list of items, including those which were zero-rated.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/html/20090504T220000-0500_150776_OBS_PRODUCING_TO_SURVIVE_INSTEAD_OF_BORROWING.asp
Apart from the effects the global economic recession is having on Jamaica, the country's gravest problem is not producing enough goods and services to ensure economic stability and viability, yet it wants to enjoy a high standard of living mainly through borrowing upon borrowing.
All the statistics on the economy released by Finance Minister Audley Shaw in his 2009-2010 budget presentation point to the need for Jamaica to produce far more goods and services in order to survive, especially in the current world economic environment. The Gross Domestic Product is the most important barometer for measuring economic stability, in that it measures the value of goods and services produced by a country. If a country is not producing sufficient goods and services to maintain a level of economic and social stability, it cannot be said to be doing well. Jamaica is not doing well and has been borrowing money to survive instead of producing to survive.
The debt ratio to the GDP is staggering. At the end of March this year the ratio stood at 108.9 per cent. In actual figures, we owed $1.2 trillion dollars and we are still borrowing. Of a budget of $555 billion, $309 billion had to be reserved for debt payments. Under law, the first charge on the budget is debt servicing.
The expected revenue for the fiscal year will be $321 billion. Government will have to borrow $215.8 billion and impose $18.131 billion in taxes or 1.5 per cent of GDP to close the fiscal gap. The major portion of the revenue will come from an increase of $8.75 per litre in the Special Consumption Tax on petrol which is estimated to yield $13.3 billion, and broadening the General Consumption Tax (GCT) estimated to yield $7.5 billion. It has been widely recognised that the government has no other option but to increase taxes although the level of the increase in petrol prices and some of the items added to the GCT basket is being questioned. For example, it includes computers and books. This is unacceptable.
Some economists wanted the government to cut its spending, but others argue to the contrary that, like President Obama's administration, government should increase spending, give the economy a stimulus injection, especially in infrastructure development and create better conditions for increasing goods and services to improve the GDP standing. Hence this year 20 per cent of the intake from the SCT on fuel will be used on road rehabilitation, 35 per cent next year and 50 per cent in year three. There is also money for capital development, but many more incentives will be needed to enhance production appreciably. When Prime Minister Bruce Golding speaks in the budget debate today he is expected to announce other incentives to raise the level of the production of goods and services.
In his landmark contribution to the debate last Tuesday, Opposition spokesman on finance, Dr Omar Davies, proposed an economic recovery programme for national growth which would see an additional $6 billion added to the budget for capital programmes, including infrastructural works like draining, river training, reforestation and building retaining walls.
The programme, he said, could be financed by withdrawing $3 billion from the Universal Acess Fund and the Tourism Enhancement Fund. He suggested a tax regime which could result in the rolling back of the tax increase on petrol. Many people are calling Dr Davies' contribution as the most statesmanlike speech he has ever made in a budget debate, including those he made during his 14 years as minister of finance.
But to return to the importance of having a strong GDP. The fiscal deficit this year is targeted at 5.5. per cent of the GDP or $65.4 billion. Such a deficit is much too high for a small economy and shows that the country is living well above its means and has to increase its income considerably. The internationally accepted safe point is 3 per cent of GDP. We cannot compare our position with that of a large country like the United States which has a large economy and can cope with the problem better than a small country like Jamaica. Their deficit is running at about 8 per cent of the GDP. Another figure we have to watch is the current account deficit which, for the financial year just ended, was 19.2 of GDP, a deterioration of 3.9 per cent over the previous year.
As usual, government gives "a little something" to soothe taxpayers whenever it imposes taxation. It was a good decision to take the tax burden off PAYE employees. There are 1.3 million workers in the labour force of whom 323,000 are PAYE workers. For the workers, the income tax threshold is to be doubled from $220,500 to $440,000 by January 1, 2010, which means that an additional 85,000 people will no longer pay income tax, bringing the total to 132,000. Some 191,000 workers will take home an additional $55,000 per year. But there are nearly a million other workers outside the loop who are going to feel the bite of the tax increase on petrol. So when journalists asked Finance Minister Audley Shaw at his press conference whether the government would be considering increasing the fares charged by taxi operators, Shaw seemed upset by the question and referred the journalists to Transport Minister Mike Henry. It was a perfectly legitimate question, because in the past price increases in petrol have caused unrest as taxi operators passed on the increase to commuters.The truth is that the government should have discussed the matter with taxi operators before the tax and established a position prior to the announcement.
Another matter of concern is that up to the time of writing this column the additional list of items to attract GCT had not been completed. It seems to me that the list was put together hurriedly. When GCT was introduced during the Seaga administration in the 1980s, as communication consultant to the Revenue Board which was compiling the list, I noted that it took the team several weeks working long hours to prepare the list of items, including those which were zero-rated.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/html/20090504T220000-0500_150776_OBS_PRODUCING_TO_SURVIVE_INSTEAD_OF_BORROWING.asp
Sunday, May 3, 2009
SOLUTION -Lessons from the 70's by Esther Tyson
Lessons from the '70s - Now our fear is global recession. Esther Tyson
Jamaica Gleaner Online
Lessons from the '70s
Published: Sunday May 3, 2009
Rice wars, flour wars, empty supermarket shelves, scarcity of goods, five flights a day to Miami, mass migration, emptied houses and captured houses.
This picture describes Jamaica in the period of the 1970s. We have lessons to learn from this time. Those among us who were not yet born need to learn from those of us who were here. These times with which we are faced are similar yet different. In the 1970s, the USA became the land of hope and promise for many Jamaicans. Stories are told of many Jamaicans who left their good jobs here to go abroad to serve at a gas station; some who left their comfortable homes to live in substandard housing in order to escape the fear they had of living in Jamaica.
This time, escaping Jamaica will not find us leaving our fears behind, because it is no longer an isolated situation belonging to Jamaica - it is worldwide. In the 1970s, the fear for many was that Jamaica was being transformed into a communist nation. Now our fear is global recession. Therefore, it makes no sense to run elsewhere to escape this fear; instead, we have some lessons to learn from that period on how to survive this recession.
Feeding ourselves
We need to find a way to feed ourselves. We need to teach our children how to grow their own food. Backyard gardening needs to become a way of life for those of us who have backyards. Those of us without backyards need to do container gardening.
At our school, we used to have a number of students doing agricultural science up to the CXC-CSEC level, but then the interest in the subject declined. Over the last few years, however, the students' interest in the subject has been revived. Students are transferring the knowledge learnt about gardening at school to their homes. More of our schools need to engage our students in the rudiments of knowing how to grow their own food.
In addition, we need to find ways to share the excess that we reap with others. We can do this by organising in our communities, or at work or at church, to determine who will be growing what at each growing period and then do an exchange with each other, so that nothing goes to waste.
Accessing reasonably priced dry goods
With regard to accessing reasonably priced dry goods, we need to find the wholesalers who are offering good prices for their products. We could again, in our groups, buy these goods wholesale and divide them among ourselves.
Instead of buying high-priced meats at the supermarkets, we need to find a source, possibly the market, or else a butcher where we can get it at a price more reasonable than is offered in the supermarkets. If we have to travel to a rural area to do so, this could be done even once a month, and again the group would cover the cost of the transportation. This could work out, even with the cost of gas, to be cheaper than buying in the supermarkets. In addition, we need to eat less meat and add more vegetables to our diets. In any regard, it is a healthier option.
With the price of petrol being hiked by the new tax, persons need to again use the strength of community to assist each other. We need to look at carpooling. If your neighbour's children go to the same school as yours, or if you work in the same area, arrange that you share the job of transportation. Half of the week you drive, the other half the neighbour drives. In the '70s, the gas guzzlers on the roads became a thing of the past. Those of us who are now purchasing vehicles need to look at the mileage that the vehicles offer per litre of gas as a criterion for buying them.
Furthermore, we need to learn to be satisfied with less and we need to 'tun our han mek fashion'. In an effort to conserve, we need to seriously look at recycling. Containers bought with one item can be reused to store other dry goods, etc. With regards to our clothing, we would save money if we remove worn collars and sew them back on the reverse side instead of discarding the item of clothing.
There are many other such ways that we can cut back on expenditure. The Jamaica Public Service gives tips to the country as to how to conserve on the use of electricity. Let us implement these in our daily lives.
A sense of community
What I am saying is that in these difficult times we need to develop a sense of community. We need to learn to depend on each other and support each other. That community can be geographical or it can be an organisation or your workplace. If you are one of the fortunate ones who are not affected negatively by this global meltdown, then you can help others in your community who are less fortunate.
Those of us who were here in the 1970s, and who survived in spite of the economic difficulties that the country experienced, need to share with others how we did this.
As the well-known song says, "No man is an island, no man stands alone, each man's joy is joy to me, each man's grief is my own. We need one another, so I will defend, each man as my brother, each man as my friend."
Esther Tyson is principal of Ardenne High School, St. Andrew. Feedback may be sent to columns@gleanerjm.com. Copyright Jamaica-Gleaner.com
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090503/cleisure/cleisure5.html
Jamaica Gleaner Online
Lessons from the '70s
Published: Sunday May 3, 2009
Rice wars, flour wars, empty supermarket shelves, scarcity of goods, five flights a day to Miami, mass migration, emptied houses and captured houses.
This picture describes Jamaica in the period of the 1970s. We have lessons to learn from this time. Those among us who were not yet born need to learn from those of us who were here. These times with which we are faced are similar yet different. In the 1970s, the USA became the land of hope and promise for many Jamaicans. Stories are told of many Jamaicans who left their good jobs here to go abroad to serve at a gas station; some who left their comfortable homes to live in substandard housing in order to escape the fear they had of living in Jamaica.
This time, escaping Jamaica will not find us leaving our fears behind, because it is no longer an isolated situation belonging to Jamaica - it is worldwide. In the 1970s, the fear for many was that Jamaica was being transformed into a communist nation. Now our fear is global recession. Therefore, it makes no sense to run elsewhere to escape this fear; instead, we have some lessons to learn from that period on how to survive this recession.
Feeding ourselves
We need to find a way to feed ourselves. We need to teach our children how to grow their own food. Backyard gardening needs to become a way of life for those of us who have backyards. Those of us without backyards need to do container gardening.
At our school, we used to have a number of students doing agricultural science up to the CXC-CSEC level, but then the interest in the subject declined. Over the last few years, however, the students' interest in the subject has been revived. Students are transferring the knowledge learnt about gardening at school to their homes. More of our schools need to engage our students in the rudiments of knowing how to grow their own food.
In addition, we need to find ways to share the excess that we reap with others. We can do this by organising in our communities, or at work or at church, to determine who will be growing what at each growing period and then do an exchange with each other, so that nothing goes to waste.
Accessing reasonably priced dry goods
With regard to accessing reasonably priced dry goods, we need to find the wholesalers who are offering good prices for their products. We could again, in our groups, buy these goods wholesale and divide them among ourselves.
Instead of buying high-priced meats at the supermarkets, we need to find a source, possibly the market, or else a butcher where we can get it at a price more reasonable than is offered in the supermarkets. If we have to travel to a rural area to do so, this could be done even once a month, and again the group would cover the cost of the transportation. This could work out, even with the cost of gas, to be cheaper than buying in the supermarkets. In addition, we need to eat less meat and add more vegetables to our diets. In any regard, it is a healthier option.
With the price of petrol being hiked by the new tax, persons need to again use the strength of community to assist each other. We need to look at carpooling. If your neighbour's children go to the same school as yours, or if you work in the same area, arrange that you share the job of transportation. Half of the week you drive, the other half the neighbour drives. In the '70s, the gas guzzlers on the roads became a thing of the past. Those of us who are now purchasing vehicles need to look at the mileage that the vehicles offer per litre of gas as a criterion for buying them.
Furthermore, we need to learn to be satisfied with less and we need to 'tun our han mek fashion'. In an effort to conserve, we need to seriously look at recycling. Containers bought with one item can be reused to store other dry goods, etc. With regards to our clothing, we would save money if we remove worn collars and sew them back on the reverse side instead of discarding the item of clothing.
There are many other such ways that we can cut back on expenditure. The Jamaica Public Service gives tips to the country as to how to conserve on the use of electricity. Let us implement these in our daily lives.
A sense of community
What I am saying is that in these difficult times we need to develop a sense of community. We need to learn to depend on each other and support each other. That community can be geographical or it can be an organisation or your workplace. If you are one of the fortunate ones who are not affected negatively by this global meltdown, then you can help others in your community who are less fortunate.
Those of us who were here in the 1970s, and who survived in spite of the economic difficulties that the country experienced, need to share with others how we did this.
As the well-known song says, "No man is an island, no man stands alone, each man's joy is joy to me, each man's grief is my own. We need one another, so I will defend, each man as my brother, each man as my friend."
Esther Tyson is principal of Ardenne High School, St. Andrew. Feedback may be sent to columns@gleanerjm.com. Copyright Jamaica-Gleaner.com
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090503/cleisure/cleisure5.html
Thursday, April 30, 2009
SOLUTION : Reduce imports - Clarke calls for change in import procedures
Jamaica Gleaner Online
Clarke calls for change in import procedures
Published: Thursday April 30, 2009
Clarke
ROGER CLARKE, the opposition spokesman on agriculture, wants the procedure by which certain agricultural imports are valued at Customs to be changed in order to protect local farmers.
Clarke has suggested that Customs be responsible for valuing select agricultural items being imported.
"Just like how you bring in a used car, whatever you tell them (Customs) that you pay for it, Customs tell you how much it worth and you charge on that," Clarke suggested during his contribution to the Budget Debate in Parliament yesterday.
According to Clarke, if local farmers are to survive, Government must find ways to prevent dumping on the local market. He said the ministry must think about applying allowable duty under the fair competition convention.
"When you bring in third-hand goods from abroad and say that you paid one cent per pound (Customs should) tell them that is your business (and price the goods based on local prices)," Clarke said.
As minister, Clarke had introduced a duty of 260 per cent on cabbage, lettuce, carrots, tomatoes and chicken.
However, he said even with this mechanism the imported food still continued to end up in the market-place cheaper than local produce as the items were undervalued by the importers.
"The reason it did not work, Prime Minister, was that when they came with the invoice, the invoices were like for nothing ... The intention was to make sure that our farmers had that competitive advantage. It did not happen," Clarke said.
Resonance
Meanwhile, Clarke's suggestion has found resonance with Agriculture Minister Dr Christopher Tufton, who shouted from the government benches, "I support you 100 per cent."
The Budget Debate continues today with Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller due to speak. Like her fellow opposition members, Dr Omar Davies and Clarke, who chided the Government's $555.7-billion Budget, she is expected to speak to the implications of Government's tax policies on the country's most vulnerable. Copyright Jamaica-Gleaner.com http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090430/lead/lead7.html
Clarke calls for change in import procedures
Published: Thursday April 30, 2009
Clarke
ROGER CLARKE, the opposition spokesman on agriculture, wants the procedure by which certain agricultural imports are valued at Customs to be changed in order to protect local farmers.
Clarke has suggested that Customs be responsible for valuing select agricultural items being imported.
"Just like how you bring in a used car, whatever you tell them (Customs) that you pay for it, Customs tell you how much it worth and you charge on that," Clarke suggested during his contribution to the Budget Debate in Parliament yesterday.
According to Clarke, if local farmers are to survive, Government must find ways to prevent dumping on the local market. He said the ministry must think about applying allowable duty under the fair competition convention.
"When you bring in third-hand goods from abroad and say that you paid one cent per pound (Customs should) tell them that is your business (and price the goods based on local prices)," Clarke said.
As minister, Clarke had introduced a duty of 260 per cent on cabbage, lettuce, carrots, tomatoes and chicken.
However, he said even with this mechanism the imported food still continued to end up in the market-place cheaper than local produce as the items were undervalued by the importers.
"The reason it did not work, Prime Minister, was that when they came with the invoice, the invoices were like for nothing ... The intention was to make sure that our farmers had that competitive advantage. It did not happen," Clarke said.
Resonance
Meanwhile, Clarke's suggestion has found resonance with Agriculture Minister Dr Christopher Tufton, who shouted from the government benches, "I support you 100 per cent."
The Budget Debate continues today with Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller due to speak. Like her fellow opposition members, Dr Omar Davies and Clarke, who chided the Government's $555.7-billion Budget, she is expected to speak to the implications of Government's tax policies on the country's most vulnerable. Copyright Jamaica-Gleaner.com http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090430/lead/lead7.html
Monday, April 20, 2009
JAMAICA SOLUTION - HIGH COURT Judge Martin Gayle 'Plea-bargaining may ease backlog of cases'
Published: Sunday April 19, 2009
Barbara Gayle, Staff Reporter
Justice Gayle
HIGH COURT Judge Martin Gayle has made a special appeal for the speedy implementation of case management and plea-bargaining in criminal matters to reduce the huge backlog of cases which has been slowing down the justice system for years.
Gayle made the appeal on Wednesday after officially opening the Easter session of the Home Circuit Court on King Street, downtown Kingston, and was informed that there were 385 cases on the trial list and that most had been traversed from previous court sessions.
Jeremy Taylor, acting deputy director of public prosecutions, called for amendment to the Jury Act so that majority verdicts could be taken in non-capital murder cases. He also expressed concern about the large number of murder and sexual-offence cases on the court list.
Ministry of Justice officials reported in January that regulations accompanying the Criminal Justice (Plea Negotiations and Agreements) Act 2005 were being finalised for tabling in Parliament. This new law would give the director of public prosecutions statutory authority to engage in discussions and make bargains with accused persons in certain felony cases. It would also allow the accused to know beforehand that their sentences would be reduced.
Many challenges
Gayle, in commenting on the backlog of cases, said, "The continued fallout from the global economic crisis has brought many challenges and the judicial system has not been spared." He said the ever-growing criminal list was a clear indication of "the challenges ahead of us". He added that plea-bargaining and case management would significantly reduce the backlog of cases and save judicial time.
Referring to the issues of widespread economic hardship, Gayle said, "It is particularly worth remembering that compassion and forbearance in the exercise of legal rights will not only assist the less fortunate to meet their daily needs in the short term, but in the longer term, will almost certainly make good social sense."
Bargaining worked elsewhere
George Soutar, president of the Advocates' Association of Jamaica, says there is no reason that plea-bargaining would not work for Jamaica, which has a tremendous backlog of cases. Experience in other countries showed that plea-bargaining assisted the process of reducing the backlog of cases, he said.
Taylor, in giving a breakdown of the cases, said perhaps the system of justice had not kept pace with the growth in crime. He called for amendment to the Jury Act so that majority verdicts could be given in non-capital murder cases. He pointed out that there were 17 murder cases on the list for retrials because juries had not arrived at unanimous verdicts.
Taylor also called on defence lawyers to advise accused persons to plead guilty in circumstances where the cases against them were overwhelming, as, in such cases, the court could give "a discount" in sentencing.
Perhaps the four criminal courts at the Home Circuit Court were not enough to deal with the number of cases, he said, as a court could only try one case at a time.
Taylor pledged the whole-hearted effort of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to ensure that as many cases as possible would be tried during the current Easter term, which ends on July 31.
Of the 385 cases on the trial list, 203 are murder cases and 139 are sexual-offence cases. The Hilary term, which began on January 7 and ended on April 3, had 407 cases for trial. Of that number 59 cases were disposed of and 348 cases traversed to the current term. A total of 37 new cases have been added to the traversed list.
Formidable trial list
Gayle described the trial list as formidable and said emphasis must be placed on clearing the backlog, so there must be fewer adjournments in cases set for trial. Disclosing that major dents had been made in the backlog of cases in the Gun Court, Gayle said he was positive that the trend would continue this term.
Attorney-at-law Paul Beswick pledged support on behalf of the private Bar, and agreed that from the figures given, there was a daunting task ahead. He hoped that the cases would move with expediency.
HIGH COURT Judge Martin Gayle has made a special appeal for the speedy implementation of case management and plea-bargaining in criminal matters to reduce the huge backlog of cases which has been slowing down the justice system for years.
Gayle made the appeal on Wednesday after officially opening the Easter session of the Home Circuit Court on King Street, downtown Kingston, and was informed that there were 385 cases on the trial list and that most had been traversed from previous court sessions.
Jeremy Taylor, acting deputy director of public prosecutions, called for amendment to the Jury Act so that majority verdicts could be taken in non-capital murder cases. He also expressed concern about the large number of murder and sexual-offence cases on the court list.
Ministry of Justice officials reported in January that regulations accompanying the Criminal Justice (Plea Negotiations and Agreements) Act 2005 were being finalised for tabling in Parliament. This new law would give the director of public prosecutions statutory authority to engage in discussions and make bargains with accused persons in certain felony cases. It would also allow the accused to know beforehand that their sentences would be reduced.
Many challenges
Gayle, in commenting on the backlog of cases, said, "The continued fallout from the global economic crisis has brought many challenges and the judicial system has not been spared." He said the ever-growing criminal list was a clear indication of "the challenges ahead of us". He added that plea-bargaining and case management would significantly reduce the backlog of cases and save judicial time.
Referring to the issues of widespread economic hardship, Gayle said, "It is particularly worth remembering that compassion and forbearance in the exercise of legal rights will not only assist the less fortunate to meet their daily needs in the short term, but in the longer term, will almost certainly make good social sense."
Bargaining worked elsewhere
George Soutar, president of the Advocates' Association of Jamaica, says there is no reason that plea-bargaining would not work for Jamaica, which has a tremendous backlog of cases. Experience in other countries showed that plea-bargaining assisted the process of reducing the backlog of cases, he said.
Taylor, in giving a breakdown of the cases, said perhaps the system of justice had not kept pace with the growth in crime. He called for amendment to the Jury Act so that majority verdicts could be given in non-capital murder cases. He pointed out that there were 17 murder cases on the list for retrials because juries had not arrived at unanimous verdicts.
Taylor also called on defence lawyers to advise accused persons to plead guilty in circumstances where the cases against them were overwhelming, as, in such cases, the court could give "a discount" in sentencing.
Perhaps the four criminal courts at the Home Circuit Court were not enough to deal with the number of cases, he said, as a court could only try one case at a time.
Taylor pledged the whole-hearted effort of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to ensure that as many cases as possible would be tried during the current Easter term, which ends on July 31.
Of the 385 cases on the trial list, 203 are murder cases and 139 are sexual-offence cases. The Hilary term, which began on January 7 and ended on April 3, had 407 cases for trial. Of that number 59 cases were disposed of and 348 cases traversed to the current term. A total of 37 new cases have been added to the traversed list.
Formidable trial list
Gayle described the trial list as formidable and said emphasis must be placed on clearing the backlog, so there must be fewer adjournments in cases set for trial. Disclosing that major dents had been made in the backlog of cases in the Gun Court, Gayle said he was positive that the trend would continue this term.
Attorney-at-law Paul Beswick pledged support on behalf of the private Bar, and agreed that from the figures given, there was a daunting task ahead. He hoped that the cases would move with expediency.
Friday, April 17, 2009
SOLUTION- COOPERATION -John White, Social Development Commission parish manager for St James, has called for a multisectoral approach for youth
SDC parish manager calls for combined effort to save youths
Published: Friday April 17, 2009
Claudia Gardner, Gleaner Writer
Published: Friday April 17, 2009
Claudia Gardner, Gleaner Writer
White
WESTERN BUREAU:
John White, Social Development Commission parish manager for St James, has called for a multisectoral approach to youth development in order to successfully manage and curtail the problem of youth delinquency.
White made his comments during a Gleaner Editors' Forum held in Montego Bay, St James, on Wednesday.
He said it was crucial that state-owned youth-oriented entities such as the National Youth Service, the National Centre for Youth Development and others, including his, which have overlapping functions, make efforts to collaborate with each other instead of undertaking solo activities.
"I think collectively we need to come together to find ways of dealing with the problem of young people, and that is why sometimes the young persons will turn to linking with the dons because this is where they find something happening for them," said White.
"And, if we don't come together and try to deal with that, we are going to have a serious problem; we are not going to able to capture and regain the trust and confidence of the young people."
White said that in some cases youths were disillusioned and needed to be channelled into positive activities, but that this could only be accomplished by an inter-agency approach.
"I know each of the agencies has their mandate, but we need to look at what each is going to do for our young people, and we can't wait on directives from our head offices," White said.
"We need to start looking at it now from the local level and how we go about doing some interventions."
He added: "We need to channel them (youth) back into culture, into drama. We need to be working together. We can't be blowing our own trumpets."
White said that, at present, the approach to youth empowerment was disjointed because "everyone is doing their own thing".
claudia.gardner@gleanerjm.com
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090417/lead/lead5.html
Saturday, April 11, 2009
SOLUTION - New legislation coming to crack down on paedophiles
Attack on child porn - New legislation coming to crack down on paedophiles
Published: Saturday April 11, 2009
Arthur Hall, Senior Staff Reporter
The Government is getting tough on paedophiles with new laws aimed at cracking down on child pornography.
The Cabinet has approved a bill titled 'The Child Pornography (Prevention) Act 2009', which is to be debated by Parliament shortly.
"There is no law in Jamaica that deals specifically with child pornography and the trend globally is to treat child pornography as a separate crime," Attorney General and Minister of Justice Dorothy Lightbourne announced recently.
"The bill will criminalise the production, possession, importation, export and distribution of child pornography," Lightbourne added.
She noted that though 16 was the age of sexual consent, for the bill, a child would be described as anyone under 18 years old.
According to Lightbourne, when the bill is passed later this year Jamaica will have its first definition of child pornography.
"It encompasses any visual representation of a child or any person depicted as a child engaged in real or stimulated sexual activity, any representation in picture or words for sexual purpose showing the sexual organs of a child," Lightbourne said.
She pointed out that any representation of a child being subject to torture, beatings or physical abuse would also be punishable under the bill, even if it is not in a sexual context.
"Also covered by the bill is just accessing child pornography. So going on the Internet and coming up on it accidentally you will be protected if you take steps to do something about it. So persons are caught if you are surfing the Internet and you come up on it and you don't report it," warned Lightbourne.
Major problem
Child pornography has been a major problem worldwide, with its reproduction and dissemination changing radically since the introduction of the Internet and cellular phones with recording devices.
In Jamaica, several cases have surfaced recently of video recordings on cellular phones. Perhaps the most infamous was the seeming attack on a teenage girl by a group of boys in a vehicle being driven by a then church deacon.
That case is still before the courts.
It was estimated that in 2003, 20 per cent of all pornography traded over the Internet was child pornography, and that since 1997 the number of child pornography images available on the Internet had increased by 1,500 per cent.
In 2007, the British-based Internet Watch Foundation reported that child pornography on the Internet was becoming more brutal and graphic, and the number of images depicting violent abuse had risen fourfold since 2003.
About 80 per cent of the children in the abusive images on the Internet are female, and 91 per cent appear to be children under the age of 12.
It has been estimated that there are between 50,000 and 100,000 paedophiles involved in organised pornography rings around the world, and that one-third of these operate from the United States.
arthur.hall@gleanerjm.com http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090411/lead/lead5.html
Published: Saturday April 11, 2009
Arthur Hall, Senior Staff Reporter
The Government is getting tough on paedophiles with new laws aimed at cracking down on child pornography.
The Cabinet has approved a bill titled 'The Child Pornography (Prevention) Act 2009', which is to be debated by Parliament shortly.
"There is no law in Jamaica that deals specifically with child pornography and the trend globally is to treat child pornography as a separate crime," Attorney General and Minister of Justice Dorothy Lightbourne announced recently.
"The bill will criminalise the production, possession, importation, export and distribution of child pornography," Lightbourne added.
She noted that though 16 was the age of sexual consent, for the bill, a child would be described as anyone under 18 years old.
According to Lightbourne, when the bill is passed later this year Jamaica will have its first definition of child pornography.
"It encompasses any visual representation of a child or any person depicted as a child engaged in real or stimulated sexual activity, any representation in picture or words for sexual purpose showing the sexual organs of a child," Lightbourne said.
She pointed out that any representation of a child being subject to torture, beatings or physical abuse would also be punishable under the bill, even if it is not in a sexual context.
"Also covered by the bill is just accessing child pornography. So going on the Internet and coming up on it accidentally you will be protected if you take steps to do something about it. So persons are caught if you are surfing the Internet and you come up on it and you don't report it," warned Lightbourne.
Major problem
Child pornography has been a major problem worldwide, with its reproduction and dissemination changing radically since the introduction of the Internet and cellular phones with recording devices.
In Jamaica, several cases have surfaced recently of video recordings on cellular phones. Perhaps the most infamous was the seeming attack on a teenage girl by a group of boys in a vehicle being driven by a then church deacon.
That case is still before the courts.
It was estimated that in 2003, 20 per cent of all pornography traded over the Internet was child pornography, and that since 1997 the number of child pornography images available on the Internet had increased by 1,500 per cent.
In 2007, the British-based Internet Watch Foundation reported that child pornography on the Internet was becoming more brutal and graphic, and the number of images depicting violent abuse had risen fourfold since 2003.
About 80 per cent of the children in the abusive images on the Internet are female, and 91 per cent appear to be children under the age of 12.
It has been estimated that there are between 50,000 and 100,000 paedophiles involved in organised pornography rings around the world, and that one-third of these operate from the United States.
arthur.hall@gleanerjm.com http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090411/lead/lead5.html
Monday, April 6, 2009
SOLUTION - Patricia Isaacs - Female farmer
Building Bridges - Former restaurateur creates niche market
Published: Sunday April 5, 2009
Photo by Gareth ManningPatricia Isaacs reaps Scotch bonnet peppers from her farm in Claremont, St Ann.
The Sunday Gleaner begins a new series today looking at innovations in farming. Many small farmers have overcome many hurdles to achieve success, and we will tell their stories.
Gareth Manning, Sunday Gleaner Writer
'REUSE', 'RECYCLE', 'reduce' are pet words that Patricia Isaacs employs on her 300-plus acres farm in the cool valley of Claremont, St Ann.
The only producer of baby corn in Jamaica, Isaacs, a former restaurateur, has created a niche market for herself, supplying hotels and restaurants.
And that has not been her only innovation.
The assertive business woman is the sole female farmer highlighted in a Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute publication recently for her farm's innovative move to develop a hydroponics system for growing crops. It's a system which utilises a nutrient solution rather than soil for cultivation.
However, shortly after Isaacs started, the operating system became challenging for the first-time farmer. But, like a good business woman, when one system fails, she simply tries another.
"Since I have fish (which is her main produce), I am going to do 'aquaponics', which is when you use the water from the fish pond to grow crops," Isaacs proudly tells The Sunday Gleaner.
The process
How will this work? By channelling water from the ponds into troughs about a 100 feet long and about six feet wide. Seedlings will be placed on foam to germinate and then transferred to troughs for growth.
"Through the foam, the seedlings absorb the water. You don't waste a lot of water because what happens is the water comes from the fish straight into the trough. It circulates the plants, takes up the nutrients and it goes back to the fish, and the fish gain from the plants, and plants gain, from the fish," Isaacs explains.
It's a win-win situation in many respects - the farmer saves water and the fish and the crops gain from the added nutrients that circulate from the pond to the trough.
And to make the system even more economical, Isaacs will be using rain water, which she already harvests for her pond.
The system won't be too expensive to set up because she already has the fish. It costs, at most, about $200,000 to build 10 troughs, but it will need a lot of attention.
"What you have to do is build the troughs with some cement and steel and you are going to need pipes," she says.
Throw in a full solar-energy unit and you have a farm working at even greater efficiency.
Isaacs' farm is fully solar generated. It's not a cheap system to buy, she explains, but it's worth the benefits in the long run.
"We have solar and if we don't have enough sun we have a back-up generator," she says.
Isaacs believes if small farmers had more access to funding and grants to invest in more efficient forms of production, like she is doing, there would be no boundaries to the amount of food the island's agricultural sector could produce for local consumption and export.
"It's very expensive to maintain. I can't stress enough that we need more access to grants if we are going to be efficient," she tells The Sunday Gleaner.
"And the farmers need to know that these grants are available. Sometimes we don't know about them and people who are friends of friends know about these things. People who want to move the industry ahead, they should have opportunities to get some of these grants," she adds.
Explaining further about her baby-corn production, Isaacs says it is easy to plant and within 60 days it is ready for reaping.
"When we plant, we plant four or five acres and they (the two major hotels she supplies) buy a lot," she says.
No waste
High demand means a lot of waste is produced by Isaac's crop of baby corn. But like most of her produce on the farm, the waste is not ... wasted.
Self-sufficiency is practised by this Guyanese native.
The trash from her baby corns is crushed and mixed with chicken manure and reused as fertiliser for the crop coming up.
"You can say what I run here is an environmentally friendly farm," she says. And that's for certain. Use is created for ever bit of waste.
Isaacs recently set up a piggery to use the trash generated from her vegetable garden.
"We don't allow anything to be wasted and at the same time, you earn more income," she explains.
Published: Sunday April 5, 2009
Photo by Gareth ManningPatricia Isaacs reaps Scotch bonnet peppers from her farm in Claremont, St Ann.
The Sunday Gleaner begins a new series today looking at innovations in farming. Many small farmers have overcome many hurdles to achieve success, and we will tell their stories.
Gareth Manning, Sunday Gleaner Writer
'REUSE', 'RECYCLE', 'reduce' are pet words that Patricia Isaacs employs on her 300-plus acres farm in the cool valley of Claremont, St Ann.
The only producer of baby corn in Jamaica, Isaacs, a former restaurateur, has created a niche market for herself, supplying hotels and restaurants.
And that has not been her only innovation.
The assertive business woman is the sole female farmer highlighted in a Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute publication recently for her farm's innovative move to develop a hydroponics system for growing crops. It's a system which utilises a nutrient solution rather than soil for cultivation.
However, shortly after Isaacs started, the operating system became challenging for the first-time farmer. But, like a good business woman, when one system fails, she simply tries another.
"Since I have fish (which is her main produce), I am going to do 'aquaponics', which is when you use the water from the fish pond to grow crops," Isaacs proudly tells The Sunday Gleaner.
The process
How will this work? By channelling water from the ponds into troughs about a 100 feet long and about six feet wide. Seedlings will be placed on foam to germinate and then transferred to troughs for growth.
"Through the foam, the seedlings absorb the water. You don't waste a lot of water because what happens is the water comes from the fish straight into the trough. It circulates the plants, takes up the nutrients and it goes back to the fish, and the fish gain from the plants, and plants gain, from the fish," Isaacs explains.
It's a win-win situation in many respects - the farmer saves water and the fish and the crops gain from the added nutrients that circulate from the pond to the trough.
And to make the system even more economical, Isaacs will be using rain water, which she already harvests for her pond.
The system won't be too expensive to set up because she already has the fish. It costs, at most, about $200,000 to build 10 troughs, but it will need a lot of attention.
"What you have to do is build the troughs with some cement and steel and you are going to need pipes," she says.
Throw in a full solar-energy unit and you have a farm working at even greater efficiency.
Isaacs' farm is fully solar generated. It's not a cheap system to buy, she explains, but it's worth the benefits in the long run.
"We have solar and if we don't have enough sun we have a back-up generator," she says.
Isaacs believes if small farmers had more access to funding and grants to invest in more efficient forms of production, like she is doing, there would be no boundaries to the amount of food the island's agricultural sector could produce for local consumption and export.
"It's very expensive to maintain. I can't stress enough that we need more access to grants if we are going to be efficient," she tells The Sunday Gleaner.
"And the farmers need to know that these grants are available. Sometimes we don't know about them and people who are friends of friends know about these things. People who want to move the industry ahead, they should have opportunities to get some of these grants," she adds.
Explaining further about her baby-corn production, Isaacs says it is easy to plant and within 60 days it is ready for reaping.
"When we plant, we plant four or five acres and they (the two major hotels she supplies) buy a lot," she says.
No waste
High demand means a lot of waste is produced by Isaac's crop of baby corn. But like most of her produce on the farm, the waste is not ... wasted.
Self-sufficiency is practised by this Guyanese native.
The trash from her baby corns is crushed and mixed with chicken manure and reused as fertiliser for the crop coming up.
"You can say what I run here is an environmentally friendly farm," she says. And that's for certain. Use is created for ever bit of waste.
Isaacs recently set up a piggery to use the trash generated from her vegetable garden.
"We don't allow anything to be wasted and at the same time, you earn more income," she explains.
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090405/lead/lead9.html
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Solution - Silent coup on gangs - Millions being spent to train and get employment for reformed gang members
Jamaica Gleaner Online
Silent coup on gangs - Millions being spent to train and get employment for reformed gang members
Published: Tuesday March 31, 2009
Tyrone Reid, Staff Reporter
Silent coup on gangs - Millions being spent to train and get employment for reformed gang members
Published: Tuesday March 31, 2009
Tyrone Reid, Staff Reporter
( L - R ) Hinds, Charles
Gang members are reportedly giving up their guns for training and gainful employment, thanks in part to an in-your-face Government initiative.
The bold state-run venture has a multimillion-dollar price tag and targets current gang members, as well as prospective recruits.
However, though no immediate statistics on the level of impact were available, the initiative might prove a small price to pay on the country's path to peace and prosperity. Minister of Labour and Social Security Pearnel Charles, revealed that the Government initiative has put a dent in gang operations without firing a single shot as some crews have been losing members to the multimillion-dollar government programme.
"We have put a few million dollars together to challenge some of those kids who are in the gangs," said Charles, while speaking at the Yes You Can Survive 2009 seminar earlier this month. "I said to a guy, 'You break the chain of the gang and join me and I will train you and give you a job overseas or a job in Jamaica, and we have put millions of dollars there and I want to tell you, they are coming."
The minister said a few young men had told him that they would rather be gainfully employed than be out stealing and running afoul of the law. Charles said a man asked him if he thought stealing was easy. Others told the minister they stole to supply the needs of their families.
"Those who we are breaking through the gangs to said to us, very clearly, they only go in there to eat a food and if they can eat a food outside, they are not going in there."
He added: "So we are taking them out and we are preventing those who want to go in to eat a food from going."
The labour minister believes much of the country's crime and violence could have been averted if jobs had been provided for many unemployed youths before they were initiated into gangs.
"You would be surprised to know that there are many young people involved in crime out there today who, if they had an opportunity to get a job, either here or abroad, they would not have been involved."
Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Glenmore Hinds told The Gleaner that there had been a reduction in the number of shootings and murders so far this year when compared to the corresponding period last year.
Hinds said most shootings and murders were gang related. "That would indicate a decrease in gang activity," he said.
Factors
Though it might seem the Government's plan was working, the senior cop hastened to point out that the reduction was due to a multiplicity of factors or "a series of interventions".
"It is really a combination of intervention measures. You don't want to put it down to one single measure. That wouldn't be accurate."
Hinds explained that the police's focus on gangs and the hot spots in which they operated, coupled with the efforts of social-outreach programmes, had contributed to the decline in shootings and murders.
The senior cop said the Government's train-and-transform programme was very important to controlling crime.
tyrone.reid@gleanerjm.com
Copyright Jamaica-Gleaner.com
Gang members are reportedly giving up their guns for training and gainful employment, thanks in part to an in-your-face Government initiative.
The bold state-run venture has a multimillion-dollar price tag and targets current gang members, as well as prospective recruits.
However, though no immediate statistics on the level of impact were available, the initiative might prove a small price to pay on the country's path to peace and prosperity. Minister of Labour and Social Security Pearnel Charles, revealed that the Government initiative has put a dent in gang operations without firing a single shot as some crews have been losing members to the multimillion-dollar government programme.
"We have put a few million dollars together to challenge some of those kids who are in the gangs," said Charles, while speaking at the Yes You Can Survive 2009 seminar earlier this month. "I said to a guy, 'You break the chain of the gang and join me and I will train you and give you a job overseas or a job in Jamaica, and we have put millions of dollars there and I want to tell you, they are coming."
The minister said a few young men had told him that they would rather be gainfully employed than be out stealing and running afoul of the law. Charles said a man asked him if he thought stealing was easy. Others told the minister they stole to supply the needs of their families.
"Those who we are breaking through the gangs to said to us, very clearly, they only go in there to eat a food and if they can eat a food outside, they are not going in there."
He added: "So we are taking them out and we are preventing those who want to go in to eat a food from going."
The labour minister believes much of the country's crime and violence could have been averted if jobs had been provided for many unemployed youths before they were initiated into gangs.
"You would be surprised to know that there are many young people involved in crime out there today who, if they had an opportunity to get a job, either here or abroad, they would not have been involved."
Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Glenmore Hinds told The Gleaner that there had been a reduction in the number of shootings and murders so far this year when compared to the corresponding period last year.
Hinds said most shootings and murders were gang related. "That would indicate a decrease in gang activity," he said.
Factors
Though it might seem the Government's plan was working, the senior cop hastened to point out that the reduction was due to a multiplicity of factors or "a series of interventions".
"It is really a combination of intervention measures. You don't want to put it down to one single measure. That wouldn't be accurate."
Hinds explained that the police's focus on gangs and the hot spots in which they operated, coupled with the efforts of social-outreach programmes, had contributed to the decline in shootings and murders.
The senior cop said the Government's train-and-transform programme was very important to controlling crime.
tyrone.reid@gleanerjm.com
Copyright Jamaica-Gleaner.com
Monday, March 30, 2009
Solutions Jamaica -Health authority trains workers to treat diabetes and St Thomas infirmary rears own poultry
Health authority trains workers to treat diabetes Fifty-two health-care workers within the South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA) are now better equipped with the necessary skills to help diabetic patients control their condition.The personnel, who included doctors, nurses, nutritionists, and dieticians... http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090330/lead/lead4.html
St Thomas infirmary rears own poultry
The St Thomas Infirmary is now self-sufficient in poultry, as the protein source is produced on the premises in Morant Bay.Financing of the project, valued at some US$10,400, was provided by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United... http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090330/lead/lead5.html
St Thomas infirmary rears own poultry
The St Thomas Infirmary is now self-sufficient in poultry, as the protein source is produced on the premises in Morant Bay.Financing of the project, valued at some US$10,400, was provided by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United... http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090330/lead/lead5.html
Youths pledge to 'take back' Jamaica by Petrina Francis
Published: Sunday March 29, 2009
Norman Grindley/Chief Photographer Michelle Simpson, vice-president of the Kingston Western Police Youth Clubs, performs a dance during the council's annual prayer breakfast held yesterday at the St Andrew Technical High school auditorium in St Andrew.
"WE CAN take back Jamaica and I think the Police Youth Clubs (PYC) are the perfect place to start," says president Rory Griffiths.
Griffiths is confident that the youths of the Kingston Western Police Division can and will be vanguards of change in Jamaica through their respective clubs.
The Sunday Gleaner yesterday met several young men and women at the forefront at the Kingston Western Police Youth Clubs Council's annual prayer breakfast, held at St Andrew Technical High School.
The council is made up of members of the various clubs in the division.
Maintain good relations
Griffiths says PYCs are relevant in communities because they provide an opportunity for residents to maintain a good relationship with the police. The clubs, he says, also build unity in communities.
"Some people are afraid to go into other areas of the communities because of existing tensions, so we are trying to eliminate that fear," says Griffiths, who also represents the Eagle Hikers PYC in Denham Town.
Griffiths' club, for example, hosts fund-raising activities and invites members from other communities in the area.
"This only works sometimes, because we are not getting 100 per cent support from the community," he laments.
It is unfortunate, he says, that some people are of the view that people from the inner city cannot excel.
"But we are going to show them that positive changes can happen in our communities. We are making the change," he declares.
One club, Presi-dential Click, in Tivoli Gardens, has already debunked the myth that youth clubs are just a place for the young to meet and play games and sports. This club has adopted the SOS Children's Village in St Andrew and the Milk Lane Golden Age Home in west Kingston.
"Our children and elderly need our love and support, so we have to go out there and assist them," says Cassandra Hurd, treasurer of Presidential Click Police Youth Club.
petrina.francis@gleanerjm.com
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090329/lead/lead3.html
Norman Grindley/Chief Photographer Michelle Simpson, vice-president of the Kingston Western Police Youth Clubs, performs a dance during the council's annual prayer breakfast held yesterday at the St Andrew Technical High school auditorium in St Andrew.
"WE CAN take back Jamaica and I think the Police Youth Clubs (PYC) are the perfect place to start," says president Rory Griffiths.
Griffiths is confident that the youths of the Kingston Western Police Division can and will be vanguards of change in Jamaica through their respective clubs.
The Sunday Gleaner yesterday met several young men and women at the forefront at the Kingston Western Police Youth Clubs Council's annual prayer breakfast, held at St Andrew Technical High School.
The council is made up of members of the various clubs in the division.
Maintain good relations
Griffiths says PYCs are relevant in communities because they provide an opportunity for residents to maintain a good relationship with the police. The clubs, he says, also build unity in communities.
"Some people are afraid to go into other areas of the communities because of existing tensions, so we are trying to eliminate that fear," says Griffiths, who also represents the Eagle Hikers PYC in Denham Town.
Griffiths' club, for example, hosts fund-raising activities and invites members from other communities in the area.
"This only works sometimes, because we are not getting 100 per cent support from the community," he laments.
It is unfortunate, he says, that some people are of the view that people from the inner city cannot excel.
"But we are going to show them that positive changes can happen in our communities. We are making the change," he declares.
One club, Presi-dential Click, in Tivoli Gardens, has already debunked the myth that youth clubs are just a place for the young to meet and play games and sports. This club has adopted the SOS Children's Village in St Andrew and the Milk Lane Golden Age Home in west Kingston.
"Our children and elderly need our love and support, so we have to go out there and assist them," says Cassandra Hurd, treasurer of Presidential Click Police Youth Club.
petrina.francis@gleanerjm.com
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090329/lead/lead3.html
Thursday, March 12, 2009
St Thomas communities mobilise
St Thomas communities mobilise
Published: Thursday March 12, 2009
Residents, including children, help with unloading stones from a truck for work being done at the check dams in Somerset, St Thomas. A check dam is a small temporary dam constructed across low-lying or depressed and often wet land or drainage ditch. - Contributed
Residents of Five in St Thomas, where banana was once the main crop, are now eager participants in a rural diversification project aimed at sustaining their livelihood.
The first phase of the project is rehabilitating and providing new check dams to deal with land slippage and flooding in Somerset.
The project is being implemented by the Women's Resource and Outreach Centre (WROC) with the support of the European Union, Christian Aid and the Rural Agricultural Development Authority.
Ground was broken last month for the construction of a check dam at the Fitzgerald Gully in Somerset and excavation work is already complete. The work was critical because heavy showers inundate Somerset with tonnes of soil and millions of gallons of water from two gullies, Fitzgerald and Church.
Great losses
Residents are often forced to abandon their homes and suffer great losses.
Although two check dams were built to address the situation, these have been damaged due, among other things, to the scale of the inflow of dirt and water and poor maintenance.
Community members will be helping to build two check dams closer to the most active areas of both gullies.
Construction will reduce the velocity of water run off and retard the movement of top soil down slope.
Workers for the project have been selected from a group of ex-banana workers as well as others who stand to benefit.
The work on the check dams is being implemented with technical support from the Forestry Department, Water Resources Authority and St Thomas Parish Council, said Claudia Sewell, coordinator of the project, operating from WROC's office in Morant Bay.
Improving living standards
Another programme, the rural diversification project, is expected to benefit residents of Trinityville, Johnson Mountain, Spring Bank and Mount Vernon.
It is geared at improving the living standards and quality of life of farmers, farm workers, their families and communities with a wide range of initiatives.
Published: Thursday March 12, 2009
Residents, including children, help with unloading stones from a truck for work being done at the check dams in Somerset, St Thomas. A check dam is a small temporary dam constructed across low-lying or depressed and often wet land or drainage ditch. - Contributed
Residents of Five in St Thomas, where banana was once the main crop, are now eager participants in a rural diversification project aimed at sustaining their livelihood.
The first phase of the project is rehabilitating and providing new check dams to deal with land slippage and flooding in Somerset.
The project is being implemented by the Women's Resource and Outreach Centre (WROC) with the support of the European Union, Christian Aid and the Rural Agricultural Development Authority.
Ground was broken last month for the construction of a check dam at the Fitzgerald Gully in Somerset and excavation work is already complete. The work was critical because heavy showers inundate Somerset with tonnes of soil and millions of gallons of water from two gullies, Fitzgerald and Church.
Great losses
Residents are often forced to abandon their homes and suffer great losses.
Although two check dams were built to address the situation, these have been damaged due, among other things, to the scale of the inflow of dirt and water and poor maintenance.
Community members will be helping to build two check dams closer to the most active areas of both gullies.
Construction will reduce the velocity of water run off and retard the movement of top soil down slope.
Workers for the project have been selected from a group of ex-banana workers as well as others who stand to benefit.
The work on the check dams is being implemented with technical support from the Forestry Department, Water Resources Authority and St Thomas Parish Council, said Claudia Sewell, coordinator of the project, operating from WROC's office in Morant Bay.
Improving living standards
Another programme, the rural diversification project, is expected to benefit residents of Trinityville, Johnson Mountain, Spring Bank and Mount Vernon.
It is geared at improving the living standards and quality of life of farmers, farm workers, their families and communities with a wide range of initiatives.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Corruption call centre launched 1-800-CORRUPT Police Customs Offshore
Corruption call centre launched
Published: Tuesday January 20, 2009
Petrina Francis, Staff Reporter
Commissioner of Police Hardley Lewin (left) discusses an issue with human-rights advocate, Yvonne McCalla-Sobers, after the Anti-Corruption Branch of the Jamaica Constabulary Force launched its 1-800-CORRUPT hotline. The launch was held at the Police Officers' Club in St Andrew, Sunday. - Norman Grindley/Acting Photography Editor
Efforts by the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) to fight corruption among police personnel and employees of Jamaica Customs were yesterday boosted through the launch of 1-800-CORRUPT, an offshore anti-crime international call centre.
According to the anti-corruption branch of the JCF, its implementation aimed to provide a secure telephone line through which members of the JCF, Customs and the general public may pass information or intelligence on corrupt practices to independent sources.
Speaking Sunday during the launch held at the Police Officers' Club, Assistant Commissioner of Police Justin Felice, who is head of the Anti-Corruption Branch, said corruption-sabotage programmes protected the identity of informants.
"Our message is clear: Just tell us what you want us to know, not who you are," he charged members of the public.
Culture of silence
In his remarks, Danville Walker, commissioner of customs, lauded the organisers for launching 1-800-CORRUPT.
He noted that Jamaicans have developed a culture of silence, which provided a shield to the perpetrators of corruption.
"It is almost seen as anti-Jamaican to give the information necessary to the police force and those who run organisations like Customs," he told the gathering.
Call-centre representatives are being trained to use Jamaican creole.
Commissioner of Police Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin said a public servant once bought, stayed bought. He also cautioned those who are involved in corrupt activities to desist.
Meanwhile, Senator Arthur Williams, state minister in the Ministry of Finance, said 1-800-CORRUPT is a line would prevent calls from being traced.
"Use 1800-CORRUPT to blow the whistle to tell what you know," he urged.
Fifty-six police personnel and 13 other persons were arrested for corruption in 2008.
petrina.francis@gleanerjm.com
How will it work?
The information/intelligence provided will be sanitised then forwarded to a dedicated point of contact within the Anti-Corruption Branch.
All information will be received in real time and acted upon.
At no time will any member of the JCF be in contact with the person passing the information.
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090120/news/news2.html
Published: Tuesday January 20, 2009
Petrina Francis, Staff Reporter
Commissioner of Police Hardley Lewin (left) discusses an issue with human-rights advocate, Yvonne McCalla-Sobers, after the Anti-Corruption Branch of the Jamaica Constabulary Force launched its 1-800-CORRUPT hotline. The launch was held at the Police Officers' Club in St Andrew, Sunday. - Norman Grindley/Acting Photography Editor
Efforts by the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) to fight corruption among police personnel and employees of Jamaica Customs were yesterday boosted through the launch of 1-800-CORRUPT, an offshore anti-crime international call centre.
According to the anti-corruption branch of the JCF, its implementation aimed to provide a secure telephone line through which members of the JCF, Customs and the general public may pass information or intelligence on corrupt practices to independent sources.
Speaking Sunday during the launch held at the Police Officers' Club, Assistant Commissioner of Police Justin Felice, who is head of the Anti-Corruption Branch, said corruption-sabotage programmes protected the identity of informants.
"Our message is clear: Just tell us what you want us to know, not who you are," he charged members of the public.
Culture of silence
In his remarks, Danville Walker, commissioner of customs, lauded the organisers for launching 1-800-CORRUPT.
He noted that Jamaicans have developed a culture of silence, which provided a shield to the perpetrators of corruption.
"It is almost seen as anti-Jamaican to give the information necessary to the police force and those who run organisations like Customs," he told the gathering.
Call-centre representatives are being trained to use Jamaican creole.
Commissioner of Police Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin said a public servant once bought, stayed bought. He also cautioned those who are involved in corrupt activities to desist.
Meanwhile, Senator Arthur Williams, state minister in the Ministry of Finance, said 1-800-CORRUPT is a line would prevent calls from being traced.
"Use 1800-CORRUPT to blow the whistle to tell what you know," he urged.
Fifty-six police personnel and 13 other persons were arrested for corruption in 2008.
petrina.francis@gleanerjm.com
How will it work?
The information/intelligence provided will be sanitised then forwarded to a dedicated point of contact within the Anti-Corruption Branch.
All information will be received in real time and acted upon.
At no time will any member of the JCF be in contact with the person passing the information.
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090120/news/news2.html
Friday, January 2, 2009
Invest in Alternative Energy by Bob Ritchie
Invest in alternative energy
Published: Friday January 2, 2009
The Editor, Sir:
Jamaica could be completely independent of foreign oil importation by investing in alternative energy. Our island nation could save hundreds of millions of dollars, which could in turn be invested in infrastructural development and expansion, improvement of our education system, providing much-needed employment, and most important, improving our national security.
With the aid of modern technology readily available, Jamaica can utilise wind, solar, hydro and ethanol power sources, the latter of which is now being utilised and expanded.
Jamaica's capability
Jamaica has the capability of installing wind turbines - there is enough wind blowing through our mountains which is going untapped. The sunshine our island is blessed with should not just be a tourist attraction. Build larger hydro-electric facilities to provide electrical energy for a larger section of the island. Our land of wood and water is letting all that water flow into the Caribbean Sea without utilising it.
The E10 petrol project is a great start, but just imagine how really independent our nation could become if we invested in these technologies and become independent of foreign oil. The reduction of pollutants would improve the health of our citizens and overall quality of life. The financial savings would be tremendous, and the reinvestment of those revenues could do amazing things for the future of our beloved country.
I am, etc.,
BOB RITCHIE
r2cr@juno.com
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090102/letters/letters5.html
Plymouth
Published: Friday January 2, 2009
The Editor, Sir:
Jamaica could be completely independent of foreign oil importation by investing in alternative energy. Our island nation could save hundreds of millions of dollars, which could in turn be invested in infrastructural development and expansion, improvement of our education system, providing much-needed employment, and most important, improving our national security.
With the aid of modern technology readily available, Jamaica can utilise wind, solar, hydro and ethanol power sources, the latter of which is now being utilised and expanded.
Jamaica's capability
Jamaica has the capability of installing wind turbines - there is enough wind blowing through our mountains which is going untapped. The sunshine our island is blessed with should not just be a tourist attraction. Build larger hydro-electric facilities to provide electrical energy for a larger section of the island. Our land of wood and water is letting all that water flow into the Caribbean Sea without utilising it.
The E10 petrol project is a great start, but just imagine how really independent our nation could become if we invested in these technologies and become independent of foreign oil. The reduction of pollutants would improve the health of our citizens and overall quality of life. The financial savings would be tremendous, and the reinvestment of those revenues could do amazing things for the future of our beloved country.
I am, etc.,
BOB RITCHIE
r2cr@juno.com
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090102/letters/letters5.html
Plymouth
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