Building a Better Jamaica - Jamaica Observer Stories

J'can bank charges and practices under investigation

admin — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 15:27:01 +0000

Release Date:

Friday, September 3, 2010

Friday, September 03, 2010
Jamaica Observer

THE Governor of the Bank of Jamaica is to conduct a study on bank charges. Finance Minister Audley Shaw said the investigation will also look at best practices, to compare fees imposed on bank customers in Jamaica, to those across the region, as well as internationally.

The study was ordered following reports of banks charging customers to make deposits, which Shaw described as "quite ludicrous."

Robertson observes alumina refinery in Australia

admin — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 15:15:07 +0000

Release Date:

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Sunday, September 05, 2010
Jamaica Observer

Energy and Mining Minister James Robertson recently observed a state-of-the-art alumina refinery at Queensland Alumina Limited (QAL) in Australia, one of the world's largest alumina refineries on a private visit to that country.

Holness: I want to lead my country

admin — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 15:12:44 +0000

Release Date:

Monday, September 6, 2010

BY HG HELPS Editor-at-Large helpsh@jamaicaobserver.com
Monday, September 06, 2010

HE is not putting his cards on the table just yet, regarding his strategy to become prime minister of Jamaica one day, but rising star Andrew Holness is willing to admit one thing: "I want to lead my country."

"If I had said no, you would say I am lying," the education minister admitted to the Observer last Friday.

LED to the rescue

admin — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 15:04:33 +0000

Release Date:

Monday, September 6, 2010

Gov't projects 87% cut in electricity bills from traffic lights
BY INGRID BROWN Observer senior reporter browni@jamaicaobserver.com
Monday, September 06, 2010

THE Government says it will be saving up to 87 per cent on the monthly electricity bill for traffic signals by replacing all incandescent bulbs with Light Emitting Diode (LED) lamps islandwide over the next 12 months.

With some 40 per cent of the LED lamps already installed, a $14-million contract was signed last Friday for work to begin by month-end to replace the remaining 1,990 lamps.

Smooth opening to school year foreseen

admin — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 15:02:57 +0000

Release Date:

Monday, September 6, 2010

BY DONNA HUSSEY-WHYTE Observer staff reporter huseyd@jamaicaobserver.com
Monday, September 06, 2010

BOTH Education Minister Andrew Holness and the newly elected president of the Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA), Nadine Molloy, are predicting a smooth start to the academic year today.

70 more J'cans leave on farm work programme

admin — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 15:01:31 +0000

Release Date:

Monday, September 6, 2010

4,000 employed in US so far this year
BY INGRID BROWN Observer senior reporter browni@jamaicaobserver.com
Monday, September 06, 2010

NINE hundred and fifty men and women — the majority of whom were requested multiple times by farm operators — left the island over the last three days to work on apple orchards in the United States as Jamaicans continue to be the most sought-after group of farm workers.

Henry insists no breach of Road Maintenance Fund Act

admin — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 14:18:46 +0000

Release Date:

Sunday, September 5, 2010

BY INGRID BROWN Sunday Observer senior reporter browni@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, September 05, 2010

TRANSPORT Minister Mike Henry is insisting his ministry did not breach the Road Maintenance Fund Act as indicated in Auditor General Pamela Monroe-Ellis’ recent report.

According to Henry, it was necessary to use the money to pay for critical road work for which funding was no longer available following the suspension of Capital A funding from the finance ministry to his ministry.

Portia still tough says Holness

admin — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 14:17:25 +0000

Release Date:

Sunday, September 5, 2010

BY HG HELPS Editor-at-Large helpsh@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, September 05, 2010

PORTIA Simpson Miller is not as easy to beat as people many think, as she continues to enjoy popular support, Education Minister Andrew Holness has said.

1,000 fewer students sitting GSAT each year

admin — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 14:15:49 +0000

Release Date:

Sunday, September 5, 2010

BY KIMONE THOMPSON Features Editor - Sunday thompsonk@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, September 05, 2010

APPROXIMATELY 1,000 fewer students are sitting the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) each year, but the education ministry has not yet been able to determine why.

However, minister of education Andrew Holness, in a discussion at the Observer Press Club on Friday, reasoned that factors such as a declining national birth rate and the failure on the part of some parents to send their children to school could be responsible.

Many students, too little space

admin — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 14:14:34 +0000

Release Date:

Sunday, September 5, 2010

BY INGRID BROWN Sunday Observer staff reporter browni@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, September 05, 2010

As the education ministry continues to struggle each year to fit 50,000 students into the 39,000 available first form spaces in the nation’s high schools, Education Minister Andrew Holness said it has become very necessary to build a number of additional schools.

But even as many schools are full to overflowing, there are others which have less than a quarter of their capacity due to crime and urban migration.

Turn no child away, Holness reminds schools

admin — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 14:13:20 +0000

Release Date:

Sunday, September 5, 2010

BY KIMONE THOMPSON Features Editor - Sunday thompsonk@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, September 05, 2010

A day before the 2010/2011 academic year begins, minister of education Andrew Holness is reiterating the ministry’s policy that no student at the secondary level should be barred from school for failure to pay auxiliary fees.

JLP, PNP agree Manatt damage overshadows Gov't's achievements

admin — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 14:12:03 +0000

Release Date:

Sunday, September 5, 2010

BY ERICA VIRTUE Sunday Observer writer virtuee@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, September 05, 2010

THREE years after the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) secured a heart-stopping 31-29-seat victory in the September 3, 2007 general elections and formed the Government, officials on both sides of the political divide are agreeing that the ruling party has been damaged by its involvement with the United States law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips.

Stable economy JLP's top achievement — Holness

admin — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 14:09:11 +0000

Release Date:

Sunday, September 5, 2010

BY HG HELPS Editor-at-Large helpsh@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, September 05, 2010

STABILISING the economy is being seen as the single most important achievement of the Bruce Golding administration in its three years in power, a senior Government official has said.

Education Minister Andrew Holness said that the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Government had made positive strides in stabilising the economy and placing it along a path that will ultimately achieve consistent growth.

Keep schools free of mosquitoes — Spencer

admin — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:55:25 +0000

Release Date:

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Health departments to work with school authorities in dengue fever fight
Jamaica Observer Thursday, September 02, 2010

THE Ministry of Health is urging school administrators to ensure that school grounds are free of mosquito breeding sites.

Health minister Rudyard Spencer, in a release to the media, said the ministry will be working with schools to provide guidance and support for mosquito prevention and control activities.

He said all efforts must be taken to ensure that children returning to school enjoy a healthy environment.

PM to hold first meeting on Manatt issue today

admin — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:53:49 +0000

Release Date:

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Patrick Foster
Jamaica Observer Thursday, September 02, 2010

PRIME Minister Bruce Golding is expected today to commence discussions with civic society, starting at Jamaica House with members of the private sector, in a bid to clarify the contentious Manatt issue and outline developments in the country's economy.

Minister with responsibility for information, Daryl Vaz, speaking at yesterday's post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House, said that the PM would be meeting with private sector leaders in relation to "questions and concerns".

Charles summons nurses to emergency meeting

admin — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:49:57 +0000

Release Date:

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Thursday, September 02, 2010
Jamaica Observer

THE Ministry of Labour has summoned the island's public sector nurses to an emergency meeting today, following reports yesterday of higher than normal levels of absenteeism among the health practitioners.

Minister heckled at police conference

admin — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:47:57 +0000

Release Date:

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Thursday, September 02, 2010
Jamaica Observer

OCHO RIOS, St Ann — Security Minister Dwight Nelson was yesterday heckled by delegates attending the Jamaica Police Federation 67th Annual Joint Conference as he addressed the vexed issue of the outstanding seven per cent wage increase due to the officers.

Several rank and file policemen and women openly expressed their displeasure because the minister failed to say when they would get their outstanding money.

Golding hails China's visionary approach to int'l relations

admin — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:41:23 +0000

Release Date:

Thursday, September 2, 2010

BY GARFIELD MYERS Editor-at-Large South/Central Bureau
Thursday, September 02, 2010

NEW Market, St Elizabeth — Prime Minister Bruce Golding on Tuesday heaped praise on China for its visionary approach to international relations and for persisting with "collaborative" development projects with countries like Jamaica despite the hostile economic climate globally.

Charge parents!

admin — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:34:37 +0000

Release Date:

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Holness wants action against persons who keep kids from school
BY LUKE DOUGLAS Observer writer editorial@jamaicaobserver.com
Thursday, September 02, 2010

EDUCATION Minister Andrew Holness is advocating for parents who refuse to send their children to school to be arrested and charged.

PM's daughter tries to lead 'normal' life

admin — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 15:52:58 +0000

Release Date:

Sunday, August 29, 2010

BY HG HELPS Editor-at-Large helpsh@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, August 29, 2010

AS difficult as it may seem to those around her, Ann-Merita Golding is trying to maintain a normal life as the daughter of Jamaica's Prime Minister Bruce Golding, and continues to do what she can to keep that posture intact.

The 26-year-old Ann-Merita is enrolled as a student at Nova Southeastern University where she is pursuing her doctorate in Audiology, a branch of science that studies hearing and balance-related disorders.