The application of Jamaica’s General Consumption tax (GCT) to previously exempt books is causing ire among some who see the move as an attack on literacy in a country struggling to eliminate illiteracy with a less than lustrous education system. “Hard to believe we have to take time to oppose a literary tax in this [...]
Caribbean governments have been urged to provide financial support for the Regional Coordinating Mechanism of the Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP), at the opening in St Lucia of PANCAP’s twelfth meeting. Dominica’s Minister of Health and Chair of PANCAP, John Fabien, says he is firmly convinced that the time is opportune for [...]
1. What are the Summits of the Americas? The Summits of the Americas are periodic meetings that bring together the thirty-four democratically elected Heads of State and Government of the Americas to discuss and make decisions on issues of relevance for the region. 2. How many Summits of the Americas have taken place? When and [...]
So-called ‘Constitutional Lawyers’ seem incapable of grasping the ramifications of the lawsuit(s) brought by Abe Dabdoub which question the presence of dual-nationals in Parliament. There has never been a legal government in Jamaica. There have always been dual nationals or those with some other impediment which would have tainted each and every Parliament. One might [...]
Beyond the constitutional issues and court rulings which made possible the recent West Portland by-election, and regardless of that result, the people of Jamaica were the overall losers. The audacity of this statement is not that I am a comrade, which I unabashedly am. Instead, it is because both major parties had the opportunity to [...]
This is an open letter to Jamaicans. Our beloved homeland and its bedraggled people are in need of many things at this moment in our long and tortuous history. And whilst our list is long … money and jobs are in short supply. Even rain and food are increasingly scarce. But like the Blue Lagoon [...]
FirstCaribbean Corporate Banking Curacao has successfully closed a landmark US$45 million refinancing transaction with Pristine Estates N.V., which owns the 612-room 3.5 star Holiday Inn Resort and Casino in Aruba, the bank has announced. FirstCaribbean has been associated with Pristine since 1999 as part of a syndicate which included partner banks Maduro & Curiel’s Bank [...]
Following Thursday’s election marred by a late start at some polling stations, Baldwin Spencer was sworn in Friday morning as Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda by Governor General Dame Louis Lake-Tack after his United Progressive Party created history by being the first two term government outside of the Antigua Labour party. On Friday morning [...]
The Bahamas government is moving to put measures in place to help the extremely vulnerable islands adjust to what one government official calls a possible ‘death sentence for small islands.’ Mr. Phillip Weech, Director of the Bahamas Environmental Science and Technology Commission, said that the government was working on an energy policy, exploring alternative sources [...]
The Jamaica Government has taken a step towards combating violence against women through the passage of a new Bill to create a Sexual Offences Act that combines the old The Offences Against the Person (Amendment) Act’ and the ‘Incest (Punishment) (Amendment) Act’ under one umbrella. Significantly, the Bill came on March 2, during the week [...]