Jamaica
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IMF was wrong on Greece, what about us?
KINGSTON, Jamaica – It is generally accepted that for small developing countries, like Jamaica, who are in severe economic difficulties, there are few, if any, alternatives to the policy stipulations of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Even traditional political allies such as America, Britain and Canada will not provide certain critical financial assistance without the IMF's vaunted seal of approval.…
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AJ, Know Your Role – Private Sector Fires Back At Nicholson After ‘Trade Bickering’ Comments
KINGSTON, Jamaica – Calls from Foreign Trade Minister A.J. Nicholson for the parliamentary Opposition and other critics to end the bickering with Trinidad and Tobago over claims of unfair trade practices have not gone down well with members of the local manufacturing sector. Yesterday, Christopher Zacca, president of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ), said he was “concerned by…
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CARICOM’s ‘survival’ challenges
KINGSTON, Jamaica – THE first in a series of planned consultations, across this region, for the introduction of a Five-Year Strategic Plan for CARICOM had a low-profile start in Barbados last Wednesday. First official news on the beginning of the consultative process came from the Georgetown-based Community Secretariat and, at best, media coverage was quite patchy or, worse, absent. No…
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Is CARICOM A Necessity?
KINGSTON, Jamaica – The relationship of Jamaica with its Caribbean neighbours in a regional organisation was first publicly discussed at a conference in Montego Bay in 1947, called by the British secretary of state, Arthur Creech Jones, to discuss the question of regional political integration. From this opening discussion, 11 years later, the West Indies Federation was born, comprising 10…
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Jamaica to host World Blood Donor Day
KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Jamaica has been selected by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) to host the official ceremony for World Blood Donor Day (WBDD) for the Region of the Americas, on June 14. PAHO Director Dr. Carissa F. Etienne is expected to be the keynote speaker at the official World Blood Donor Day ceremony, held under the theme…
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Britain’s expression of regret and the reparations debate
KINGSTON, Jamaica – England's expression yesterday of sincere regret and offer of compensation for the acts of torture that a British colonial government carried out against Kenyans fighting for liberation from colonial rule in the 1950s and 1960s, will, we expect, revive the reparations debate in the Caribbean. As reported on page 29 of today's Jamaica Observer, the simultaneous announcement…
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UNICEF concerned about child killings
KINGSTON, Jamaica – THE United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has condemned what it describes as the “unrelenting violence” against the nation's children, saying that a total of 16 children were murdered over the first four months of this year. The UN body made particular reference to last week's spate of child killings, which included the beheading of four-year-old Natasha Brown.
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CPJ eyes nine Caribbean countries for export
KINGSTON, Jamaica – CARIBBEAN Producers of Jamaica (CPJ) has its eye on exporting to five Caribbean countries by year-end. It hopes to add another four countries the following year, by which time it expects to see its branded products on supermarket shelves overseas.
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‘Ja debt burden a threat to human development’
KINGSTON, Jamaica – WHILE JAMAICA continues to improve its Human Development Index (HDI) ranking, one United Nations representative has charged that the country's high debt burden, combined with low economic growth and high unemployment, continues to pose a threat to human development. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Assistant Secretary General Heraldo Muñoz, who was addressing the launch of the Human…
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Time to end Syrian conflict!
KINGSTON, Jamaica – In recent weeks, sharply contrasting views on how the United States should respond to the madness in Syria have emerged from two of America's most prominent voices. Republican Senator John McCain is convinced that US intervention is the only solution to the deadly conflict, while Mr Zbigniew Brzezinski, who served as national security advisor from 1977 to…
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