Jamaica
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Government presents tax-free budget
KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The Jamaica government has presented a J$521 billion (One Jamaica dollar = US$0.01 cents) tax free budget to Parliament with Finance Minister Dr. Peter Phillips indicating that the aim of the Portia Simpson Miller administration is to collect outstanding taxes and remove some distortions such as zero-rated electricity charges. “You will note and no doubt the…
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Gov’t tables CCJ Bills
KINGSTON, Jamaica – THE Government has once again tabled Bills in the House of Representatives as it pushes to keep its promise to replace the United Kingdom-based Privy Council with the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as Jamaica's final appellate court. Leader of Government Business in the House, Phillip Paulwell, gave notice of first reading of the Bills on behalf…
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EDITORIAL – America must not surrender democracy
KINGSTON, Jamaica – Like President Obama, this newspaper hopes that America will soon find out who is responsible for Monday's bombings in Boston and that they are made, as he puts it, “to feel the full weight of justice”. Yet, we appreciate the measured and methodical approach of the United States in getting the facts, rather than, as some would…
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Beyond the IMF — Solutions for growth
KINGSTON, Jamaica – FOR the last 40 years, Jamaica has continued to suffer from a low growth rate, which averages approximately of 0.8 per cent per annum. The national debt now stands at $1.7 trillion, about 140 per cent of our GDP, which has effectively forced us to return to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for financial assistance. The tragic…
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Bahamas to learn agriculture processes from Jamaica
KINGSTON, Jamaica – EVEN AS Jamaica struggles with a growing food import bill projected to go past US$1 billion for 2012, representatives from Caribbean neighbours The Bahamas are in the island looking to copy our good agricultural practices, looking at ways to improve their food security. Member of Parliament Arnold Forbes and the other six members of the Bahamian delegation…
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Mr Bunting’s dark night of the soul
KINGSTON, Jamaica – MR Peter Bunting, the national security minister, might have used his “dark night of the soul” description out of the true context meant by 16th-century Spanish poet and Roman Catholic mystic, Saint John of the Cross, whose poem of the same title speaks of the painful experience that people endure as they seek to grow in spiritual…
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Air Passenger Duty: ‘Stinging us for everything we’ve got’
KINGSTON, Jamaica – IT IS automatically added to every flight out of the UK, but when The Voice spoke to Caribbean-bound travellers at Gatwick Airport, some had never even heard of air passenger duty (APD). The travel tax has been rising year-on-year making billions in revenues for the government, but pricing out ordinary people from travelling to the tropical region.…
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Whither Chavismo without Chavez?
KINGSTON, Jamaica – MR Nicolas Maduro, late President Hugo Chavez' choice to succeed him, was elected president of Venezuela on Monday by a very narrow margin. But his opponent, Mr Henrique Capriles has challenged the legitimacy of the result, claimed victory and called for a recount by hand of all paper ballots. Although Mr Maduro publicly pledged to allow the…
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WTO director: No safe place in world
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – There is no safe place in the world. That was the response yesterday from Carlos Vogeler, regional director for the Americas, World Tourism Organisation (WTO) in response to questions about the double bombing at the Boston marathon and reports that 50 tourists aboard a bus were robbed in St Lucia. “I think we need to…
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‘A dark night of the soul’
KINGSTON. Jamaica – 'A dark night of the soul' is how National Security Minister Peter Bunting described what some are calling his meltdown in an unusually candid speech saying divine intervention was necessary to defeat crime in Jamaica. Thirteen was indeed an unlucky number for Bunting who has received both favour and flak following his April 13, 2013 address to…
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