Columns

JLP needs to affirm the positives and heal

HOLNESS... owes those who continue to show faith in him and his party

It is a new week, and we are hoping that Opposition Leader Andrew Holness has enjoyed a reflective weekend, and will review his decision to challenge the ruling of the Constitutional Court, which had deemed unlawful the signed undated letters of resignation he had used to oust Arthur Williams and Dr ... Read More

The police and ganja reform The police and ganja reform
THE introduction of the Bill to reform the Dangerous Drugs Act has stimulated concerns and discussio ... Read More

A good balance of old and young results in good balance sheets and certificates of high degree. Don't underrate the oldsters
IN this month of March I will celebrate my 86th birthday and 68th year as a journalist. Having arriv ... Read More

SIMPSON MILLER... promised to right the wrongs and insist on accountability The PNP's fiddling is discordant
The theory of democratic government is not that the will of the people is always right, but rather t ... Read More

A reason to view the CCJ with suspicion

MARK WIGNALL | Sunday, March 01, 2015    

The headquaters of the Caribbean Court of Justice

IN a recent case in the local Court of Appeal between Sagicor Bank Jamaica Limited and Y P Seaton, in which the Government of Jamaica indemnified the original bank (from 1990) to its final name-change as Finsac came about, a stay of execution of judgement to Y P Seaton of $4 billion, representing original sums deemed owed to him plus interest over 22 years, was granted. After a long drawn-out and quite complex case in which Y P Seaton funded the import of milk powder with US dollars from an ove ... Read More

Marking those feats of Sir Garfield Sobers

BY ZAHEER E CLARKE | Sunday, March 01, 2015    

Sobers

TALL yet agile, casual yet graceful, special yet modest ... a few words used to describe a cricketing genius and National Hero from the island of Barbados. However, some of his most memorable feats occurred across the Caribbean Sea on the island of Jamaica, the land of wood and water. Garfield St Aubrun Sobers, aka Garry Sobers, is often described as "the greatest cricketer or all-rounder of all-time". Though known for his all-round feats with the ball, bat and in the field, in reality, he was ... Read More

Make our local justice system more efficient before considering CCJ

BY ELLIOTT PENN | Sunday, March 01, 2015    

The Privy Council in London, England

I am appalled and somewhat surprised that the current Government of Jamaica is against a referendum to determine if the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) should become the final court of appeal for Jamaica. A referendum gives the people of the country a voice; it is the ultimate people power. To deny the citizens an opportunity to be exposed to the public education a referendum would require and the public debate that should result from that process while shouting "People Power" is the heights ... Read More

Teacher Higgins, do not overstate the power of your argument

CHRISTOPHER BURNS | Sunday, March 01, 2015    

Whatever one’s political preferences or biases, intellectual honesty must remain constant because a lot hinges on it and a great many people depend on it.

BY no stretch of the imagination am I 'teking set' on Jamaica Observer columnist Garfield Higgins. In fact, I deeply admire the resoluteness with which Garfield defends his political convictions, and I regard his flagrant bias toward the JLP as par for the political course. For, although I marvel at his assessment of Edward Seaga's extraordinariness as a politician, and chuckle at his unabashed temerity to impose Seaga's overrated reputation as the economic prodigy and financial virtuoso of mode ... Read More

A need to reinvent the Senate

LANCE NEITA | Sunday, March 01, 2015    

A brief look at Jamaica's political history provides an interesting background to the concept and creation of the 1962 Constitution and the format of the Senate.

THE Senate is a creation of our Independence Constitution. Prior to 1962, that body was known as the Legislative Council, or LegCo. The Senate is regarded as the Upper House, a take-off of the House of Lords in the British Parliament. As the Upper House, its duty is to consider, review, and advise on legislation prepared by the Lower House, or the House of Representatives, which is modelled off the House of Commons in Britain. Why Commons? Because it represents the ordinary man, with members se ... Read More

The Jamaican Constitution has serious flaws that must be fixed now!

Dorlan Francis | Sunday, March 01, 2015    

A constitution is a settled arrangement as to how people intend to govern themselves. It guarantees fundamental rights and freedoms. And in a democracy like Jamaica, it determines how we chose those who govern us.

THE recent ruling in the Williams vs Holness case has brought the spotlight to shine on the Jamaican Constitution and its glaring flaws. While I do not agree with the ruling and would love to see the Privy Council render an opinion, I nevertheless think the ruling is a blessing in disguise. I believe it was a tad untidy, though, that the preservation of the nation's constitution had to be done by side agreements between the leader of the Opposition and the senators he appoints. A constitution i ... Read More

Thoughts following the two-year election in St Kitts & Nevis

CHARLES WILKIN | Sunday, March 01, 2015    

Thoughts following the two-year election in St Kitts & Nevis

I share the following thoughts on the two-year election which was eventually held on Monday, February 16, 2015. 1. Political tribalism is still as bad as it ever was in St Kitts and Nevis, as evidenced by the vicious nature of the election campaign and by the ruthless machinations of the electoral process. The atrocious misbehaviour of the supervisor of elections, who I think should never hold any public office again, and of those who were complicit with him or allowed him to frustrate the anno ... Read More

What will become of the missing children?

Barbara GLOUDON | Friday, February 27, 2015    

When 14-year-old Santoya Campbell joined the list of missing children, no one in her community could have imagined such a bitter end.

IN last Sunday's Observer, a headline and accompanying photos introduced us to one young man and seven girls who were listed as missing children. The youngest listed was 12 years old, another 13, two others 14, two 15 and one 16. The oldest was the young man at age 17. The photos and the text revealed that all are from communities in the Corporate Area, mainly in the heart of Kingston. They attend different schools. All were dressed as most teenagers do. Two of the girls sported the popular bu ... Read More

Can Greece or Jamaica avoid austerity and 'run wid it'?

Franklin JOHNSTON | Friday, February 27, 2015    

Greece and Jamaica should have too many differences to be come kindred spirits.

NEWS that the Jamaica Labour Party's (JLP) platform may challenge International Monetary Fund (IMF) dictats as Tspiras of Greece has tried is funny. A swell is building with Shaw and the Opposition leader's importunate calls for growth and Bobby Montague's opposing the Petcom gas stations sale despite protesting the JLP's support for privatisation. Are JLP and PNP roles reversed; is the JLP socialist? Did Andrew know about growth as prime minister, or is it a new discovery? When did we grow thi ... Read More

Should we applaud or boo you off the stage, Holness?

Mark WIGNALL | Thursday, February 26, 2015    

HOLNESS... if I have done something wrong, or my actions have been declared wrong, then I have a duty to apologise

AS Opposition Leader Andrew Holness strode through a door of the Boulevard Baptist Church on Sunday, February 8, and walked over to his seat, he had God on his mind. But he also was thinking that, maybe, he was a little bit of Joseph, King David, and most certainly Job of the Bible. This was far from his days as headboy of St Catherine High, when he was called Snoopy and, from those times, ached to be a politician. That Sunday was the real deal, where all haughtiness had to be put aside and in ... Read More



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