1 In February, Shaggy’s Boombastic won the Reggae Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album.

2 On April 1, Derick Milton Latibeaudiere was appointed Governor of the Bank of Jamaica. He resigned on October 30, 2009.

3 April 6-8, Jamaica hosted the 25th Carifta Games. Jamaica headed the leader board with a total of 62 medals: 26 gold, 21 silver and 15 bronze.

4 In August, Jamaica participated in the summer Olympics, held in Atlanta, Georgia, with 46 competitors and won six medals; one gold, three silver and two bronze.

5 In September, Colonel Trevor Macmillan, the then Commissioner of Police, departed his post after engaging in an acrimonious exchange with the prime minister as a result of his failure to reduce the crime rate. This led to the Government appointing a committee to represent political parties, churches and community groups to find a way to end violence.

6 On October 11, US $1 was valued at JMD $34 and £1 sterling was valued at JMD$ 53. 56.

7 On December 19, the Governor General, Sir Howard Cooke, introduced the Representation of the People (Amendment) Act, which dictated the conditions under which one was allowed to vote.

8 Jamaica had a ‘Cuban problem’, which occupied the attention of the authorities. Following an announcement that 57 Cuban refugees would be repatriated, 43 disappeared, some reportedly made their way to Puerto Rico, and of the rest, 13 were deported.

9 The number of visitors to Jamaica totalled 1,821,296.

10 Jamaica’s population stood at 2,505,000.