Columns

BOJ policy meetings and rate hikes

On Tuesday, November 16, the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) announced that, at the meetings of its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), the decision was taken to increase the policy rate by 50 basis points. The policy rate now stands at 2.0 per cent.

A very merry COVID Christmas

As we approach the Christmas season, COVID-19 considerations will, for many, become an increasingly larger preoccupation.

The reunion

THEY all gathered in Philadelphia as they had done in historic fashion almost 250 years before — John, Benjamin, Alexander, the other John, Thomas, James and George. They had become deeply concerned that after all this time their vision of a more perfect union seemed to be in...

Teach children to be grateful

JAMAICANS have a lot to be thankful for.According to Walt Disney, founder of the Disney empire: “The more you are in a state of gratitude the more you will attract things to be grateful for.”

A time for kindness

AS we struggle to emerge from this pandemic, there is not one of us who has not been bruised by its cruelty. Everyone knows someone who has died or has had a long, hard struggle with COVID-19, fighting for their every breath. Businesses have closed and jobs have been lost. Health-care...

The magic of home advantage

DURING the qualifying rounds of the 1998 World Cup, Jamaica's football team, The Reggae Boyz, went unbeaten at home. Jamaica's Independence Park, dubbed The Office, became a fortress which no invading force was able to breach. Traditionally, superior teams like Mexico, USA, and Costa...

Premature?

Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition Mark Golding, four weeks ago, described an amendment to the Emergency Powers Act as premature. Last Sunday the People's National Party (PNP) described the announced states of public emergency (SOEs) in seven police divisions by Prime Minister...

Pot a boil but food nuh nuff

Nearly a decade ago I recall then Minister of Agriculture Roger Clarke declaring in the Parliament that he alone could eat the amount of rice that the former Minister of Agriculture Dr Christopher Tufton had initiated in an experimental 25-acre rice farm at Amity Hall in 2009. No doubt,...

The rights of victims

Hugh Lawson Shearer was an amazing contributor to Jamaica. His roles varied from trade unionist to politician to social activist.

Developing Kingston's building future

Political representation in Jamaica has always been an interesting mix of personalities and experiences. Within Kingston the contrast is even more evident given the juxtaposition of several low-income and middle-income communities.

'The Happy Warrior' O D Ramtallie served well

In the upper echelons of the People's National Party, O D Ramtallie was called “The Happy Warrior”. He earned that moniker because whenever at officers' meeting and some task of peculiar difficulty had to be tackled, Comrade Ramtallie would either immediately volunteer or...

It's politics

As the three-headed serpent of crime, 'corona', and corruption wind its way through the Jamaican society leaving much bloodshed, mayhem, and imposed poverty in its path, Prime Minister Andrew Michael Holness continues to fail for the most part in providing astute, visionary and...

Men's issues are real

Being male is a matter of birth. Being a man is a matter of choice. – Edwin Louis Cole

Ruthven Towers is not for everyone

A lot of hullabaloo is being made over the pricey Ruthven Towers apartments advertised by the National Housing Trust (NHT) recently.

Let's not write off COP26 just yet

Ahead of the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), there was a sense of urgency and expectation that had not been felt previously. Having been postponed in 2020 due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, the negotiations that were set to take place in Glasgow were not...