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NEWS IN BRIEF
FOR GENERAL DISTRIBUTION
[b]Top News in the Print Media: The JIS, The Gleaner & The Observer
From the Overseas Department, Jamaica Information Service
Friday September 05, 2003
FOREIGN INVESTMENT DOWN
The Observer: US$479 million in foreign direct investment (FDI) flowed into Jamaica last year, a 22 per cent decline on the 2001 inflow, the World Investment Report, released yesterday by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), revealed.
UNCTAD said that the world FDI's was impaired by a general economic decline and the September 2001 terrorist attacks in the USA.
But the agency has a more optimistic outlook for Jamaica over the next three years -- to 2005 -- because of a number of committed investments in tourism and telecommunications.
UNCTAD ranked Jamaica 23 out of 140 countries for the receipt of foreign investment -- on a scale that is calculated relative to the size of the economy -- bettering the ranking of most of the Caribbean and Latin America. Trinidad for example was at 27, Dominican Republic 31, and Costa Rica 73.
SPOT MARKET WEIGHTED AVERAGE RATE
CURRENCY____PURCHASES___SALES
__US$_______59.2514_____59.5147
__CAN$______42.0974_____42.9538
__GB£_______92.3184_____93.3493
20 T&T FIRMS FOR TRADE MISSION
The Observer: Twenty companies from Trinidad & Tobago -- mainly manufacturers -- will mount a trade mission to Jamaica from next week Monday to Friday, to showcase their products and services, and to seek out business opportunities in Jamaica.
The trade mission is being sponsored by Scotiabank and is organised jointly by the Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturer's Association (TTMA) and the Tourism and Industrial Development Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (TIDCO).
The trade show, to be held at the Hilton Kingston Hotel, will not only showcase the goods and services from the Trinidadian companies, but will provide a meeting ground for deals to be cut with Jamaican businessmen.
JSIF REPORTS SUCCESSES
The Gleaner: The Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), a Government poverty alleviation programme, has completed 410 of its 562 projects that it has approved islandwide since its implementation in 1996.
The cost of the projects is approximately $1.7 billion.
These investments include social infrastructure such as the construction of basic, primary and all-age schools, health centres, community-based water systems, community training centres and sports facilities.
MILLIONS SNATCHED FROM DRUGLORDS
The Gleaner: A deportee, who it is believed can assist the police in their investigations into two recent drug-related murders in St. James, was arrested by the Montego Bay police in a pre-dawn raid in the Flagstaff area of the parish yesterday morning and over $2.9 million in United States and Jamaican currencies seized. Of the amount, $44,000 was in US dollars.
Mark Reid, 32, was held during an "intelligence-driven" operation in the Flagstaff area, according to Derrick Knight, Deputy Superintendent of Police and crime chief for St. James. He said Reid, who was deported from the United States last year, was arrested at his house after a search of his premises turned up the money, 10 rounds of ammunition, several appliances, a quantity of ganja and a newly-acquired Toyota Corolla motor car.
PROSPECTS IMPROVE FOR ‘ISLAND CRUISER’
The Gleaner: Orders are flowing in, said Patrick Marzouca. Proving the sceptics wrong, he has not only built a Jamaican car, but exported one to the Bahamas last week.
His company, Excel Motors, has built 22 of the two-door 'Island Cruisers' so far this year. With the worldwide publicity from the recent export, he expects production to be substantially boosted.
"The object of this exercise is to have a vehicle that can run as long as you live," he said. The fibreglass body will last a lifetime, and other components can be changed as needed. The car should have special appeal for those living close to the sea. Unlike steel-bodied vehicles which rust in a salty environment, the fibreglass 'Island Cruiser' will not rust.
$40M SANITATION PROJECT
The Observer: Residents in South West St Andrew will soon have access to better sanitary facilities, following yesterday's launch of a $40-million project in Whitfield Town.
The project, which is being funded by the European Union and implemented by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), will involve an extensive upgrading of the sanitation system serving Waltham Park Road, Crescent Road, Spanish Town and St. Jospeh’s Road. It will also include sections of Whitfield Town, which are the most deprived, in terms of sanitary facilities.
According to JSIF's managing director, Scarlette Gillings, more than 1,500 citizens are expected to benefit.
JIS NEWS
Friday September 05, 2003
DEVELOPERS’ MANUAL COMING
The Ministry of Development in collaboration with the Ministry of Land and Environment and its agencies, will publish a developer’s manual to provide developers and potential investors with all the relevant information and time frames to plan and realistically cost their proposed structures. This comprehensive manual is to be published within the next four months.
Minister of Development, Dr. Paul Robertson, made this disclosure on Tuesday (Sept. 2) while updating journalists on the operations of the Regulations, Legislation and Process Improvement Project (Regs & Leg) Project. He informed that consultations with the Land and Environment Ministry as well as with entities in the building and construction industry had focused on a buildings approval process.
“The publication of this manual will also provide transparency and accountability in the operations of agencies and departments involved in the process,” the Minister said.
GOV’T TO PAY STUDENTS’ FEES
The Ministry of Education, Youth and Culture, will be paying increased fees for students at 108 high schools this month, as Government makes good on its promise to phase out and ultimately eliminate the payment of secondary school fees by parents and guardians.
This initiative is in keeping with Prime Minister P. J. Patterson’s announcement last year, that there would be a gradual phasing out of school fees beginning this school year, with full abolition by 2005/06.
“The principle is that beginning this academic year, there will be a freeze on all fees at last year’s levels, and no parent will be required to pay higher secondary school fees than last academic year,” Jasper Lawrence, Deputy Chief Education Officer for School Operations, told JIS News.
J’CAN MOVIE PREMIERES IN CANADA
A movie written by Jamaican, Trevor Rhone, will have its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, which opens today and will last for 10 days.
The movie, ‘One Love’, is a Jamaica/United Kingdom/Norway production, starring Ky-Mani Marley and Cherine Anderson. Also appearing are Carl Bradshaw, Idris Elba and Vas Blackwood. The film is directed by Don Letts and Rick Elgood, who also co-directed Dancehall Queen.
Billed as a Jamaican Romeo and Juliet tale, ‘One Love’ tells the story of Kassa (Marley), a Reggae musician and Serena (Anderson), a church girl and their forbidden love. Jamaica’s scenic countryside and reggae music provide the backdrop for the movie.
NEW INITIATIVE TO DENT CRIME
A new initiative to stem the incidence of crime in St. James has resulted in the seizure of two illegal firearms on Tuesday (Sept. 2).
Senior Superintendent in charge of the parish, Newton Amos, told journalists on Tuesday that the redeployment of police resources in the parish has resulted in the recovery of the guns.
“We have embarked on a particular programme of reorganisation at the divisional level, in combating crime and violence in St. James. You will know by now that we are at some 11 murders more than we were at this time last year, but in other areas we have seen a complete trending down of all serious crimes in the parish for the past three weeks,” he said.
COMMITTEE TO EXAMINE HEALTH CARE ACT
The Health Care and Protection Act, 2003, has been referred to a Special Select Committee of the House of Representatives, which is to sit with a similar committee of the Senate, to consider and report on the Bill.
In piloting the Bill, tabled in the House just before the summer recess in August, Minister of Health, John Junor said the measure had far reaching implications.
“It repeals the Juveniles Act and affects some 40 other pieces of legislation,” he said of the Bill, adding that it had provisions for the establishment of a Child’s Advocate Office, increased penalties with respect to offences against juveniles, young persons and children, the setting-up of a registry for offences against children, and for dealing with several other matters related to evidence of children in criminal and other civil matters.
HERITAGE RESTORATION MOU
With the aim of protecting Jamaica’s heritage, representatives from several local organisations and institutions signed a Heritage Restoration Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Friday (Aug. 29) in Seaford Town, Westmoreland.
Representatives from Heart Trust/ NTA, Jamaica National Heritage Trust, Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo), Master Builders Association of Jamaica, Kingston Restoration Company, the University of Technology and the Jamaica Chapter of the International Council on Monuments and Sites, endorsed the MOU during the launch of the Seaford Town Community Tourism project, and official opening of the Seaford Town Museum last week.
Executive Director of the Heart Trust /NTA, Robert Gregory, explained that the primary objectives of the MOU were to facilitate the restoration of Jamaica's built heritage, to stimulate new employment opportunities in the building industry for the maintenance and restoration of historic buildings and sites, and to ensure the availability of the requisite skills for this undertaking.
Contact: Celia Lindsay
For further information about any of these news items,contact the Overseas Department at
[email protected]
The Jamaica Information Service web page address is
www.jis.gov.jm
Telephone: (876) 926-3740-8 / 926-3590-8, Fax: (876) 926-6715
COMMENTARY
Friday September 05, 2003
THE OBSERVER
DON’T DESTROY JUTC
IT was not long ago, in these columns, that this newspaper regularly highlighted the shame and humiliation that was endured daily by tens of thousands of the capital's commuters.
People were forced to ride a ramshackle and shambolic bus system manned by mostly unkempt and indecent crews, and almost every trip was almost like running a potentially deadly gauntlet, where life and limb were in peril. Buses raced to the next stop, bodies protruded from almost every aperture and any attempt to hold to one's dignity was deemed to be an assault on the natural order of things.
We felt then, and do now, that the bus system, in its unregulated filth and decrepitude contributed to a rising nihilist approach to social and intellectual discourse in Jamaica through a daily diminishing of the individual. For, by robbing people of their dignity it raised a certain type of nastiness to a philosophical norm, leaving haunting echoes of the Middle Passage.
At the time we branded this emerging ideology of nothingness as (con)ducterism and marvelled at the fact there were those who presided over the festering mess and called it business.
Most well-thinking Jamaicans, we believe, will be happy for the substantial reprieve that the community has had from that poor excuse of a bus service. But the cold, hard fact is that this necessary relief came at an expensive price -- the investment of billions of dollars of taxpayers' money in the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC), which, over the past five years, has provided Kingston with a decent bus service.
The fact is, however, the JUTC has kinks. Its undertakings were ambitious and, like many ventures involving the government, it was not adequately captalised. Perhaps more correctly, its mandate, at the start, was not as clearly defined as it might have been, particularly relating to how much of its costs the company would have to carry from its commercial operations.
At the same time, too, the JUTC has had to face the vultures picking at the edges: those who abhor rules and order and believe that public transportation should be a gladiator sport with passengers as pawns. Indeed, many of the old order would wish to return to the old order.
In the face of these stresses, the JUTC has, over the past year or so, been attempting to reorganise and restructure in a new drive for efficiency. It appears, by and large, to be making a decent go at things. It has rationalised its fleet and, as a result, has been forced to cut its workforce. We sense that the JUTC is reaching greater rationality in its structure.
We are, however, worried that the company could be in danger and that things could very well fall apart. And not only because of the actions of old-order vulgarians.
Our immediate concern rests with the attitude, particularly of the University and Allied Workers Union (UAWU), which is demanding retroactive pay relating to wage hikes under a new wage contract. The union wants retroactivity to January of this year, rather than the company's date of April.
For the company to concede it would mean that taxpayers would have to bilge millions more for this loss-making enterprise to meet the bill. And not just for existing employees but for 300 who were made redundant in January.
What is more, while the UAWU pressed for more money, employees were on so-called work-to-rule, which, in many respects is a kind of poorly-disguised strike. So, fewer buses operated and millions more were lost.
The taxpayers will have to take up the tab.
The workers and their unions will have to make up their minds and decide whether they want a bus service of decency or the ramshackle one of the past. And what do we really want as Jamaicans? Certainly not the Middle Passage!
===========================================
THE GLEANER
COULD THE PM BE SERIOUS?
IT IS not unknown for politicians when speaking in a foreign jurisdiction where they wish to impress an audience, to make utterances that they might be hard-pressed to defend at home. If he has been quoted correctly, the statement by Mr. Patterson at a conference in Havana that poverty in Jamaica has been reduced by close to 50 per cent over the past 10 years seems to be a case in point.
Many Jamaicans, regardless of party affiliation, might consider Mr. Patterson's claim to be fanciful or perhaps a case of the wish being father to the thought. And, equally surprising is Mr. Patterson's singling out of education as being one of the main reasons for the claimed success.
The disaggregated results of last year's CXC exams, published by the National Council on Education, hardly supports any such contention. Based on total student cohort in our secondary schools, only 15.8 per cent passed Mathematics at Grade III and only 27.8 per cent passed English at Grade III. What is more alarming, the pass performance of the total student cohort in non-traditional secondary schools to which 80 per cent of our children are consigned is only 4.1 per cent in Mathematics and 10.7 per cent in English. And this year's CXC results are not impressive either.
It could be argued, therefore, that far from our education system being a factor in reducing poverty it is contributing to unemployment because graduates lack the skills to perform in a global economy.
Another factor which Mr. Patterson says has contributed to lowering poverty is the economic empowerment of our people. This sounds good, but we are not sure what it means exactly. To empower assumes some substance over which one can exercise the conferred power. But since there has been little or no growth in Jamaica's Gross Domestic Product over the past 10 years it is difficult to see how any sort of empowerment can have helped to reduce poverty.
Since Mr. Patterson has seen fit to raise the matter of poverty at an international forum, we think he owes it to the Jamaica people to explain the basis on which he made the claim.
FOR GENERAL DISTRIBUTION
[b]Top News in the Print Media: The JIS, The Gleaner & The Observer
From the Overseas Department, Jamaica Information Service
Friday September 05, 2003
FOREIGN INVESTMENT DOWN
The Observer: US$479 million in foreign direct investment (FDI) flowed into Jamaica last year, a 22 per cent decline on the 2001 inflow, the World Investment Report, released yesterday by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), revealed.
UNCTAD said that the world FDI's was impaired by a general economic decline and the September 2001 terrorist attacks in the USA.
But the agency has a more optimistic outlook for Jamaica over the next three years -- to 2005 -- because of a number of committed investments in tourism and telecommunications.
UNCTAD ranked Jamaica 23 out of 140 countries for the receipt of foreign investment -- on a scale that is calculated relative to the size of the economy -- bettering the ranking of most of the Caribbean and Latin America. Trinidad for example was at 27, Dominican Republic 31, and Costa Rica 73.
SPOT MARKET WEIGHTED AVERAGE RATE
CURRENCY____PURCHASES___SALES
__US$_______59.2514_____59.5147
__CAN$______42.0974_____42.9538
__GB£_______92.3184_____93.3493
20 T&T FIRMS FOR TRADE MISSION
The Observer: Twenty companies from Trinidad & Tobago -- mainly manufacturers -- will mount a trade mission to Jamaica from next week Monday to Friday, to showcase their products and services, and to seek out business opportunities in Jamaica.
The trade mission is being sponsored by Scotiabank and is organised jointly by the Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturer's Association (TTMA) and the Tourism and Industrial Development Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (TIDCO).
The trade show, to be held at the Hilton Kingston Hotel, will not only showcase the goods and services from the Trinidadian companies, but will provide a meeting ground for deals to be cut with Jamaican businessmen.
JSIF REPORTS SUCCESSES
The Gleaner: The Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), a Government poverty alleviation programme, has completed 410 of its 562 projects that it has approved islandwide since its implementation in 1996.
The cost of the projects is approximately $1.7 billion.
These investments include social infrastructure such as the construction of basic, primary and all-age schools, health centres, community-based water systems, community training centres and sports facilities.
MILLIONS SNATCHED FROM DRUGLORDS
The Gleaner: A deportee, who it is believed can assist the police in their investigations into two recent drug-related murders in St. James, was arrested by the Montego Bay police in a pre-dawn raid in the Flagstaff area of the parish yesterday morning and over $2.9 million in United States and Jamaican currencies seized. Of the amount, $44,000 was in US dollars.
Mark Reid, 32, was held during an "intelligence-driven" operation in the Flagstaff area, according to Derrick Knight, Deputy Superintendent of Police and crime chief for St. James. He said Reid, who was deported from the United States last year, was arrested at his house after a search of his premises turned up the money, 10 rounds of ammunition, several appliances, a quantity of ganja and a newly-acquired Toyota Corolla motor car.
PROSPECTS IMPROVE FOR ‘ISLAND CRUISER’
The Gleaner: Orders are flowing in, said Patrick Marzouca. Proving the sceptics wrong, he has not only built a Jamaican car, but exported one to the Bahamas last week.
His company, Excel Motors, has built 22 of the two-door 'Island Cruisers' so far this year. With the worldwide publicity from the recent export, he expects production to be substantially boosted.
"The object of this exercise is to have a vehicle that can run as long as you live," he said. The fibreglass body will last a lifetime, and other components can be changed as needed. The car should have special appeal for those living close to the sea. Unlike steel-bodied vehicles which rust in a salty environment, the fibreglass 'Island Cruiser' will not rust.
$40M SANITATION PROJECT
The Observer: Residents in South West St Andrew will soon have access to better sanitary facilities, following yesterday's launch of a $40-million project in Whitfield Town.
The project, which is being funded by the European Union and implemented by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), will involve an extensive upgrading of the sanitation system serving Waltham Park Road, Crescent Road, Spanish Town and St. Jospeh’s Road. It will also include sections of Whitfield Town, which are the most deprived, in terms of sanitary facilities.
According to JSIF's managing director, Scarlette Gillings, more than 1,500 citizens are expected to benefit.
JIS NEWS
Friday September 05, 2003
DEVELOPERS’ MANUAL COMING
The Ministry of Development in collaboration with the Ministry of Land and Environment and its agencies, will publish a developer’s manual to provide developers and potential investors with all the relevant information and time frames to plan and realistically cost their proposed structures. This comprehensive manual is to be published within the next four months.
Minister of Development, Dr. Paul Robertson, made this disclosure on Tuesday (Sept. 2) while updating journalists on the operations of the Regulations, Legislation and Process Improvement Project (Regs & Leg) Project. He informed that consultations with the Land and Environment Ministry as well as with entities in the building and construction industry had focused on a buildings approval process.
“The publication of this manual will also provide transparency and accountability in the operations of agencies and departments involved in the process,” the Minister said.
GOV’T TO PAY STUDENTS’ FEES
The Ministry of Education, Youth and Culture, will be paying increased fees for students at 108 high schools this month, as Government makes good on its promise to phase out and ultimately eliminate the payment of secondary school fees by parents and guardians.
This initiative is in keeping with Prime Minister P. J. Patterson’s announcement last year, that there would be a gradual phasing out of school fees beginning this school year, with full abolition by 2005/06.
“The principle is that beginning this academic year, there will be a freeze on all fees at last year’s levels, and no parent will be required to pay higher secondary school fees than last academic year,” Jasper Lawrence, Deputy Chief Education Officer for School Operations, told JIS News.
J’CAN MOVIE PREMIERES IN CANADA
A movie written by Jamaican, Trevor Rhone, will have its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, which opens today and will last for 10 days.
The movie, ‘One Love’, is a Jamaica/United Kingdom/Norway production, starring Ky-Mani Marley and Cherine Anderson. Also appearing are Carl Bradshaw, Idris Elba and Vas Blackwood. The film is directed by Don Letts and Rick Elgood, who also co-directed Dancehall Queen.
Billed as a Jamaican Romeo and Juliet tale, ‘One Love’ tells the story of Kassa (Marley), a Reggae musician and Serena (Anderson), a church girl and their forbidden love. Jamaica’s scenic countryside and reggae music provide the backdrop for the movie.
NEW INITIATIVE TO DENT CRIME
A new initiative to stem the incidence of crime in St. James has resulted in the seizure of two illegal firearms on Tuesday (Sept. 2).
Senior Superintendent in charge of the parish, Newton Amos, told journalists on Tuesday that the redeployment of police resources in the parish has resulted in the recovery of the guns.
“We have embarked on a particular programme of reorganisation at the divisional level, in combating crime and violence in St. James. You will know by now that we are at some 11 murders more than we were at this time last year, but in other areas we have seen a complete trending down of all serious crimes in the parish for the past three weeks,” he said.
COMMITTEE TO EXAMINE HEALTH CARE ACT
The Health Care and Protection Act, 2003, has been referred to a Special Select Committee of the House of Representatives, which is to sit with a similar committee of the Senate, to consider and report on the Bill.
In piloting the Bill, tabled in the House just before the summer recess in August, Minister of Health, John Junor said the measure had far reaching implications.
“It repeals the Juveniles Act and affects some 40 other pieces of legislation,” he said of the Bill, adding that it had provisions for the establishment of a Child’s Advocate Office, increased penalties with respect to offences against juveniles, young persons and children, the setting-up of a registry for offences against children, and for dealing with several other matters related to evidence of children in criminal and other civil matters.
HERITAGE RESTORATION MOU
With the aim of protecting Jamaica’s heritage, representatives from several local organisations and institutions signed a Heritage Restoration Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Friday (Aug. 29) in Seaford Town, Westmoreland.
Representatives from Heart Trust/ NTA, Jamaica National Heritage Trust, Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo), Master Builders Association of Jamaica, Kingston Restoration Company, the University of Technology and the Jamaica Chapter of the International Council on Monuments and Sites, endorsed the MOU during the launch of the Seaford Town Community Tourism project, and official opening of the Seaford Town Museum last week.
Executive Director of the Heart Trust /NTA, Robert Gregory, explained that the primary objectives of the MOU were to facilitate the restoration of Jamaica's built heritage, to stimulate new employment opportunities in the building industry for the maintenance and restoration of historic buildings and sites, and to ensure the availability of the requisite skills for this undertaking.
Contact: Celia Lindsay
For further information about any of these news items,contact the Overseas Department at
[email protected]
The Jamaica Information Service web page address is
www.jis.gov.jm
Telephone: (876) 926-3740-8 / 926-3590-8, Fax: (876) 926-6715
COMMENTARY
Friday September 05, 2003
THE OBSERVER
DON’T DESTROY JUTC
IT was not long ago, in these columns, that this newspaper regularly highlighted the shame and humiliation that was endured daily by tens of thousands of the capital's commuters.
People were forced to ride a ramshackle and shambolic bus system manned by mostly unkempt and indecent crews, and almost every trip was almost like running a potentially deadly gauntlet, where life and limb were in peril. Buses raced to the next stop, bodies protruded from almost every aperture and any attempt to hold to one's dignity was deemed to be an assault on the natural order of things.
We felt then, and do now, that the bus system, in its unregulated filth and decrepitude contributed to a rising nihilist approach to social and intellectual discourse in Jamaica through a daily diminishing of the individual. For, by robbing people of their dignity it raised a certain type of nastiness to a philosophical norm, leaving haunting echoes of the Middle Passage.
At the time we branded this emerging ideology of nothingness as (con)ducterism and marvelled at the fact there were those who presided over the festering mess and called it business.
Most well-thinking Jamaicans, we believe, will be happy for the substantial reprieve that the community has had from that poor excuse of a bus service. But the cold, hard fact is that this necessary relief came at an expensive price -- the investment of billions of dollars of taxpayers' money in the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC), which, over the past five years, has provided Kingston with a decent bus service.
The fact is, however, the JUTC has kinks. Its undertakings were ambitious and, like many ventures involving the government, it was not adequately captalised. Perhaps more correctly, its mandate, at the start, was not as clearly defined as it might have been, particularly relating to how much of its costs the company would have to carry from its commercial operations.
At the same time, too, the JUTC has had to face the vultures picking at the edges: those who abhor rules and order and believe that public transportation should be a gladiator sport with passengers as pawns. Indeed, many of the old order would wish to return to the old order.
In the face of these stresses, the JUTC has, over the past year or so, been attempting to reorganise and restructure in a new drive for efficiency. It appears, by and large, to be making a decent go at things. It has rationalised its fleet and, as a result, has been forced to cut its workforce. We sense that the JUTC is reaching greater rationality in its structure.
We are, however, worried that the company could be in danger and that things could very well fall apart. And not only because of the actions of old-order vulgarians.
Our immediate concern rests with the attitude, particularly of the University and Allied Workers Union (UAWU), which is demanding retroactive pay relating to wage hikes under a new wage contract. The union wants retroactivity to January of this year, rather than the company's date of April.
For the company to concede it would mean that taxpayers would have to bilge millions more for this loss-making enterprise to meet the bill. And not just for existing employees but for 300 who were made redundant in January.
What is more, while the UAWU pressed for more money, employees were on so-called work-to-rule, which, in many respects is a kind of poorly-disguised strike. So, fewer buses operated and millions more were lost.
The taxpayers will have to take up the tab.
The workers and their unions will have to make up their minds and decide whether they want a bus service of decency or the ramshackle one of the past. And what do we really want as Jamaicans? Certainly not the Middle Passage!
===========================================
THE GLEANER
COULD THE PM BE SERIOUS?
IT IS not unknown for politicians when speaking in a foreign jurisdiction where they wish to impress an audience, to make utterances that they might be hard-pressed to defend at home. If he has been quoted correctly, the statement by Mr. Patterson at a conference in Havana that poverty in Jamaica has been reduced by close to 50 per cent over the past 10 years seems to be a case in point.
Many Jamaicans, regardless of party affiliation, might consider Mr. Patterson's claim to be fanciful or perhaps a case of the wish being father to the thought. And, equally surprising is Mr. Patterson's singling out of education as being one of the main reasons for the claimed success.
The disaggregated results of last year's CXC exams, published by the National Council on Education, hardly supports any such contention. Based on total student cohort in our secondary schools, only 15.8 per cent passed Mathematics at Grade III and only 27.8 per cent passed English at Grade III. What is more alarming, the pass performance of the total student cohort in non-traditional secondary schools to which 80 per cent of our children are consigned is only 4.1 per cent in Mathematics and 10.7 per cent in English. And this year's CXC results are not impressive either.
It could be argued, therefore, that far from our education system being a factor in reducing poverty it is contributing to unemployment because graduates lack the skills to perform in a global economy.
Another factor which Mr. Patterson says has contributed to lowering poverty is the economic empowerment of our people. This sounds good, but we are not sure what it means exactly. To empower assumes some substance over which one can exercise the conferred power. But since there has been little or no growth in Jamaica's Gross Domestic Product over the past 10 years it is difficult to see how any sort of empowerment can have helped to reduce poverty.
Since Mr. Patterson has seen fit to raise the matter of poverty at an international forum, we think he owes it to the Jamaica people to explain the basis on which he made the claim.