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NEWS IN BRIEF
FOR GENERAL DISTRIBUTION
Top News in the Print Media: The JIS, The Gleaner & The Observer
From the Overseas Department, Jamaica Information Service
Friday September 26, 2003
US VOTES TO BLOCK CALL CENTRES
The Observer: With remarkable speed and near unanimity, The US Congress yesterday passed legislation intended to ensure consumers can block many unwanted telemarketing calls. But whether the service millions of Americans signed up for takes effect next week was thrown into doubt when a second federal judge ruled the list violates free speech protections.
Last night, Jamaica's Technology Minister, Phillip Paulwell, said the Government and telemarketing firms operating here were not caught off guard by the vote and had actually started shifting their business to taking calls from the US.
Minister Paulwell also doubted that the law, if given final approval, would affect jobs in Jamaica. "They have to ensure that they do not call those on the list," he said. "It would require simple programming and ought not to cause any problem."
SPOT MARKET WEIGHTED AVERAGE RATE
CURRENCY - PURCHASES - SALES
___US$______59.4304_____59.6028
__CAN$______42.9484_____43.9125
___GB£______96.0809_____97.5478
SMOOTH FLOW ON TOLL ROAD
The Observer: The operators of the island's first toll road reported a smooth first day of operation yesterday.
"We began operations at 12 midnight and everything is going just fine, without incident," said Philippe Lassauce, the general manager of Jamaica Infrastructure Operators, the company that operates the toll road on behalf of TransJamaican Highway.
"Motorists are paying the toll with smiling faces, I guess in appreciation of the facilities and the quality of service they are getting. We have not been experiencing any major problems since we began collecting," added operations officer, Desmond Levy.
$200 MILLION AIRPORT PROJECT
The Observer: A $200-million state-of-the-art fuel hydrant system that forms part of the major development of the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston is expected to be completed within two weeks.
"The programme is coming to a close, with the commissioning scheduled to commence during the first week of October 2003," Julet Stone, public relations officer at the Airport Authority of Jamaica (AAJ), told the Observer. "The construction cost of the related works is approximately J$200 million," she added.
The fuel system is part of a major project representing over $800 million in investment that the AAJ will be undertaking this fiscal year to upgrade the facilities at Kingston's Norman Manley airport.
Further work, will include the redesigning of the airport's departure and arrival terminals to begin soon and to be completed in the early part of the 2004/2005 fiscal year.
JULY PRICES UP 1.5%
The Observer: Prices rose by 1.5 per cent in July, bringing to 7.6 per cent, the inflation for the first four months of the current fiscal year -- April 1 to July 31, 2003.
The inflation in July followed the strong 2.5 per cent price increase in June, and 1.9 per cent in May.
According to the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (Statin), between January 1 and July 31, prices rose by 7.2 per cent, nearly twice the rate of the 3.8 per cent recorded during the comparative period last year. For the period July 2002 to July 2003, the rate of inflation was 10.7 per cent.
CARICOM UNITY HOLDS
The Gleaner: Jamaican manufactures were heartened that CARICOM Ministers took a firm stand during the WTO Ministerial talks at CANCUN held earlier this month. If accepted, the proposals by the developed countries would have driven yet another nail into the coffin of the Jamaican productive sector already severely weakened by imports on which the correct duty has not been paid and those that enter the island unmindful of standards, labelling and safety regulations.
A notable feature of the recent talks in CANCUN was the unified position taken by developing countries as they refused to cave in to the developed country positions on the so-called Singapore issues of agriculture, government procurement, trade, investment and competition policy. CARICOM has a worthy tradition of leadership in these issues from the International Sugar Agreement in
FINANCIAL BOOST FOR OCHO RIOS
The Gleaner: The Ministry of Land and Environment has approved an application from the proprietors of Dolphin Cove, paving the way for the Ocho Rios based attraction to embark on its $250 million expansion plan.
An elated Stafford Burrowes, owner of Dolphin Cove, told The Financial Gleaner yesterday that he was "very excited" that the Ministry has finally given him the go ahead, noting that his job now was to "try and finish in time for the winter tourist season."
"I will be breaking ground starting tomorrow," Mr. Burrowes said.
CONTRACT CENTRE SUMMIT
The Observer: Jamaica has won the bid to host the 2004 contact centre and strategic sourcing summit of the Americas which will take place in Montego Bay between February 8-11, 2004.
The summit is part of an annual series of global business conferences which attracts preferred corporate attention, and is organised by The Summit Circuit which is headquartered in Toronto. Jampro, the government's investments promotions agency, says the summit is regarded as one of the highlights of the international contact centre calendar.
JIS NEWS
Friday September 26, 2003
GOV’T SAVES $200 MILLION
Minister of Development, Dr. Paul Robertson, announced that changes made under the Public Sector Reform Programme (PSRP) have resulted in savings of over $200 million.
The Minister was making his contribution to the 2003/04 Sectoral Debate on Economy and Production at Gordon House, on September 23. Dr. Robertson attributed this saving to the implementation of about 80 per cent of the recommendations made in the Orane report of 1998.
The report was commissioned by the Government because of the need to cut public expenditure and improve the competence of the public service. This was in order to aid the Government’s objective for achieving economic growth. In return, the operations of the Government were reviewed and analyzed and recommendations were made as to ways in which structure and functions could be changed to improve efficiency.
IAN K (AGENCIES) EXPANDS TRADE
Ian K. (Agencies) and Renault Trucks of France have taken another giant step towards the further expansion of the favourable trading relations, which have existed between Jamaica and France over the past 25 years.
Ian K Levy, Chairman of Ian K (Agencies) Limited, made these remarks at a handing-over ceremony at Devon House on Monday (Sept. 22), involving 10 of 20 Renault Compactor Trucks, they were purchased for delivery to the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA).
Mr. Levy said the event represented several milestones for Ian K. (Agencies), including 24 years of working relationship with Renault Trucks of France; 25 years of overall relationship with France, through their representation of other French companies; and sets the pace for the beginning of a new phase in the trade relations between Jamaica and France.
MODEL PROGRAMME FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT
The Ministry of Education, Youth and Culture, through the Enhancement of Basic Schools Project (EBSP), is seeking to apply a holistic approach to early childhood care and development by improving the coverage and service delivery of the early childhood programme and implementing a model design for all Early Childhood Institutions (ECIs).
Addressing a EBSP stakeholders’ sensitisation forum at the Terra Nova Hotel on Tuesday (Sept. 23), State Minister in the Ministry, Dr. Donald Rhodd stressed the need to “pay attention simultaneously to physical development, through health and nutrition, mental development, through education and stimulation; social and emotional development by providing affection and opportunities for social participation and spiritual development, in short, a holistic and integral approach needs to be taken.”
He pointed out that it was against this background that the $15.8 million project, jointly funded by the Government of Jamaica and the Caribbean Development Bank, had been established in November, last year.
PETER FIGUEROA HAILED
The JHIPIEGO Corporation, a subsidiary of the John Hopkins University Health System, has named Dr. Peter Figueroa, Senior Medical Officer in charge of the Ministry of Health’s Epidemiology and HIV/AIDS Programme, as one of its six awardees for its first global Leadership in Health Awards.
The awards were presented recently at a function, which was staged at the National Press Club in Washington D.C., in celebration of JHIPIEGO’s 30th anniversary, and in recognition of the organisation’s work in promoting health care, particularly for vulnerable women and children, in many parts of the developing world.
Dr. Figueroa, who also heads the Health Ministry’s efforts to counter sexually transmitted diseases, was specifically recognised for his work in HIV/AIDS care, practice, and treatment.
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 26, 2003
THE OBSERVER
FACING THE TRUTH
SINCE Sunday, Jamaica has been observing Tourism Awareness Week with a raft of activities held across the island to increase Jamaicans' knowledge and appreciation of this vital industry.
We hope that the exhibition that was planned for the Civic Centre in Montego Bay, Jamaica's largest tourist resort centre, achieved its objective of informing people about the roles and functions of the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo), the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), and their partner agencies from the private sector, tourism associations and attractions.
For, we know that when people are armed with information, they are better able to analyse and understand messages being fed to them.
Increasingly, more Jamaicans are paying attention to tourism, as the industry's importance has been augmented by the slump in world travel that followed the terrorist attacks on America on September 11, 2001.
Tragic though those events were, they gave us an opportunity to refocus on how we treat tourism and how we respond to difficulties, whether here or abroad.
Based on the manner in which the JTB, the tourism ministry and the industry handled last week's unfortunate encounter that seven tourists had in Negril, we believe that the Jamaican authorities have, indeed, learnt how to handle sticky situations without the shrill responses that obtained in former years.
We were particularly impressed and heartened by the response of Mr Paul Pennicook, the tourism director, who not only saw to the welfare of the affected visitors, but extended his condolences to the relatives of the Jamaican gardener who died in that incident.
What Mr Pennicook has demonstrated is an equal appreciation for the value of life and human well-being. And we have no reason to suspect that Mr Pennicook was engaging in a public relations exercise, because his comments had a ring of sincerity.
But Mr Pennicook, as well as Mr Godfrey Dyer, the president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA), both made an important point in their response to this incident. It is that we need to do something to solve crime in this country.
Sticking our heads in the sand and trying to pretend that we do not have a problem will not work. Neither will smashing the mirror that reflects the ugly truth.
The entire country, led by the Government, needs to face this dilemma and agree on a workable solution. We have already put some suggestions on the table. Let's have some others.
============================================
THE GLEANER
TOURISM AND CRIME
IT IS earnestly to be hoped that the attack by gunmen on tourists staying at a hotel in Negril in which a gardener was shot dead and a security guard wounded, is not going to be another chapter in the unfolding drama of crime and violence in Jamaica. Tourism at the best of times is a fragile industry, subject to changing perceptions and fads; and international news about tourists being attacked in one of our premier resort areas can have a devastating effect on an industry just beginning to recover from the September 11, 2001 tragedy in New York and Washington.
Equally alarming is the reported slow response of the police to the emergency. No contact was possible with the local station and the call for help had to be routed through Montego Bay. Such inefficiency, although not surprising in light of how stretched the Force now is, will be a sore point with the predominantly British tourists who were relieved by the bandits of some $50,000 in cash and jewellery.
Unpaid telephone bills at police stations, resulting in service being disconnected, cannot be allowed to continue although this may not have been a factor in the Negril attack. The Government has a responsibility to honour the debts of its Ministries and satellite divisions to private sector companies and, as an internal matter, see to it that the use of telephones at police stations for private or unnecessarily long calls is not abused.
At the most fundamental level, there is need for more and better trained police personnel. As we have previously pointed out, the Jamaican police establishment, compared with other countries of similar size, should number about 10,000 rather than the present 7,000. Some amount of under-staffing has been admitted by Dr. Peter Phillips, Minister of National Security, and we note that he has announced plans to reform the Jamaica Defence Force, a move which could have some bearing on its supporting role in regular law enforcement.
Even as ordinary Jamaicans citizens cringe in fear of being murdered, the authorities need to pay attention to upgrading security arrangements in resort areas because, if the tourist industry becomes a victim of crime, the entire economy will suffer and our last state will be worse than the first.
FOR GENERAL DISTRIBUTION
Top News in the Print Media: The JIS, The Gleaner & The Observer
From the Overseas Department, Jamaica Information Service
Friday September 26, 2003
US VOTES TO BLOCK CALL CENTRES
The Observer: With remarkable speed and near unanimity, The US Congress yesterday passed legislation intended to ensure consumers can block many unwanted telemarketing calls. But whether the service millions of Americans signed up for takes effect next week was thrown into doubt when a second federal judge ruled the list violates free speech protections.
Last night, Jamaica's Technology Minister, Phillip Paulwell, said the Government and telemarketing firms operating here were not caught off guard by the vote and had actually started shifting their business to taking calls from the US.
Minister Paulwell also doubted that the law, if given final approval, would affect jobs in Jamaica. "They have to ensure that they do not call those on the list," he said. "It would require simple programming and ought not to cause any problem."
SPOT MARKET WEIGHTED AVERAGE RATE
CURRENCY - PURCHASES - SALES
___US$______59.4304_____59.6028
__CAN$______42.9484_____43.9125
___GB£______96.0809_____97.5478
SMOOTH FLOW ON TOLL ROAD
The Observer: The operators of the island's first toll road reported a smooth first day of operation yesterday.
"We began operations at 12 midnight and everything is going just fine, without incident," said Philippe Lassauce, the general manager of Jamaica Infrastructure Operators, the company that operates the toll road on behalf of TransJamaican Highway.
"Motorists are paying the toll with smiling faces, I guess in appreciation of the facilities and the quality of service they are getting. We have not been experiencing any major problems since we began collecting," added operations officer, Desmond Levy.
$200 MILLION AIRPORT PROJECT
The Observer: A $200-million state-of-the-art fuel hydrant system that forms part of the major development of the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston is expected to be completed within two weeks.
"The programme is coming to a close, with the commissioning scheduled to commence during the first week of October 2003," Julet Stone, public relations officer at the Airport Authority of Jamaica (AAJ), told the Observer. "The construction cost of the related works is approximately J$200 million," she added.
The fuel system is part of a major project representing over $800 million in investment that the AAJ will be undertaking this fiscal year to upgrade the facilities at Kingston's Norman Manley airport.
Further work, will include the redesigning of the airport's departure and arrival terminals to begin soon and to be completed in the early part of the 2004/2005 fiscal year.
JULY PRICES UP 1.5%
The Observer: Prices rose by 1.5 per cent in July, bringing to 7.6 per cent, the inflation for the first four months of the current fiscal year -- April 1 to July 31, 2003.
The inflation in July followed the strong 2.5 per cent price increase in June, and 1.9 per cent in May.
According to the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (Statin), between January 1 and July 31, prices rose by 7.2 per cent, nearly twice the rate of the 3.8 per cent recorded during the comparative period last year. For the period July 2002 to July 2003, the rate of inflation was 10.7 per cent.
CARICOM UNITY HOLDS
The Gleaner: Jamaican manufactures were heartened that CARICOM Ministers took a firm stand during the WTO Ministerial talks at CANCUN held earlier this month. If accepted, the proposals by the developed countries would have driven yet another nail into the coffin of the Jamaican productive sector already severely weakened by imports on which the correct duty has not been paid and those that enter the island unmindful of standards, labelling and safety regulations.
A notable feature of the recent talks in CANCUN was the unified position taken by developing countries as they refused to cave in to the developed country positions on the so-called Singapore issues of agriculture, government procurement, trade, investment and competition policy. CARICOM has a worthy tradition of leadership in these issues from the International Sugar Agreement in
FINANCIAL BOOST FOR OCHO RIOS
The Gleaner: The Ministry of Land and Environment has approved an application from the proprietors of Dolphin Cove, paving the way for the Ocho Rios based attraction to embark on its $250 million expansion plan.
An elated Stafford Burrowes, owner of Dolphin Cove, told The Financial Gleaner yesterday that he was "very excited" that the Ministry has finally given him the go ahead, noting that his job now was to "try and finish in time for the winter tourist season."
"I will be breaking ground starting tomorrow," Mr. Burrowes said.
CONTRACT CENTRE SUMMIT
The Observer: Jamaica has won the bid to host the 2004 contact centre and strategic sourcing summit of the Americas which will take place in Montego Bay between February 8-11, 2004.
The summit is part of an annual series of global business conferences which attracts preferred corporate attention, and is organised by The Summit Circuit which is headquartered in Toronto. Jampro, the government's investments promotions agency, says the summit is regarded as one of the highlights of the international contact centre calendar.
JIS NEWS
Friday September 26, 2003
GOV’T SAVES $200 MILLION
Minister of Development, Dr. Paul Robertson, announced that changes made under the Public Sector Reform Programme (PSRP) have resulted in savings of over $200 million.
The Minister was making his contribution to the 2003/04 Sectoral Debate on Economy and Production at Gordon House, on September 23. Dr. Robertson attributed this saving to the implementation of about 80 per cent of the recommendations made in the Orane report of 1998.
The report was commissioned by the Government because of the need to cut public expenditure and improve the competence of the public service. This was in order to aid the Government’s objective for achieving economic growth. In return, the operations of the Government were reviewed and analyzed and recommendations were made as to ways in which structure and functions could be changed to improve efficiency.
IAN K (AGENCIES) EXPANDS TRADE
Ian K. (Agencies) and Renault Trucks of France have taken another giant step towards the further expansion of the favourable trading relations, which have existed between Jamaica and France over the past 25 years.
Ian K Levy, Chairman of Ian K (Agencies) Limited, made these remarks at a handing-over ceremony at Devon House on Monday (Sept. 22), involving 10 of 20 Renault Compactor Trucks, they were purchased for delivery to the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA).
Mr. Levy said the event represented several milestones for Ian K. (Agencies), including 24 years of working relationship with Renault Trucks of France; 25 years of overall relationship with France, through their representation of other French companies; and sets the pace for the beginning of a new phase in the trade relations between Jamaica and France.
MODEL PROGRAMME FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT
The Ministry of Education, Youth and Culture, through the Enhancement of Basic Schools Project (EBSP), is seeking to apply a holistic approach to early childhood care and development by improving the coverage and service delivery of the early childhood programme and implementing a model design for all Early Childhood Institutions (ECIs).
Addressing a EBSP stakeholders’ sensitisation forum at the Terra Nova Hotel on Tuesday (Sept. 23), State Minister in the Ministry, Dr. Donald Rhodd stressed the need to “pay attention simultaneously to physical development, through health and nutrition, mental development, through education and stimulation; social and emotional development by providing affection and opportunities for social participation and spiritual development, in short, a holistic and integral approach needs to be taken.”
He pointed out that it was against this background that the $15.8 million project, jointly funded by the Government of Jamaica and the Caribbean Development Bank, had been established in November, last year.
PETER FIGUEROA HAILED
The JHIPIEGO Corporation, a subsidiary of the John Hopkins University Health System, has named Dr. Peter Figueroa, Senior Medical Officer in charge of the Ministry of Health’s Epidemiology and HIV/AIDS Programme, as one of its six awardees for its first global Leadership in Health Awards.
The awards were presented recently at a function, which was staged at the National Press Club in Washington D.C., in celebration of JHIPIEGO’s 30th anniversary, and in recognition of the organisation’s work in promoting health care, particularly for vulnerable women and children, in many parts of the developing world.
Dr. Figueroa, who also heads the Health Ministry’s efforts to counter sexually transmitted diseases, was specifically recognised for his work in HIV/AIDS care, practice, and treatment.
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 26, 2003
THE OBSERVER
FACING THE TRUTH
SINCE Sunday, Jamaica has been observing Tourism Awareness Week with a raft of activities held across the island to increase Jamaicans' knowledge and appreciation of this vital industry.
We hope that the exhibition that was planned for the Civic Centre in Montego Bay, Jamaica's largest tourist resort centre, achieved its objective of informing people about the roles and functions of the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo), the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), and their partner agencies from the private sector, tourism associations and attractions.
For, we know that when people are armed with information, they are better able to analyse and understand messages being fed to them.
Increasingly, more Jamaicans are paying attention to tourism, as the industry's importance has been augmented by the slump in world travel that followed the terrorist attacks on America on September 11, 2001.
Tragic though those events were, they gave us an opportunity to refocus on how we treat tourism and how we respond to difficulties, whether here or abroad.
Based on the manner in which the JTB, the tourism ministry and the industry handled last week's unfortunate encounter that seven tourists had in Negril, we believe that the Jamaican authorities have, indeed, learnt how to handle sticky situations without the shrill responses that obtained in former years.
We were particularly impressed and heartened by the response of Mr Paul Pennicook, the tourism director, who not only saw to the welfare of the affected visitors, but extended his condolences to the relatives of the Jamaican gardener who died in that incident.
What Mr Pennicook has demonstrated is an equal appreciation for the value of life and human well-being. And we have no reason to suspect that Mr Pennicook was engaging in a public relations exercise, because his comments had a ring of sincerity.
But Mr Pennicook, as well as Mr Godfrey Dyer, the president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA), both made an important point in their response to this incident. It is that we need to do something to solve crime in this country.
Sticking our heads in the sand and trying to pretend that we do not have a problem will not work. Neither will smashing the mirror that reflects the ugly truth.
The entire country, led by the Government, needs to face this dilemma and agree on a workable solution. We have already put some suggestions on the table. Let's have some others.
============================================
THE GLEANER
TOURISM AND CRIME
IT IS earnestly to be hoped that the attack by gunmen on tourists staying at a hotel in Negril in which a gardener was shot dead and a security guard wounded, is not going to be another chapter in the unfolding drama of crime and violence in Jamaica. Tourism at the best of times is a fragile industry, subject to changing perceptions and fads; and international news about tourists being attacked in one of our premier resort areas can have a devastating effect on an industry just beginning to recover from the September 11, 2001 tragedy in New York and Washington.
Equally alarming is the reported slow response of the police to the emergency. No contact was possible with the local station and the call for help had to be routed through Montego Bay. Such inefficiency, although not surprising in light of how stretched the Force now is, will be a sore point with the predominantly British tourists who were relieved by the bandits of some $50,000 in cash and jewellery.
Unpaid telephone bills at police stations, resulting in service being disconnected, cannot be allowed to continue although this may not have been a factor in the Negril attack. The Government has a responsibility to honour the debts of its Ministries and satellite divisions to private sector companies and, as an internal matter, see to it that the use of telephones at police stations for private or unnecessarily long calls is not abused.
At the most fundamental level, there is need for more and better trained police personnel. As we have previously pointed out, the Jamaican police establishment, compared with other countries of similar size, should number about 10,000 rather than the present 7,000. Some amount of under-staffing has been admitted by Dr. Peter Phillips, Minister of National Security, and we note that he has announced plans to reform the Jamaica Defence Force, a move which could have some bearing on its supporting role in regular law enforcement.
Even as ordinary Jamaicans citizens cringe in fear of being murdered, the authorities need to pay attention to upgrading security arrangements in resort areas because, if the tourist industry becomes a victim of crime, the entire economy will suffer and our last state will be worse than the first.