JAMAICA NEWSWEEKLY For the week ending March 17th, 2006

———————————————-
THIS WEEK’S NEWS SUMMARY
———————————————-
INVESTMENT WOES BEHIND TECH PARK—3/11/2006
There were errors made when searching for investors to back the Springfield Technology Park in St. Thomas, according to Senator Noel Sloley. This admission comes after the Government received criticism by the opposition last week. According to reports, the Tech Park, formally the Goodyear Tire Factory was to be renovated at a coast of $153 million. This renovation was to begin in September 2002, however the facility is still closed at this time. Due to high rental costs very few investors had signed on to the project and the Government did away with monthly rentals at the site. According to Sloley, the type of investors the they were speaking with are more interested in Montego Bay, however they were interested in Portmore due to the high population of educated workforce.

WAITE FOUND AND KILLED BY POLICE—3/11/2006
One of Jamaica’s most wanted criminals has been killed in a shoot out by members of the Special Anti-Crime Task Force and the Eastern Kingston Police. Delano Waite, 21, also know as Delly Bop, was found in the McGregor Gully area of East Kingston. Waite was wanted in connection with several murders, house fires and robberies throughout the East and Central Kingston areas. According to Assistant Commissioner Glenmore Hinds, Waite was a suspect in the murder of a Dunkirk couple. The man and women were murdered while sleeping. Waite was also a gang leader who used the citizens as a form of protection, he later turned on them toward the end of his life.

CHILDREN PLEA FOR HELP WITH AREA CRIME—3/12/2006
Children of area schools are pleading with the Government for help after seven children were killed in one week. Many children are scared and scared to go to school. Francois Douglas a student of a local high school say he knows some students are planning to leave their schools to study elsewhere so they can be safe. This is a feeling shared by many students. According to Jermaine Allen, the head boy at Glenmuir High, his classmates are overcome with fear after the recent fatalities involving children. Police reports show more than 100 children were killed last year.

MEDICAL TEAM STARTS CRIME PREVENTION PROGRAM—3/13/2006
Medical teams at Percy Junor Hospital have developed a school violence prevention programme after an increase in the numbers of trauma cases involving students. The programme launched March 7 under the lead of Dr. Ghazzali Ahmad with help from the Southern Health Authority, Manchester Schools, Manchester Police and the Sacred Heart Academy. According to Dr. Ghazzali, they started this programme when the cases they began treating were life threatening, not just normal playground injuries. It is reported that injuries due to violent crimes cost the health care system more than $700 million in indirect costs annually. The direct cost is estimated to be at more than $2 billion.

CLASSES SUSPENDED AT BROWN’S TOWN HIGH—3/15/2006
Officials have suspended classes at Brown’s Town High after a series of violent attacks on students and administrators had been reported. The most recent incident occurred when a parent approached a student, injured him, then slashed his car tires. Other reports indicate the school’s principal, Joyce Wilson, was injured while trying to break up an fight between two students. Six other teachers have also been attacked by students. In response to the recent violence, teachers have begun to protest outside the school’s entrance. The President of the Jamaica Teachers Association has asked administrators to look into these problems and reports of extortion taking place on school grounds.

CHILD LABOUR NUMBERS STILL HIGH—3/16/2006
The United Nation Children’s Fund, UNICEF, announced yesterday they are concerned with the still high number of Jamaican children being put into the labour force. According to reports, there were more than 16,000 children between the ages of five and 17 who were part of the country’s work force two years ago. The report does note, however, the majority of that number represents a male teenager, 15-17 who works around 20 hours per week. UNICEF is also concerned by the number of Jamaican children living in poverty. A 2006 report shows roughly 2000 children are living or working on the island’s streets.

DEPORTEE CHARGED WITH FAMILY’S MURDER—3/17/2006
Michael McLean, 39, has been charged with the murders of six family members in St. Thomas. McLean, a deportee, has been in police custody since February 27, 2006. Reports indicate McLean was deported back to Jamaica from the United States after serving five years of a 15 year prison sentence. McLean is charged with the murders of Patrice George McCool, her three children, Terry-Ann Mohammed and her son. The bodies were found in three separate areas.

POLICE CRACK DOWN ON DRUG TRADE—3/17/2006
Over the last two months narcotics officers have gained some ground against the country’s illegal drug trade. Reports show officers have seized $28 million in ganja and cocaine, arrested more than 1300 people and seized various automobiles and containers. Of the people arrested, 37 were from other countries including an American family who had possession of more than 1000 pounds of ganja. According to Carlton Wilson, Senior Superintendent of the Narcotics Police Division drug smugglers have focused their attention back to smuggling ganja especially to the Eastern portion of the Caribbean. There is, however a small amount of cocaine still running through the island.

——————————
SPORTS
——————————
ONANDI TO PLAY IN U.S.—3/12/2006
Onandi Lowe has signed a deal to play for the Miami Football Club, a new team to the United Soccer League. Lowe was a striker for the Portmore United. He will be playing 10 months, or one full season, for the U.S. team. This is not his first time to play in the Untied States. Lowe played at the World Cup level for the Rochester Rhinos and the Kansas City Wizards in 2001. While with the Wizards he scored four goals and three assists. Lowe also played professional football in Great Britain where he was charged with possession of cocaine before returning to play football in Jamaica.

SINCLAIR MEDALS AT WORLD INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS—3/13/2006
Kenia Sinclair brought home Jamaica’s only medal at the World Indoor Championships in Moscow, Russia. Sinclair broke the CAC 800m record on her way to a second place finish. She placed second behind Mozambique’s Maria Mutola with a time of 1:59.54. This is her third time to break the CAC record in one year. With Sinclair’s medal, Jamaica tied for 16th with eight other countries. At last years championships, Jamaica came home with five medals.

MUNRO ADVANCES TO SEMI-FINALS—3/14/2006
Munro College is advancing to the semi-finals of the Jamaica Hockey Federation/ISSA Under-16 tournament. Munro beat Campion 2-0 and tied with Excelsior to secure their semi-final spot. Sean Roberts and Javier Dayes both reported goals in the game against Campion while Matthew Amair scored the only goal against Excelsior. In other games, Queen’s girls beat Alpha girls 3-1 and St. Hugh’s girls won their match against Excelsior 1-0. In Zone A, Jamaica College shut out Tivoli 3-0 to advance in the current standings.

JAMAICA FAIRS WELL AT COMMONWEALTH GAMES—3/17/2006
Jamaica is doing very well in the first round of the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia. Swimmer Alia Atkinson broke the national women’s 50m breaststroke record not once, but twice in just 12 hours of competition. In her first match Atkinson swam in 33.09 seconds and advanced to fifth place in the fourth heat and then beat her own record with a time of 32.52 to place her has an alternate in today’s final. In men’s table tennis, Jamaica has two wins in the first pool of team competition. And today, the Jamaican netball team plays against Singapore. This team won the bronze medal in 2002.

—————————————————————–
CREDITS/SOURCES
—————————————————————–
The weekly news is compilation of new articles from top Caribbean and Jamaican news sources.