JAMAICA NEWSWEEKLY For the week ending May 27, 2005

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THIS WEEKS NEWS SUMMARY
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WEEKLY NEWS SUMMARY

NEW DIRECTOR TO BE NAMED AT NSWMA – 5/21/05
Nearly one month following the resignation of the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) board and director Alston Stewart, following weeks of questions over fiscal irregularities and the awarding of non-tendered contracts, Kingston City Centre Improvement Company (KCCIC) chief executive office Errol Greene is rumored to be the new NSWMA executive director. Mr. Greene joined KCCIC last year — a private and public partnership formed in late 2003 by Prime Minister P.J. Patterson to oversee the Business Improvement District (BID).

ONE COP SLAIN AS ANOTHER IS MOURNED – 5/23/05
The fifth Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) killing in recent weeks left 35-year-old Constable Andrew Anthony Pryce dead early Sunday morning, one day after Police Federation president Raymond Wilson eulogized the loss of another of Jamaica’s fallen officers, Inspector Lascelles Walsh. Corporal Wilson railed against politicians that, as he says, attend the funerals of known criminals, but do not publicly mourn JCF’s own, and has called for a ‘National Police Memorial Week’ to honor those fallen officers. Constable Pryce was shot at about 4:30 a.m. Sunday morning in Kingston by assailants who fled with his firearm.

LABOUR DAY VOLUNTEERS WORKING FOR JA – 5/24/05
453 Labour Day projects took place across the island on Monday to benefit communities hard hit by hurricanes, carrying out sorely needed repairs, and responding to the call to ‘Prepare for Disaster Recovery Faster’. The Buena Vista Community Centre in St. Elizabeth, where both hurricanes Charley and Ivan took their toll, received $8.5 million in repairs to the 1970 structure for use as a disaster shelter. Other residents across JA cleaned drains, replanted trees, repaired pot holes and participated in beautification projects for the one-day cleanup effort.

INTERNET ROMANCE LEADS TO FLORIDA MAN’S DISAPPEARANCE – 5/24/05
Daytona Beach resident Stephen King traveled to Jamaica for an internet romance on May 13. One week later Montego Bay police believe it to be Mr. King’s body that was discovered in a shallow grave in St. James. DNA and dental records will soon answer the fate of the 52-year-old fire-protection estimator who went to Jamaica to meet for the first time a Jamaica woman he had been chatting online with for two months. A woman believed to be King’s internet correspondent and her male companion were detained by police after blood stains were discovered in the vehicle the pair were driving in on Sunday in St. Mary.

LITERACY HOPES ON NEW HORIZONS – 5/24/05
Students at 72 primary schools, beneficiaries of the New Horizons Project (NHP) initiative to improve literacy and mathematics, have demonstrated improvements of literacy rates by as much as 34 percent — prompting Minister of Education and Culture Maxine Henry Wilson to call for its implementation in schools across the island. A partnership between the United States Agency for International Development and the Jamaican government, the NHP seven-year initiative recently came to a close, but Minister Wilson is seeking to expand the program to Jamaica’s 733 remaining schools.

JA BUSINESSES RALLY AGAINST VIOLENCE – 5/25/05
A roll call of 630 Jamaicans who have lost their lives this year to growing violence on the island is to take place Wednesday afternoon in a rally sponsored by the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ). Commercial businesses are to close in support of the rally in Emancipation Park in New Kingston where organizers are to present an ‘action plan’ to deal with the violent crime that has devastated the lives of so many Jamaicans — to include the lives of nine police officers to date. Police Commissioner Lucius Thomas said that security would be provided for the afternoon event and that police were working closely with PSOJ organizers.

JA POLITICIANS GIVEN ULTIMATUM ON CRIME – 5/26/05
The Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) put Jamaica’s politicians on notice to thunderous applause at the organization’s rally against violent crime Wednesday in Emancipation Park. PSOJ president Beverly Lopez read the ultimatum for Jamaica’s politicians to sever all ties (and financial entanglements) to violent criminals by June 15 — or to be prepared for the consequences at the polls — from a 13-point 2005 Declaration of Emancipation Park. Ms. Lopez further stated that the vote was the only way to hold Jamaica’s politicians accountable for associations with known criminals.

MONTEGO BAY POLICE EXTORTION SCANDAL – 5/27/05
A St. James businessman was held for US$50,000 in ransom by Montego Bay police officers under the pretext that a warrant for his arrest had been issued by U.S. authorities. Police authorities state that officers conducted a raid in Sign, Irwin on Thursday for the purpose of extorting money from the businessman who had gone into hiding last year under the mistaken belief that U.S. authorities sought to extradite him on drug charges. Kingston detectives are investigating the matter.

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SPORTS
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$25M ANTI-DOPING CAMPAIGN – 5/21/05
The newly formed Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) is to receive $25 million to aid in their fight against drug doping in sports, Sports Minister Portia Simpson Miller announced Friday. The move was lauded by World Anti-doping Agency (WADA) director general David Howman who cautioned while speaking at the JADCO Anti-Symposium in Kingston that non-compliant countries will not be permitted to host regional or international events.

CAMPBELL BLAZES 200M TRACK AT CLASSIC – 5/23/05
JA Olympic Games runner Veronica Campbell put nothing but air between her and the competition in the 100m event at the Adidas Track Classic on Sunday. A winning 10.96 seconds gave Campbell a way-out-front finish and places her ahead of Jamaican 100m distance runner Sherone Simpson in world rankings. Campbell is the first woman of the season to complete the 100m in under 11 seconds.

PORTMORE ROMP IN CHAMPIONSHIP CUP – 5/23/05
Portmore United scored an easy 3-1 victory over Harbour View in the Red Stripe Champions Cup Knockout Trophy final Sunday at the National Stadium. Kemeel Wolfe scored two second-half goals against Harbour View in the 53rd and 64th minutes of play. Portmore coach Paul Young’s only disappointment of the evening was that his team did not score higher against the unexceptional play of Harbour View.

LARA BATS HUNDRED IN 3-0 LOSS – 5/27/05
Brian Lara batted his third century of the last four matches for the West Indies in the first Test against Pakistan at the Kensington Oval, Barbados on Thursday. Pakistan held the Indies to a disappointing 345 — but Lara was not denied a 130 and his 29th Test hundred. Lara is now only the fifth batsman to earn hundreds against all nine Test countries.

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