Staff Writer—————————————-
THIS WEEK”S SUMMARY
—————————————-
ENERGY PRICING POLICY HURTS JAMAICAN ECONOMY—10/09/10
Christopher Tufton, Jamaican energy minister, is challenging Trinidad and Tobago’s preferential pricing policy, which has damaged the nation’s manufacturing, export, and agriculture sectors. The government of Jamaica has hesitated to confront the issue, even when its industries are harmed by duty-free imports from T&T at prices that local producers cannot meet. Electricity in T&T costs US 3 cents per kilowatt hour, compared to US 30 cents in Jamaica.
JAMAICAN BUSINESSMEN PROPOSE NATIONAL HOUSING PROJECT—10/10/10
Tony Hart and other businessmen in Jamaica have proposed that the government launch a national housing project in order to stimulate the nation’s economy. It would also address the problem of “squatting” on the island. Hart believes there is enough money available to fund such a project. Housing would be the greatest stimulus to the Jamaican economy, Hart said.
CAMPBELL TO ATTEMPT PNP REPRESENTATION IN GENERAL ELECTION—10/11/10
Colin Campbell, former government minister, plans to write the People’s National Party (PNP) in order to remount a campaign to represent the party in the general election. He had already indicated his intent to seek the seat for North Central Clarendon, but after the report on the Trafigura scandal was issued, he withdrew his bid. Campbell was implicated in the scandal, in which the PNP government received $31 million from Trafigura in 2006.
IDT RULING NOT FAVORED BY TEACHERS—10/12/10
Significant dissatisfaction has been expressed by the Jamaica Teachers’ Association Salaries and Conditions of Service Committee following a ruling by the Industrial Dispute Tribunal (IDT). The IDT ruled that the government should pay half of the $1 billion the teachers expected. The teachers’ organization is reviewing the ruling with its attorneys and will refer the issue to a meeting of its Central Executive for further discussion on October 22, 2010.
SAMUDA SEEKS INVESTORS IN U.S., EUROPE—10/13/10
Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce Karl Samuda is looking for additional investors in the United States and Europe after expressing dissatisfaction with the rate at which Chinese investors are responding to proposed development of the Kingston Port and Caymanas. Samuda has gained a promise of more than 600 additional jobs in the information and communication technology industry by 2013 during his trip to the U.S. in September 210.
ELECTRICITY GENERATION CAPACITY INCREASE TO COST BILLIONS—10/13/10
Expansion of the electricity generating capacity in Jamaica could result in costs of US$2.4 billion in additional expenses, if oil remains the major energy source. The Office of Utilities Regulations (OUR) believes that savings on fuel imports would be gained by a move to natural gas. However, it would have to spend additional billions to construct new plants over a 20-year period in order to continue “business as usual.”
ECONOMIC GROWTH EXPECTED TO BE SLOW—10/14/10
Economic growth in Jamaica between 2010 and 2015 is expected to be the 7th slowest growth rate in the world, according to a report from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The current economic lag will continue as Jamaica is expected to fall behind 143 other nations around the world in growth statistics. The projected growth rate per year to 2015 in Jamaica was estimated at 1.3 percent, or three times slower than the world economy, according to the IMF.
POLICE BULLDOZE ROADSIDE VENDING KIOSKS IN KINGSTON—10/15/10
Police in Kingston destroyed over 1,000 roadside vending stalls in the downtown area, leaving the street merchants angry and wondering how they will survive without their businesses. Authorities say the kiosk demolitions were a “security measure” related to the search for an alleged drug lord in May 2010. According to Terrence Bent, superintendent of police, the illegal vendors and their makeshift stalls caused “obstructions” that let others blend into the crowd and commit additional crimes. The vendors typically sell fruit, vegetables, and other goods. A 48-hour curfew was imposed in several areas.
———————————————–
JAMAICAN DIASPORA NEWS
———————————————–
TEXAS STUDENTS MARCH IN PARADE AT CARIBFEST—10/09/10
Caribfest launched with a parade around the campus of Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls and featured traditional Jamaican and other Caribbean foods prepared by students. Island dancing was also part of the fun. Money raised by the event goes to local charities.
JAMAICAN ATHLETE SHINES AT TRINITY—10/10/10
Jamaican football player Kyle Lewis led his team to victory over Birmingham Southern with 161 yards in rushing and two touchdowns. His performance helped Trinity overcome a two-game losing streak and represented a breakthrough for the senior running back, who is originally from Kingston. His father, Neil Lewis, is a politician in Jamaica.
FANS OF BANTON SEND PETITION TO U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL—10/11/10
Fans of Buju Banton, the Jamaican reggae star facing drug charges in Florida, want to collect 15,000 signatures on a petition for United States Attorney General Eric Holder. The petition urges Holder’s intervention in attempts to keep the musician in jail. Banton’s charge includes conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine. He has been jailed since December 2009. He is to be retried in December 2010 and has filed for bail, but prosecutors want him locked up until the new trial begins.
SHAW NOTES JAMAICA’S ECONOMIC PROGRESS—10/12/10
Audley Shaw, Jamaican Minister of Finance and the Public Service, says that since it resumed its program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Jamaica has seen significant economic progress. He made his observation at a J.P. Morgan Investor Seminar in Washington D.C. The past three years have shown “unquestioned” progress in the economic sector, says Shaw.
————————————————-
CARIBBEAN NEWS SUMMARY provided by Caribbeantopnews.com
————————————————-
PENN RECEIVES CLINTON DONATION FOR HAITI—10/09/10
CURRENCY WAR COULD MAKE PROBLEMS FOR CARIBBEAN—10/10/10
CURACAO AND ST. MAARTEN BECOME AUTONOMOUS NATIONS—10/11/10
CRUISE SHIPS SCATTER DUE TO HURRICANE PAULA—10/12/10
CANADIAN GOVERNMENT AIDS CARIBBEAN IN NATURAL DISASTERS—10/13/10
BARBADOS URGES COORDINATED APPROACH TO TOURISM—10/14/10
———————————————–
BUSINESS NEWS SUMMARY
———————————————–
HEALTH TOURISM COULD BE BOON TO JAMAICAN ECONOMY—10/09/10
Dr. Ernest Madu, top Jamaican cardiologist, believes that many of the island’s health and economic difficulties could be resolved if there were an appropriate infrastructure to support health tourism in Jamaica. Dr. Madu says that Jamaica is not reaping the benefits from patients looking for health care outside of their home countries. Health tourism represents a booming market, and Jamaica should consider enhancing its infrastructure to take advantage of it.
TOURISM OFFICIAL WANTS TO FIND NEW WAYS TO ATTRACT VISITORS—10/10/10
Ricky Skerritt, new head of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association, is encouraging the Caribbean nations to create new strategies to attract visitors during the global economic recovery. Skerritt said the region must offer new services at the world-class level to compete with other tourist destinations around the world.
JAMAICAN BANKS DOWNPLAY FINDINGS ON FEES—10/11/10
Commercial banks in Jamaica are downplaying the findings of the Consumer Affairs Commission and noting their efforts to encourage customers to use cost-effective means of accessing available services. The Commission found that the banks had imposed massive fee increases on clients. First Global Bank was found to be the bank with the highest level of fee increases in the report.
SAMUDA SUPPORTS MICRO ENTERPRISES—10/12/10
Karl Samuda, Jamaican Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, says that he will place a greater focus on micro enterprises. Samuda believes these entities have been ignored as more attention has been given to small and medium-sized businesses. Ninety percent of the businesses in Jamaica are small or medium-sized enterprises, with most involved in the distribution and services industries. The Jamaica Business Development Center is working to enhance innovation among micro businesses, however. These form the base of the economy, says Samuda.
—————————————————–
TECHNOLOGY NEWS SUMMARY
—————————————————–
CARIBBEAN WORKERS DISTRACTED BY SOCIAL NETWORKS—10/09/10
According to the website CaribbeanJobs.com, 70 percent of workers in the Caribbean who have online access at their jobs use social media during work hours. Of those, 99 percent use Facebook. Thirty percent of the workers surveyed said they spend between 30 minutes to two hours every day on social networks during their working hours. Fifty percent of the workers surveyed believed they were as productive as before they began using social media, while seven percent said they were more productive.
FIBER OPTIC CABLE TO LINK CUBA, VENEZUELA, JAMAICA—10/10/10
An undersea fiber optic cable costing some $70 million will link Cuba and Venezuela, and Jamaica will being operations in July 2011. According to Cuban media, the project involves laying two pairs of submarine cable over 3,320 miles. The program will significantly increase Cuba’s connectivity capacity.
SOCIAL MEDIA USED TO PROMOTE JAMAICAN TOURISM—10/11/10
The Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) is using social media and technology to market and promote Jamaica as a premier tourist destination. The latest program is “Pon Di Road Jamaica,” a web series that airs on YouTube, a popular video-sharing site. It shows the adventures of newlyweds as the visit local attractions in Jamaica.
PUERTO RICO, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC TO USE CABLE TO FIGHT DRUGS—10/13/10
Leonel Fernandez, president of the Dominican Republic, and Luis Fortuno, governor of Puerto Rico, plan to use a submerged cable in the Caribbean to help fight drug trafficking in the region, as well as to enhance an energy integration project. The two nations have agreed on mutual strategies to make both these initiatives more efficient, which will benefit both countries.
————————–
SPORTS
————————–
ROACH MISSES OUT ON MEDAL AT 2010 COMMONWEALTH GAMES—10/10/10
Jamaican heptathlete Peaches Roach lost her change at a medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Roach lost critical points in her 200-meter and javelin performances. She finished fourth overall, just 61 points behind the third-place finisher, Grace Clements of the United Kingdom.
TAYLOR LEADS WINDIES TO VICTORY OVER SRI LANKA—10/11/10
Jamaican Stefanie Taylor kept her form with another half-century and led the West Indies team to victory over Sri Lanka at the ICC Women’s Challenge. This was the Windies third straight victory at the games. Taylor, 19, stroked 68 to give the Windies a 166-1 off 28.4 overs.
JAMAICAN MEN GET SILVER IN RELAY—10/13/10
Jamaica received a silver medal in the men’s relay, bringing its total to seven, at the Commonwealth Games in India. Total medal count for Jamaica included two gold medals, four silver, and one bronze. The relay team included Lerone Clarke, Lansford Spence, Rasheed Dwyer, and Remaldo Rose. They finished the 4×100 relay in 38.79 seconds.
JAMAICA READY TO HOST CRICKET TOURNEY—10/14/10
In spite of the heavy rains that plagued the island and caused flooding, cricket officials in Jamaica say the nation is ready to host the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) regional one-day championship. Dave Cameron, president of Kensington Club, says everything will be ready by opening day. The rains had been a concern for the event’s organizers.
—————————————————————-
DEVOTIONAL
—————————————————————-
“I Agree” But to What?
Whenever I install computer software, I am often presented with an end user licensing agreement (EULA) that requires my agreement and acceptance of the terms and conditions of use to continue. If I disagree, the installation is aborted. To make things easier, the software manufacturers provide the two selectable options at the end the agreement. In other words, I don’t have to read it to accept it and in truth be known, I take that option though I probably should read what I am accepting and agreeing to!
I was reminded of that as I stumbled upon a statement on the internet to the effect, “To most Christians the Bible is like a software license. Nobody actually reads it. They just scroll to the bottom and click ‘I agree.'” Once I got past my initial chuckle, it occurred to me that the author was right! For while some Christians profess to believe the Bible is the Word of God, far too many are ignorant of His claims and promises. Because we have not read “the agreement,” we do not know what has been promised to us and what we can draw upon. We do not know the parts that are our responsibility and the parts that are His. We need look no further than how we respond to life’s challenges. When we are confronted with these challenges, our initial response is to do the things God says we shouldn’t do. We worry, we fret, we complain, we take matters into our own hands and try to be God; all because we don’t know what is in the Book.
To be ignorant of God, who He is and what He is able to do, is to be in a bad place. It has devastating consequences. Through the prophet Hosea He declares, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6a), or as one translation puts it, “Destruction has overtaken my people because they have no knowledge.” Similarly, Isaiah, speaking for the Lord, warned the southern kingdom of Judah of a coming time of punitive devastation: “My people are gone into captivity for lack of knowledge” (Isaiah 5:13). This lack of knowledge was with respect to God and who He is (Hosea 4:1), and God punished that ignorance.
For us today, Christianity is a religion of instruction and knowledge is a prerequisite to identifying with the faith of the gospel (Jeremiah 31:31-34). Jesus declared that favor with God must involve instruction, reception, comprehension, and commitment (John 6:45). How can we receive, comprehend, and commit to the instructions if we haven’t read them? Speaking of which, have you read “the agreement” or did you simply go to the end and clicked “I agree”? I submit that to read it is to find a treasure trove of instructions that will make navigating our time here on earth more manageable. Give it a genuine try and see how it transforms your life.
—————————————————————–
CREDITS/SOURCES
—————————————————————–
The weekly news is compilation of new articles from top Caribbean and Jamaican news sources.
jamarch
