KINGSTON, Jamaica - Jamaica can create a platform for economic growth by using the example of Barbados, which stood up to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and offered wage cuts as a viable alternative to the Fund's prescription of devaluation when the country almost ran out of international...

KINGSTON, Jamaica - For centuries we have been socialised that marijuana is destructive and harmful to our health. Astounding as that assertion is, it is true. During the 1970s the subject of the benefits of marijuana was first explored, since then not much has been done to advance this subject. The...

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Tuesday praised the Jamaica government over its economic policies and said the island’s economic reform programme remains strong. IMF Resident Representative, Bert van Selm, in a brief statement recalled that an IMF mission ...

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, CMC – The Trinidad-based Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) has confirmed six cases of the “Influenza A H1N1 Pandemic 09” in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, according to a statement issued by Chief Medical officer, Simon Keizer. Last week, classes at t...

KINGSTON, Jamaica - THE United States has welcomed Jamaica's support for the agreement between Washington and Moscow for the elimination of Syria's chemical weapons. America's position was related by US Ambassador to Jamaica Pamela Bridgewater in an interview with newspaper journalists ...

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC - Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller has assured supporters of the ruling People’s National Party (PNP) that her administration is working towards economic growth and national development, with job creation the target. Simpson Miller, who is also PNP President told hu...

KINGSTON, Jamaica - On September 17, the Bureau of the Heads of Government of the 15-nation Caribbean Community (CARICOM) discussed the decriminalisation of marijuana and its production for medicinal purposes. The discussion was prompted by the prime minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr Ra...

KINGSTON, Jamaica - An edited portion of Government MP Dr Dayton Campbell's contribution to the debate in Parliament on the motion to legalise marijuana. A third of Jamaicans have used ganja in any form and 30 per cent of Jamaicans have smoked marijuana with males reporting this three times mor...

KIGNSTON, Jamaica - THE bureau of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), at its recent meeting, decried disparaging comments by foreign financial and economic commentators. Why is CARICOM not getting respect for its economic policy? Nobody is obliged to assist anyone else, but the willingness to help is...

Kingston, Jamaica - The charismatic and visionary St Vincent Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves is working hard to put the issue of reparations for slavery on the map. Last week's first ever Regional Reparation Conference is an important initial step. Nobody pretends that the campaign to obtain rep...