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EDITORIAL - What, really, are agro-parks?

KINGSTON, Jamaica - Agro-parks must be good things. Roger Clarke, the agriculture minister, talks about them a lot. So, too, does Peter Phillips, the finance minister. Indeed, in these hard economic times, in which he is facing the strictures of the International Monetary Fund, Dr Phillips is allowing the agriculture minister to spend more than J$1 billion on these parks. Both men believe that the agro-parks, eight of which are supposed to be established by the Government, will be transformational.

Post-IMF ‘hard work’ and challenges

KINGSTON, Jamaica - When Dr Peter Phillips announced the approval of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) deal as he wrapped up the annual Budget Debate last week, many in the House and across the nation were happy - the ecstasy had waned by then. Dr Phillips, who earned respect by the way he handled the negotiating process, must be congratulated for getting the deal done, and warding off some of the harsher conditions while lengthening some timelines. He did not linger at happiness.

Jamaica, US to sign agreement on FATCA

KINGSTON, Jamaica - The Jamaican Government and the United States (US) are expected to sign an agreement by July aimed at endorsing a new hegemony tax act called the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), which requires local financial institutions to rat out US account holders. Concurrently, a government working group is seeking to get a number of institutions exempted from FATCA compliance based on their low risk. "Our intention is to protect our financial institutions by signing the agreement by the end of July this year, have financial institutions registered and assigned ...

PM opts out of regional airline talks

KINGSTOWN—The shareholder governments of regional airline, LIAT, will meet in Barbados today, but a planned meeting in Bridgetown with T&T’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar will not materialise, Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves has said. He told a news conference his T&T counterpart was unable to attend the meeting because Parliament would be meeting on the same day. Gonsalves, who serves as chairman of the shareholders, said the meeting with Persad-Bissessar would have dealt with ongoing concerns with the T&T-owned Caribbean Airlines (CAL).

State visits amplify Obama focus on Latin America, Caribbean

KINGSTON, Jamaica - Keeping a keen eye south of the border, the Obama administration is intensifying its engagement with Latin America, hosting leaders from a pair of presidents at the White House and sending Vice President Joe Biden to visit two others. Peru's President Ollanta Humala and Chile's President Sebastian Pinera will travel to Washington in June to meet with President Barack Obama, the White House said Wednesday. And next week, Biden will make stops in Brazil and Colombia, plus the Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago.:

Reparations debate needs to be settled

KINGSTON, Jamaica - SIR Hilary Beckles' recently published book, Britain's Black Debt, has returned to the spotlight the burning issue of reparations.
Launched last Thursday at the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies, the book definitively establishes that there is a case to be answered by providing detailed historical evidence of slavery.

Gov’t to discuss Air J fallout with CAL team

KINGSTON, Jamaica - A high-level team from Trinidad and Tobago is to arrive in the island in a few weeks to hammer out an arrangement with the Jamaican Government over recent actions relating to Caribbean Airlines (CAL), including the carrier's plan to drastically reduce flights to Jamaica.

Jamaica, T&T and Barbados placed on Intellectual Property Watch List

KINGSTON, Jamaica - JAMAICA is among 30 trading partners of the United States of America placed on a 2013 Intellectual Property Watch List, described as "meriting bilateral attention to address underlying Intellectual Property Rights problems". It joins Barbados, Belarus, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Finland, Greece, Guatemala, Israel, Italy, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines, Romania, Tajikistan, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

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