KINGSTON, Jamaica - Peter Phillips' public admission twice last week - of sovereign impotence in negotiating an economic support agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) - should be powerful motivation for us to finally fix Jamaica's economy. Further, the shame of the circumstance should be another reminder of the need for, if not a catalyst towards, change in our overly divisive and tribalist political discourse.
KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The Jamaica government is urging the private sector to support the initiative to develop the country’s global trans-shipment and logistics hub by taking advantage of the potential investment opportunities it provides. Industry, Investment and Commerce Minister, Anthony Hylton said the development presents diverse prospects for the growth and expansion of the local business environment, and Jamaica’s economy. “This initiative… is about positioning…Jamaica as a global asset, and the fourth node in the global logistics supply network.
KINGSTON, Jamaica - The jury is still out about our Jamaican psyche. Yes, we are fun people but are we builders of civilisation, spectators or players, minstrels or masters? Are we in charge of our fate, or zombies? This IMF thing has unleashed a spirit of fear and some desperation. We seem beholden to the IMF, yet it asks no obeisance. We speak in hushed tones as if the Lord is nigh; are our leaders in thrall to a body which has no armies, navies or soldiers? no trinkets to buy us, or prisons to incarcerate us?
KINGSTON, Jamaica - THIS week, as Jamaicans brace themselves for severe belt-tightening because of the accord to be signed between the Government and the IMF, two incumbent parties in the Eastern Caribbean will be struggling to avoid becoming one-term administrations. The governments facing this survival "political cliff" — while Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller's ruling People's National Party (PNP) struggles against its very challenging "fiscal cliff" — are those of Prime Minister Fruendel Stuart in Barbados and of his Grenadian counterpart Tillman Thomas.
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Observer- IT'S heavy — this $16 billion in new taxes being imposed on us by the Government. There is no doubt either that it will hurt most Jamaicans. After all, many of us, particularly PAYE workers, are already overtaxed. The fact, though, is that the Government has little choice, having participated in unrestrained borrowing and irresponsible fiscal policy of successive Administrations that have taken us to this sorry point in our history, with a debt of more than 140 per cent of gross domestic product.
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Observer - MINISTER of Agriculture and Fisheries Roger Clarke this week announced a $45-million crop production programme as part of the Government's drought-mitigation initiative for the sector. The programme, he said, will provide for the establishment of 645 hectares of select crops in 13 parishes to counter any shortfall in cash crops resulting from the severe dry conditions affecting the island.
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Gleaner - Visitor arrivals by air and sea hit a record 3.3 million in 2012, up 7.4 per cent year-on-year, according to newly released tourism data. Arrivals in 2011 amounted to 3.07 million. Tourist visits also hit the three million mark in 2006. The bulk of last year's increase came from cruise passenger growth, up 17 per cent, mainly due to the newest port in Trelawny, the Falmouth Cruise Pier, built over a year ago. Total visitors by sea amounted to 1.34 million.
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Observer - THE Opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) has chided the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for supporting what it described as the Government's 'scandalous raid' on the National Housing Trust (NHT) for $11 billion annually to fund the country's debt, as one of several new revenue measures announced in Parliament earlier this week. In the meantime, the Opposition said its legal team would be examining the legality of the decision to pull money from the NHT as well as that of some of the other recently announced tax measures.
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Gleaner - STAKEHOLDERS IN western Jamaica say Government must now provide the nation with a comprehensive growth package to complement the measures announced by Prime Minister Portia Simpson and her finance minister, Dr Peter Phillips, earlier this week.
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Gleaner - AMID THE hue and cry from sections of the society in response to a $16-billion tax package passed by Parliament this week, Finance Minister Dr Peter Phillips has urged Jamaicans to be guided by the country's economic reality as well as the global financial climate. "I think it important and I plead for the country and all the stakeholders to have a realistic understanding of the kind of world within which we operate," Phillips said.