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Jamaica Information Service
for General Distribution
Top News in the Print Media: The JIS, The Gleaner & The
Jamaica Observer
From the Public Relations Department
Tuesday February 5, 2008
CRIMINAL PROBE URGED
The Observer: Contractor-General
Greg Christie says that there is evidence suggesting "a
very strong inference of an unlawful criminal conspiracy
and corruption" in the award of contracts for the
installation of free Cuban light bulbs under the
controversial 4m Project initiated by the previous
Government.
The contractor-general based his assertion on what he
described as "very serious and far-reaching allegations"
made against former Minister of State for Industry,
Technology, Energy and Commerce, Kern Spencer, by two
drivers employed to the project.
'I'M NOT WORRIED' - KERN
The Gleaner: Embattled politician Kern Spencer is
contending that aspects of the Contractor General's
report on the controversial Cuban light-bulb programme
will not stand up to scrutiny.
The Contractor General's report points to Spencer's
babymother and his daughter's grandmother being actively
involved in the distribution. Spencer, however, denies
cronyism.
PNP YOUTH ARM TO REVIEW APPRAISAL REPORT
The Gleaner: A review committee has been set up by the
People's National Party Youth Organisation (PNPYO) to
examine the post-general election appraisal report which
was commissioned by the People's National Party (PNP).
Discussion on recommendations in the Meeks report was
one of the main items on the agenda at last Saturday's
PNPYO's national council meeting.
"We have decided to set up a committee to review the
Meeks report after which we will send a formal response
to the party," Leo Osbourne, the organisation's general
secretary told The Gleaner yesterday.
SPOT MARKET
WEIGHTED AVERAGE RATE
CURRENCY
PURCHASES
SALES
US$
71.4239
71.7999
CAN$
69.7694
71.8107
GB£
139.1314
141.4299
LAWYERS CLARIFY PETITION AGAINST VAZ
The Gleaner: Attorney-at-law Gayle Nelson made it clear
yesterday that the election petition, which People's
National Party candidate Abe Dabdoub has brought against
Member of Parliament Daryl Vaz, was not about dual
citizenship or dual nationality.
He said it was whether pursuant to the Constitution of
Jamaica, Vaz was qualified to be elected to the House of
Representatives.
Nelson who is representing Dabdoub asked Chief Justice
Zaila McCalla to take a special look at section 39 of
the Jamaican Constitution. He said the provisions of the
Constitution were calculated to exclude people with
allegiance or divided loyalty
TOURISM INDUSTRY HAILS DESMOND HENRY
The Observer: The tourism fraternity yesterday hailed
former Director of Tourism Desmond Henry who died on
Sunday, as "a tourism giant" who guided the Jamaica
Tourist Board (JTB) through one of its most difficult
periods.
Yesterday, Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett said
Henry's loss will be felt throughout Jamaica, and indeed
around the globe.
Bartlett noted that Henry set new standards in tourism
marketing, and paved the way for the successful
marketing of Jamaica as a total product.
UTECH AUDITORS BACK, BUT YET TO RESUME DUTIES
The Observer: The four University of Technology (UTech)
auditors who were sent on leave last week on allegations
of confidentiality breaches, returned to their place of
employment yesterday. But the four did not resume their
duties.
"They will be at work, they're just not going into their
office," said Danny Roberts, deputy island supervisor of
the National Workers Union (NWU), which represents the
UTech workers.
Roberts said the situation would not change until the
university publicly apologised to the four and
re-affirmed confidence in them.
COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT MUST BE CREATED FOR FORMAL
ECONOMY
Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley
Shaw, has said that the formal sector of the economy
urgently need to be strengthened as for too long this
sector has been going into decline.
Mr. Shaw expressed the view that the growth of the
informal sector has led to a diminishing of discipline
in the workplace, while manufacturing as a percentage of
Gross Domestic Product has moved from 20 per cent down
to some13 per cent. In addition, he said, employment
within the manufacturing sector has moved from
approximately 150,000 to an estimated half of that
number of persons.
COLLABORATIVE GOVERNANCE DEMANDS REGULATION WITHOUT
FEAR OR FAVOUR - DR. DAVIES
Opposition Spokesman on Finance, Dr. Omar Davies, has
expressed the view that a collaborative approach to
governance is the way forward, as this will guarantee
the process of growth and development of the country in
a dynamic global environment.
Addressing participants in a session on the second day
of the Jamaica Stock Exchange Investment and Capital
Markets four-day Conference at the Rose Hall Resort and
Country Club in Montego Bay recently, Dr. Davies noted
that for this process to be effective, the principal
actors such as; members of the public or clients,
professionals or special interest groups, regulators,
the media and members of the political directorate, all
have specific critical roles to play.
GG DECLARES FEBRUARY 6 - MARCH 4 PEACE MONTH
The Violence Prevention Alliance (VPA) will observe
February 6 to March 4 as Peace Month, under the theme:
‘Peace for Prosperity.’
Governor General, His Excellency the Most. Hon.
Professor Sir Kenneth Hall, read the proclamation to
formally declare the month of observance, during a brief
ceremony at King’s House
In delivering the proclamation, Sir Kenneth, who is
patron of the VPA, said that violence continued to be a
serious problem that plagued Jamaica. He called for
initiatives to effectively address the problem, noting
that it is not sufficient just to acknowledge it.
Sir Kenneth noted that the VPA’s work in this regard,
“indicates the complexity of the initiatives and the
interventions that are needed to address the problem,”
and pledged his continued support for the group’s
efforts.
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COMMENTARY
Tuesday February 5, 2008
THE OBSERVER
WHY THIS ANIMOSITY TOWARDS PROFESSOR VASCIANNIE?
Professor Stephen Vasciannie must have wronged somebody
in this Government in a previous life. For little else
can explain what appears to be the genesis of a campaign
to deny him the opportunity to serve his country.
The issue of the Government's objections to the Public
Service Commission's (PSC's) recommendation that
Professor Vasciannie be appointed solicitor-general has
been well ventilated in the media.
Quite frankly, we see very little merit in the argument
advanced by the attorney-general about the strength of
Professor Vasciannie's litigation skills, given our
understanding that such skills, while necessary, are not
the most important required for the job.
In fact, we have been reliably informed that Professor
Vasciannie's strengths in other areas of law, which are
vital to this position, supersede those of the other
deputy solicitors-general who had applied for the job.
That, plus his administrative skills and other assets,
we are told, influenced the recommendation of the now
fired members of the PSC.
As we have said before in this space, the Government has
handled this issue poorly and should not, therefore,
expect anyone to swallow its charge of misbehaviour by
the PSC in the case regarding Mr Lackston Robinson as
the reason for the dismissal of the PSC members.
For it is clear to us that there is some degree of
animosity towards Professor Vasciannie inside the
administration. The reason, as far as we can detect, is
still a mystery, as we refuse to believe that his
criticism of Mr Bruce Golding's return to the Jamaica
Labour Party is at the root of this reluctance to work
with the professor.
This is simply not the way of Prime Minister Golding
who, on assuming office last September, stated
unequivocally that his administration will only have a
problem with civil servants when they are not performing
their jobs.
We therefore find it troubling that this Government
could so abruptly drop Professor Vasciannie from the
chair of the Air Policy Committee.
Professor Vasciannie, as we reported in this week's
Sunday Observer, succeeded Dr Kenneth Rattray in 2005
and has done what many in the civil service have
acknowledged was an excellent job on a committee which
offers no financial rewards.
Under his watch, the committee has completed and signed
air services agreements with the United Kingdom, Chile,
and Brazil. An agreement negotiated with Mexico in June
2007 is awaiting signature, and the committee had also
started a new round of talks with the UK regarding
amendments to the existing agreement.
The committee had also completed two rounds of
negotiations with the Federal Republic of Germany
towards an agreement that will reflect aspects of
European Union policies on air transportation; was set
to enter into negotiations with Spain for an agreement,
and had explored possible talks with South Africa.
The permanent secretary in the Ministry of Transport and
Works, Mr Alwin Hales, in his letter informing Professor
Vasciannie of the termination of his service, thanked
the professor for his "tremendous contribution to the
development of Jamaica's air policy". Mr Hales went
further, saying that he was confident that the work done
by Professor Vasciannie "will be a pillar on which the
new committee will be able to build".
That is not the kind of commendation that is given to
someone who is being axed for doing a poor job. The
administration therefore needs to tell the country why
it has taken these decisions on Professor Vasciannie. Is
it that the prime minister, the chief servant, believes
that he is above criticism, or is it that his underlings
hold that view?
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THE GLEANER
NO PLACE FOR NAIVETY, MR SHAW
We appreciate the need of government ministers to
espouse confidence and to gee up people in the face of
difficulty.
There is, however, sometimes a thin line between
confidence building and foolhardiness bordering on
arrogance, of which we would advise Audley Shaw, the
minister of finance, to be aware. If the minister is not
cognisant of this, he runs the risk of encouraging
complacency in the face of danger.
Take Minister Shaw's speech at last week's capital
markets conference in Montego Bay, put on by the Jamaica
Stock Exchange, at which he addressed the possibility of
the American economy heading into recession. That has
been a bad issue for most of the rest of the world. For
despite the growing power of China and India and the
others of the BRICs, Brazil and Russia, the United
States remains the global economic engine. A slowdown in
America usually causes the rest of the world to sputter.
Mr. Shaw, it appears, has no such worries for Jamaica.
An American recession, he argues, provides opportunities
for Jamaica and will have little or no impact on
Jamaica's growth forecast of between two and three per
cent in the next fiscal year.
Maintaining the growth target is not our issue of
concern per se, or even M. Shaw's overall analysis of
the situation and what this country might gain from an
American slowdown. For, on the face of it, recession in
the US could ease demand for oil and other commodities
that are heavily imported by Jamaica. This could mean a
fall in the price of oil and other products, with the
impact of moderating inflation in Jamaica.
But that, as Mr. Shaw should be aware, is only one side
of the economic equation. There is another, which we
believe Mr. Shaw addressed with far too much naivety.
It is true that the opening of several Spanish-owned
hotels in Jamaica over the past three years has followed
with a rise in the aggregate number of tourists from
Europe. But it remains a fact that around 70 per cent of
Jamaica's stopover visitors come from the United States.
When people feel poorer, as in times of recession, among
the first things they are likely to give up are foreign
holidays. Mr. Shaw acknowledges as much, except that he
does not believe Jamaica is the place to which American
tourists may not come.
According to Minister Shaw's analysis, with more shallow
pockets as well as being burdened with the psychology of
recession and a weaker dollar, Americans will most
likely shelve their holidays to expensive European
destinations. They will stay closer to home, travelling
to cheaper destinations like Jamaica - as if Jamaica is
all that cheap.
So, looked at through the prism of Audley Shaw, an
American recession may just be what is needed by Jamaica
to jump-start its economy.
In some respects, Mr. Shaw's optimism is refreshing. He
will perhaps cite it as his capacity to think outside
the box. All of which, of course, is very good.
However, we would prefer an optimism overlaid by a good
measure of realism. Like the fact that tourism is
Jamaica's major 'export' earner and a serious analysis
of what is likely if the biggest market goes soft. Or
what the impact will be on remittances if Jamaicans in
America lose their jobs. Hard stuff, Mr. Shaw.
The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not
necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond
to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com
or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400
words. Not all responses will be published.
The Jamaica Information Service web site address
is www.jis.gov.jm.
Telephone: (876) 926-3740-8 / 926-3590-8, Fax: (876)
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