NEWS

President: Youth has power to make a difference

President Paula Mae Weekes told graduates of the Duke of Edinburgh Awards they have the power to confront unparalled challenges as they would, one day, hold the reigns of power and have to make vital decisions. She outlined challenges such as the pressures of social media, rampant criminal activity and the alarmingly fast rate of environmental degradation.” She said those challenges, “must be tackled by today’s youths who will one day hold the reign of power in this country and make the decisions that matter.” Read more here

Big bands to blank Chaguanas mas

Large bands have blanked Ch­agua­nas Car­ni­val 2020 Car­ni­val Tues­day cel­e­bra­tions. This word comes from Or­lan­do Nages­sar, the chair­man of the Ch­agua­nas Car­ni­val Com­mit­tee (CCC). He was at the time speak­ing with Guardian Me­dia fol­low­ing a meet­ing with com­mit­tee mem­bers on Fri­day. Nages­sar said this was be­cause of the small prize monies the CCC was of­fer­ing. He said two big bands, Dan­zo Bal­roop’s Chase Vil­lage Car­ni­val and Wat­ap Pro­mo­tions, have in­di­cat­ed to the com­mit­tee that they would not be com­ing to Ch­agua­nas be­cause the venue is no longer eco­nom­i­cal­ly vi­able. Nages­sar said the CCC can on­ly give what it can af­ford as prize monies. Nages­sar said the CCC does not know how much the NCC would give the com­mit­tee this year. He said the CCC re­ceived a to­tal of $200,000 in fund­ing from the NCC and the busi­ness com­mu­ni­ty. He said in 2019 there was a dras­tic down­fall in the amount of funds the pri­vate sec­tor pumped in­to cel­e­bra­tions. He said 2020 would not be bet­ter. He said in or­der to fill the void on Car­ni­val Tues­day the CCC plans a Tas­sara­ma show along with live en­ter­tain­ment. Nages­sar said he was hope­ful that the new May­or Van­dana Mo­hit would be able to lob­by the busi­ness com­mit­tee to get some bad­ly need­ed cash. Nages­sar said be­cause of the short­age of funds there would be no spe­cial treat­ment for very im­por­tant per­sons. Read more here

POLITICS

Ministry: St Philip’s Govt Primary School parents satisfied with relocation

Parents of students attending the St Philip’s Government Primary School are now satisfied after being relocated to the Catholic Religious Education Development Institute (CREDI) says the Ministry of Education. The CREDI building was used to house the former Belmont Boys’ RC Primary school in September, 2018 after that school's building was condemned by the Ministry of Works and Transport. In a release on Friday, Education Minister Anthony Garcia said St Philip's principal reported that parents were satisfied with their new location, saying the CREDI compound was large and well maintained and students had adequate space for recreational activities. Read more here

Don’t judge us by murder rate alone

As the PNM ad­min­is­tra­tion pre­pares to ask the pop­u­la­tion for a sec­ond term in of­fice, Prime Min­is­ter Dr Kei­th Row­ley is ask­ing that cit­i­zens not judge his ad­min­is­tra­tion sole­ly on the out of con­trol mur­der rate even though he ad­mit­ted that his gov­ern­ment has not been suc­cess­ful on crime. Run­away crime has been one of the fail­ings that have tar­nished the PNM ad­min­is­tra­tion’s record of of­fice with more than 2000 cit­i­zens be­ing killed un­der their watch. Since the PNM took of­fice in 2015, mur­ders moved from 463 in 2016 to 538 in 2019. Last year’s fig­ure rep­re­sent­ed the sec­ond high­est mur­der toll in this coun­try’s his­to­ry. Al­though Dr Kei­th Row­ley is op­ti­mistic that cit­i­zens will no­tice re­sults in the com­ing weeks and months, he al­so be­lieves the en­tire coun­try is un­der­es­ti­mat­ing the chal­lenge posed by crim­i­nals. “It would not be fair to the gov­ern­ment to be mea­sured by this sit­u­a­tion that didn’t arise overnight, and is not a fea­ture of this ad­min­is­tra­tion,” Dr Row­ley said. Read more here

BUSINESS

Central banks close excess reserve of $5.3b

Open Market Operations (OMO) and Debt Auction (DA) OMO/DA maturities totalled $819 million last week, compared to zero the previous week. The next OMO/DA maturities will be in February 2020. Read more here

REGIONAL

‘Satan Was In Him’ - Killer Soldier Opened Up To Confidante About Stormy Relationship

Despite the pleas for patience and restraint by a motherlike, elderly woman to whom he often turned for counsel, Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) Corporal Doran McKenzie defied her earnest appeal moments before gulping down a final drink, intoxicated with deadly anger. Giving her name as Miss Fayth, the confidante said that McKenzie had often vowed that he would slay his practical nurse partner, Suianne Easy, citing infidelity grievances. But the bartending counsellor said that she thought that she had outed the fiery rage flickering in his eyes during their final rap session on Saturday night. “I don’t know what happen to him last night. Satan stand up in a him last night, not God. Satan was there with him last night,” she told The Gleaner during an interview in the 4 West community of Greater Portmore, St Catherine. Read more here

Region 1 AREO concerned about disunity

Assistant Regional Executive Officer (AREO) of the Moruca Sub-Region in Region 1, Rennita Williams, has expressed concern that disunity among officials in the region has been hampering development. According to Williams, who oversees four programmes in the Moruca sub-Region: Education, Health, Administration and Public Works, the sub-region is highly political and because the discord begins at the regional level and is politically motivated, there is constant criticism that no development is taking place. This, she said, is far from the truth, noting that a lot of developmental projects have been executed with some still ongoing in the sub-region, where she is tasked with ensuring that the programmes are executed and run efficiently, as well as monitoring the spending of the sub-region’s budget. Read more here

INTERNATIONAL

Philippines warns of 'explosive eruption' after Taal Volcano spews ash near Manila

Philippine authorities have urged a "total evacuation" of nearly half a million people near the capital Manila, after a volcano spewed ash up to nine miles (14 kilometers) into the air Sunday prompting warnings of a possible "explosive eruption." The Taal Volcano, about 37 miles (60 kilometers) south of the capital Manila on the island of Luzon, is one of the country's most active. Images from the scene on Monday showed streams of lava beginning to gush out the volcanic vent, the sky above still thick and dark with ash and steam. Read more here

Hevrin Khalaf: Death of a peacemaker

A BBC Arabic investigation has uncovered compelling evidence suggesting the Syrian-Kurdish political leader, Hevrin Khalaf, was executed by a faction of the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army. Rebel group Ahrar al-Sharqiya, which fights for the SNA, is accused of her murder, but has told the BBC it is not responsible for the politician's death. Read more here

13th January 2020

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