In terms of politics, 2020 could easily be described as the year of Andrew Holness and the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP). For leading the JLP to an epic landslide victory over Dr Peter Phillips and the People’s National Party (PNP) in the September 3 General Election, Holness firmly established himself as the most astute politician in the country. His profile had already been growing internationally in recent years.
Yet, for his handling of Jamaica’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which continues to be lauded around the world, the Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Christopher Tufton, could easily be named politician of the year. This is true, even with the Market Me controversy/scandal that threatened to tarnish his reputation and which, any discerning onlooker could see, had ruffled his feathers. Imagine being asked by a reporter during a live televised news conference whether you had cheated on your wife? Tufton’s “none of your business” response is now famous. To his
As we indicated more than a month ago, this newspaper welcomes the debate that has been triggered by the Government’s move to fulfil its manifesto promise of separating the municipality of Portmore from the parish of St Catherine and establish it as a parish in its own right. The effect would be to make Portmore, a sprawling community with a population of around 200,000, Jamaica’s 15th parish and 14th parochial government.
We appreciated the speed with which the administration moved on this matter after the September election. That ought to be the standard for all policy pledges – at least the good ones – although there is a suspicion that in this case, the urgency has something to do with the municipal elections that were to be held early next year, but have been delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic. Whenever that poll is held, with a spun-off Portmore it would mean that its 12 councillors would not, any longer, sit in the St Catherine Municipal Corporation, pre
Two highly rated Jamaican criminologists have thrown cold water on the Government’s latest gun amnesty initiative and are calling for a rethink of the current strategies employed by the security forces, if Jamaica is to see a reduction in serious crimes any time soon.
The national firearm recovery reward programme, ‘Stop the Killing … Get the Guns’, which is being managed by the Ministry of National Security, doles out $150,000 for information leading to the recovery of high-powered rifles and machine guns; $100,000 for automatic or semi-automatic pistols and shotguns; and $75,000 for revolvers.
According to Dennis Brooks, senior communication strategist in the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), 560 illegal guns have been recovered across the 19 police divisions between January 1 and November 28, 2020, an 11 per cent decline to the 620 seized over the corresponding period last year.