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Stories by Daraine Luton

Your pound of flesh...but there will be blood

Published:Sunday | June 7, 2015 | 12:00 AMDaraine Luton

Assuming Horace Dalley's disclosure that every percentage increase in wage offered to public sector workers would cost $1.2 billion, it seems that the Government will have to engage in either a massive tax package to raise the funds to prevent the...

Toothless Lion... MP says PAAC should be given real support

Published:Wednesday | June 3, 2015 | 4:50 PMDaraine Luton

A Jamaican legislator has described Parliament's major oversight committee - the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC) - as a toothless lion and has called for the creation of an entity to allow it to better fight against...

Bauxite funds depleted

Published:Tuesday | June 2, 2015 | 12:00 AMDaraine Luton

The Capital Development Fund (CDF), which represents the country's earning from bauxite levy, has been depleted to $5.8 million, and many communities that have given up their red gold now feel cheated.Richard Parchment, member of parliament (MP) for...

China owns almost half Jamaica's debt to foreign governments

Published:Tuesday | June 2, 2015 | 12:00 AMDaraine Luton

Jamaica is indebted to foreign governments and agencies to the tune of $53.9 billion, nearly half of which is owed to China.Financial statements tabled in the House of Representatives last week by Finance Minister Dr Peter Phillips indicate that $24...

Bunting asks cops to hold strain and return to bargaining table

Published:Tuesday | June 2, 2015 | 12:00 AMDaraine Luton

Stating that the country's economic recovery and security could be put at grave risk if the Government misses established wage targets, Jamaica's national security minister yesterday appealed to the Police Federation to return to the bargaining...

Open bauxite pits swallowing animals alive

Published:Monday | June 1, 2015 | 12:00 AMDaraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter

Robert Brooks gazed into a wide open, rugged pit at Johnson Bottom in North Central Clarendon. A few decades ago, the area was a hive of mining activity. Bulldozers, backhoes and trucks were engaged to rip the ore from the earth, the aim being to...

'We won't evict' - Guy says Windsor Heights residents will not be removed

Published:Sunday | May 31, 2015 | 12:00 AMDaraine Luton

DESPITE THE deadline for residents of Windsor Heights, St Catherine, to pay for the lands they have occupied free of cost for decades, the Government has said it has no plans to evict the occupiers from the lands.Dr Morais Guy, minister without...

Bill passed to unlock estates

Published:Wednesday | May 27, 2015 | 12:00 AMDaraine Luton

The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a bill to empower the administrator general to distribute assets worth millions of dollars to beneficiaries of deceased persons more easily.Attorney General Patrick Atkinson, who piloted the bill to...

Davies labels Charles an 'irrelevant relic' ...Forced to withdraw comment by House Speaker

Published:Tuesday | May 26, 2015 | 12:00 AMDaraine Luton

Seventy-nine-year-old parliamentarian Pearnel Charles was yesterday labeled an "irrelevant relic" by Dr Omar Davies, 11 years his junior, as members of parliament crossed swords on the matter of state spending, during yesterday's sitting of the...

Windsor Heights residents beg for time to regularise land ownership

Published:Sunday | May 24, 2015 | 12:00 AMDaraine Luton

Occupiers of 1,250 lots in Windsor Heights, St Catherine, now face eviction from the properties many of them have called home for years because of their failure to agree to a payment schedule in order to remain on the lands.The Ministry of Transport...

Tell the People the Truth

Published:Sunday | May 24, 2015 | 12:00 AMDaraine Luton

During the Budget Debate, Finance Minister Dr Peter Phillips announced that the Government would be seeking to collect half a billion dollars from the rationalisation of outdated fee measures.That rationalisation is part of the revenue package which...

Shaw calls for official opening of Christiana bypass

Published:Tuesday | May 19, 2015 | 12:00 AMDaraine Luton

Audley Shaw wants the Christiana bypass in North East Manchester, which was held up by the People's National Party (PNP) as an example of poor use of taxpayers, to be officially opened.The one-kilometre road, which was constructed in 2011, cost...

Road at last! - Rio Grande Valley to get major infrastructure projects

Published:Thursday | May 21, 2015 | 12:00 AMDaraine Luton

After years of being in a state of disrepair, the Rio Grande Valley in Portland is to see major repairs to the roadway under the Chinese-funded Major Infrastructure Development Programme (MIDP).Transport, Works and Housing Minister Dr Omar Davies...

'If I were minister'... Shaw tells how he would treat wage dispute

Published:Tuesday | May 19, 2015 | 12:00 AMDaraine Luton

Arguing that the Government has been lukewarm in its approach to public-sector reform, the Opposition, Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), said that the reason a better wage offer cannot be made to...

Audley Shaw keen on increasing vote margin in North East Manchester

Published:Monday | May 18, 2015 | 12:00 AMDaraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter

CHRISTIANA, Manchester: Having seen his winning margin sliced dramatically in the last general elections,  North East Manchester Member of Parliament has told constituents that he needs his dominance restored. Shaw, referred to as a five-star...

It's time to toil, JLP MP tells Manchester supporters

Published:Sunday | May 17, 2015 | 12:00 AMDaraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter

CHRISTIANA, Manchester: South Trelawny Member of Parliament Marisa Dalrymple Philibert Sunday night delivered a sobering address to Labourites in Christiana, Manchester, telling them that hard work and unity are necessary for the Jamaica Labour...

Labourite urges parents to wear black in solidarity with protesting teachers

Published:Sunday | May 17, 2015 | 12:00 AMDaraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter

CHRISTIANA, Manchester: A Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) parish council aspirant has called for parents across the island to wear black and join teachers in their fight for increased wage. "Wear black because we need to ensure that the nation'...

Bush Fires Devastate St. Thomas Communities

Published:Thursday | May 14, 2015 | 12:00 AMDaraine Luton

Memry Edie was a nervous wreck Wednesday afternoon as she watched a massive bush fire draw closer and closer to her house which sits along the riverbank in Gordon Castle, Llandewey, St Thomas.For more than a week, the fire has been raging in the...

Martijn sad to leave Jamaica

Published:Wednesday | May 13, 2015 | 12:00 AMDaraine Luton

Outgoing head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission to Jamaica, Dr Jan Kees Martijn, says he is sad to leave Jamaica but expressed delight that the country's economic reform programme appears to be on track."I think Jamaica has made a lot...

'Missing IMF target is no big deal'

Published:Tuesday | May 12, 2015 | 12:00 AMDaraine Luton

The International Monetary Fund's (IMF) new chief of missions to Jamaica, Uma Ramakrishnan, said yesterday that the missing of the nominal primary surplus target by the country under its Extended Fund Facility is not a big deal.Jamaica missed the...

Higher wages would require lower spending - Phillips

Published:Tuesday | May 12, 2015 | 12:00 AMDaraine Luton

Finance Minister Dr Peter Phillips says the Government will have to cut back on other forms of spending in the economy if public sector workers are to get a higher wage increase than has been proposed by the State."We have to be able to ensure that...

Yes to CCJ - Gov't urges Opposition to cast aside party lines and vote for bill

Published:Tuesday | May 12, 2015 | 12:00 AMDaraine Luton

EVEN after seeing efforts to secure the parliamentary opposition's support of three bills that would pave the way for Jamaica to abolish appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy...

Not a big deal... IMF says Ja should pass eighth revew despite missed primary surplus target

Published:Tuesday | May 12, 2015 | 12:00 AMDaraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter

Despite a $4-billion shortfall in the nominal primary surplus target under the extended fund facility with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Fund’s staff team, which reviewed Jamaica’s performance, is to ...

The Gavel: Sectoral Debate - the bright and not-so-bright

Published:Monday | May 11, 2015 | 12:00 AMDaraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter

If there were doubts as to whether quality presentations can be made in the Sectoral Debate without members of parliament being on their feet for upwards of two hours, think again.The revamped debate, which ended last week, demonstrated that members...

'No independence in parliament' ...Parliament votes on the CCJ today

Published:Monday | May 11, 2015 | 3:50 PMDaraine Luton

Dr St Aubyn Bartlett recalls getting a piercing stare from Edward Seaga in 2003 after he abstained from voting on a bill that would eventually pave the way for Jamaica to join the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) in its original jurisdiction.With...

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