Over the past week, two parliamentarians made comments regarding agriculture that caught my attention. First, Agriculture Minister Audley Shaw said he was looking for avenues to enable farmers to get cheaper loans. Then, Ronald Thwaites bemoaned the fact that children continue to consume empty-caloried, sugary products and wished for the day when the agricultural sector …
POPULAR STAR counsellor and pastor, Aaron Dumas, came under fire last week for advice he gave to a young woman who wrote to him for help in deciding whether to tell her sister that the man she was about to marry had raped her four years ago. Pastor Dumas had offered that the timing of …
In 1976, Pearnel Charles Sr was placed in detention at Up Park Camp. My mother was livid. There were days when I thought she was going to abandon her job as a principal and leave Brown’s Town for Kingston to free him herself. Each morning she would wonder aloud whether he had received his breakfast. …
The Reverend Aaron Dumas has come under fire for advice he gave to a young woman who claims she was raped five years ago. The rapist was her sister’s boyfriend and babyfather, and they are about to be married. Dumas thinks the delay in reporting the matter was a missed opportunity and it was unwise …
I would like to support the position taken by Peter Espeut and others about the decision to locate the new Parliament building at Heroes Park. When I heard of this plan to build a new Parliament building, I envisioned it being located on lands between East and Duke streets – in the Jamintel area or …
I like Audley Shaw. His enthusiasm is infectious. For several reasons, I would like him to do well in his new portfolio. Long ago, sections of Jamaica were declared the ‘Green Belt’. This area was intended to be available for agricultural pursuits and nothing else. In St Catherine alone, there were 30 dairies. Old Harbour …
THE EDITOR, Sir: The perenniaL problem of fees for tertiary education has again surfaced. Law students at the UWI have been told that they cannot sit exams if they are not current with their payments. Many of our problems have been with us for decades. We know that most of them won’t just go away. …
The year was 1980. I was director for a one-year, NGO-funded project that required me to travel to some deep-rural parts of the country. One day, I came upon a school and decided to visit. Just outside the school were two modern houses, both unoccupied. On entering the school compound, I saw a group of …
I can understand perfectly the emotions that Patria-Kaye Aarons (‘119 fails again’, Gleaner, April 24, 2018) experienced with that 119 crew. But at her age and stage, she should know not to waste time calling these numbers. I was taking a worker to hospital. He was beaten within an inch of his life because thieves …
THE EDITOR, Sir: Our Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships cannot be bested as the supreme event of its kind internationally. But there are still some things that need to be addressed, including the mystery of disappearing tickets that reappear later at twice the price, before the organisers can truly claim that the management is world-class. …
