May 08
“The paper notes that Jamaica remains one of the most highly indebted countries in the world, and that its interest payments as a percent of GDP were higher than anywhere else in the world in 2011, including even crisis-stricken countries in the eurozone. Jamaica’s large debt burden has displaced most other public expenditures, taking up almost 50 percent of total budgeted spending over the last four fiscal years while health and education have been only around 20 percent combined.”
Click here for CEPR report
Jan 06
Jobs, transparency, inclusiveness, respectfulness, full accession to the Caribbean Court of Justice and Jamaica to become a Republic are among the commitments made by Jamaica’s new Prime Minister in her inaugural address on January 5, 2012.
Jan 04
One of the journalists posing questions to the two panels of young politicians in the first debate of the Jamaican election pursued all six young leaders for radical solutions, in vain. I still hope that this emergent generation of politicians represented by both panelists has some radical ideas, but that we did not get them …
Jan 02
In this pre-election commentary, Dr Michael Witter of the UWI outlined an agenda of economic policy, social policy and governance policy that a new Jamaican government should address.
Dec 30
The economy, relations with Caricom, the CCJ and Jamaica as a Republic are three issues to be faced by the new Jamaican government.
Dec 15
Following is the link to an article published in the New Yorker Magazine (December 12 2011) on the operation by Jamaican security forces in May 2010 to execute an extradition order against now convicted drug lord Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke, which resulted in over 70 civilian deaths. it comes at a time when the Jamaican government has confirmed that a U.S. military plane provided intelligence to the forces on the ground during the operation. Jamaican civil society organisations have long campaigned for an independent enquiry into the deaths.
Most cemeteries replace the illusion of life’s permanence with another illusion: the permanence of a name carved in stone. Not so May Pen Cemetery, in Kingston, Jamaica, where bodies are buried on top of bodies, weeds grow over the old markers, and time humbles even a rich man’s grave…
Nov 21
It has been suggested that as much as 70 percent of Jamaica’s public debt may be illegitimate. The following is a list of twenty-one questionable projects and dealings which need investigation. It is by no means exhaustive, but there is a pattern which suggests recklessness and lack of accountability for the spending of public funds…
Nov 05
Webmaster’s note: as Jamaica faces yet another round of austerity measures in a desperate attempt to get back on track with its latest IMF programme, a call has been made for debt repudiation backed up by an audit of its national debt. While we do not agree with everything in Lloyd D’Aguilar’s article, we share the view that a rebuilding of Jamaica’s shattered social infrastructure and the achievement of sustained economic growth will not be possible without substantial debt restructuring to reduce the crippling burden of its national debt on the public finances and on the national economy.
Watch Debtocracy–the acclaimed documentary on the causes of the Greek debt crisis and its solutions, that you won’t hear about from the corporate media.
Oct 20
T started off with fewer than 2,000 young people about four weeks ago, and in a flash it has mushroomed into a global movement. “Occupy Wall Street” is now “Occupy Together” as the common chords of injustice, greed and exploitation have found resonance with people all over the world…
Oct 06
Jamaicans United for Sustainable Development (JUSD) look forward to what appears to be the inevitable confirmation of MP Andrew Holness as the next Party Leader and Prime Minister of Jamaica. ..
