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CONTENTS UNDILUTED pays tribute to John Maxwell by featuring two previous columns by him from the Hot Calaloo UNDILUTED archives:
Not just a book but an invitation to join the Goodwill
Revolution against an unfair, unjust and deceptive system that
keeps the world poor and without hope. Find out how you can join,
quit the rat race, and achieve a happier more meaningful life for
yourself and others through goodwill to all
--------------- 
For
the Life of Laetitia
by Trinidad -born Merle Hodge
Price: $10.54a wonderful book about a young girl in the Carribean, the first of her family to go to secondary school.
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March 2016
JLP
wins general elections in Ja
Andrew
Holness of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) has succeeded Portia
Simpson-Miller as Prime Minister. This came about because general
elections were held on
25 February 2016. The result was a narrow victory for the Jamaica Labour
Party, which won 32 of the 63 seats. Previouly the Portia Simpson-Miller
led PNP held 42 seats to the JLP’s 21. The 43-year old Holness previously
served as Prime Minister from October 2011 to January 5, 2012. He had
succeeded Bruce Golding as Prime Minister. The winning vote share of the Jamaica Labour Party was the lowest vote-share for a winning party since 1962, when the JLP won 50.0% of the vote.
644
T&T steel workers fired
A day after laid-off workers at ArcelorMittal won a wage dispute case
in the Industrial Court in Port of Spain, Trinidad, the multi-national
steel company has fired every
single employee. The company's Point Lisas plant has been closed and its 644 workers
sent home. The company gave several reasons why it was no longer
economical, in the short or long term, to carry on doing business in
Trinidad. It cited the increase in cheap steel from China and the international
decrease in steel prices as well as the plans locally to increase gas and
electricity prices, port rental, property tax and business levies as
reasons why the company could not sustain its business. The
employees have little to go home with as the company yesterday announced
it will be liquidating its assets and employees will lose their pensions
and gratuities but would be paid one month’s salary and their vacation.
Puerto
Rico bankruptcy goes before US Congress There was testimony before the US Congress on the human impact of
Puerto Rico's debt crisis and Congress was urged to act on clear solutions
to protect the 3.5 million Americans living on the island. At the
hearing, it was noted that:
Jamaica
leads C’bean countries on rights of children Jamaica has led Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries in how
effectively children can use the law to challenge violations of their
rights. In the first-ever global study on children’s access to justice
undertaken by the London-based Child Rights International network (CRIN)
showed that Belgium topped the 179 countries surveyed with 213 points out
of a maximum 261 while Equatorial Guinea placed last with a score of 30. CRIN’s director Veronica Yates points out that. “Access to
justice is about challenging the perception of children as just victims or
somehow less worthy of justice than adults. It is about recognising that
children, like adults, have human rights and that when these rights are
infringed they should be able to trust and use the legal system to get
justice.” The research takes into account whether children can bring lawsuits
when their rights are violated, the legal resources available to them, the
practical considerations for taking legal action, and whether judges apply
international law on children’s rights in their rulings Jamaica
is the highest placed CARICOM country at 65, with a score of 154.5
followed by Grenada at position 90 with a score of 137 Ranking
Caribbean crime
stats among highest worldwide
ALTHOUGH
all the categories of serious and violent crimes have been on a decline
locally, Jamaica still records some of the highest crime stats worldwide. Despite
efforts to curb these numbers, the Caribbean and Central America continue
to top the charts in violent crimes, adding that the problem isn’t only
one of law enforcement. Violent crime is largely a youth-based phenomenon in terms
of the perpetrators and in terms of the victims
The Caribbean and Central America, is the region with the highest level of
violent crimes in the world. One
contributing factor that needs to be addressed in the “most urgent and
profound way” is the impact of ‘fatherlessness’ on our children.
Based on research done in the United States, United Kingdom and the
Caribbean, fatherless children may be the reason for the crime epidemic.
It indicates that fatherless boys, for example, that’s 50 per cent of boys
in Jamaica, are 11 times more likely to display violent behaviour, nine
times more likely to run away from home and become victims or perpetrators
of crime, twice as likely to drop out of school, nine times more likely to
become gang members, and six times more likely to end up in prison. Fatherless girls are more than twice as likely to experience teenage pregnancies and nine times more likely to be victims of sexual abuse.
Jamaica
leads the world in number of women bosses
Jamaica is the country where you’re most likely to have a female
boss. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), just under
60 percent of the Caribbean island nation’s management force is
female, the highest level anywhere in the world. Fifty three percent of Colombian managers are female, placing it
second, while another island nation, Saint Lucia, rounds off the top
three. Just over 52 percent of management there is female. Overall, the
United States is in 15th place – 43 percent of all American managers are
women. Pakistan and Yemen are at the very opposite end of the scale with 3 and
2.1 percent respectively.
CARICOM pushes for reparations
from Britain
The 15-member Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries have sent a
formal letter of complaint to Britain seeking reparation for slavery. The
letter, which was written by Barbados Prime Minister Freundel Stuart, and
sent to the British Foreign Office, calls on London to formally
acknowledge the region’s demands for payment for the transatlantic slave
trade. CARICOM has said it will not release the contents of the letter, which
was sent last week, by Mr. Stuart, who is the chairman of the CARICOM
sub-committee on Reparations, until there is a reply by the British Prime
Minister David Cameron. But CARICOM has warned that it is prepared, as its next option, to
refer the matter to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The
Netherlands for a ruling. CARICOM has said it prefers a negotiated
settlement of the matter. Sir Hillary Beckles at Harvard on on
Reparatory Justice for Global Black Enslavement https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C53rq9iRCEQ
T&T prison guards
file motion against the State
The Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) government has been accused of
failing to fulfil its preventative and investigative duties to the
country’s prison officers. Speaking at a media conference attorney representing the prison
officers and their association Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj said the State has
not been conducting adequate investigations to prosecute individuals
behind death threats against the officers or bringing measures to protect
their lives. This, as a constitutional motion was filed against the State in the
High Court in light of recent murders of prison officers. Recounting the deaths of 14 second division prison officers since 1998,
Maharaj lamented that the rule of law has been suspended in favour of
those who murder and threaten them, adding that requests for measures to
protect them including service-issued firearms and specialised housing
have fallen on deaf ears. Investigations have been ineffective to bring anyone to justice or even
identify a suspect, the lawyer stated, as he said that in a number of
cases where prison officers have been murdered files have gone missing,
the original investigating officers have retired and no updates on the
course of the investigation are available. Maharaj said the officers are attacked by inmates and threatened on and
off duty with various crimes committed against them. A number of those
cases remain underreported, the attorney noted, revealing that at least 81
officers have been threatened. A major issue Maharaj identified was the
fact that prison rules are archaic and not enforced, as at present, he
says, prisoners have not been held accountable for such breaches. He
claims that proper disciplinary measures are not taken by the
Commissioner.
Jamaica’s
Norman Manley International Airport
wins top award
The
Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA) is to be awarded the
prestigious Airports Council International (ACI) — Airport Service
Quality (ASQ) Award for the Most Improved Airport in Latin America and the
Caribbean Region for 2015. Airports Council International recognises the world’s airports which
have achieved the highest passenger satisfaction ratings in the ASQ
survey, the world’s premier passenger service benchmark measure of
airport excellence.
Bauxite
company in Jamaica files for bankruptcy
Noranda
Aluminum Holding Corp, a producer of primary aluminum and rolled aluminum
coils, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy .The Franklin, Tennessee-based
company said challenging market conditions for the aluminum industry and
recent disruptions in its primary business operations led to the decision. This
could spell trouble for its bauxite mining in Jamaica. In mid-January it
initiated workforce reductions, disclosing that the filing of a case under
Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code by a significant bauxite customer,
Sherwin Alumina Company, LLC, could result in material reductions to both
alumina production and bauxite mining plans. The company had indicated
planned cutbacks might be mitigated if it could negotiate meaningful and
substantial fiscal regime relief with the Government of Jamaica –
including tax and production levy relief.
Red
Stripe comes back home to Ja
DESNOES
and Geddes Limited, which trades as Red Stripe, will be employing 300
additional staff come September as part of plans to repatriate the
production of exported Red Stripe from North America to Jamaica. Managing director of the beverage-producing company, Ricardo Nuncio
stated that the company will be investing five million euro this year to
have production operations shifted from the United States to Jamaica. In 2012, Red Stripe moved
the production of beer destined for North America from its plant in
Kingston to City Brewing in Pennsylvania, USA, under a licensed production
model for the North American market, similar to one operated in the United
Kingdom for more than 30 years. As part of the agreement, Red Stripe was
guaranteed royalties on each bottle sold. This new decision also means that Red Stripe will increase its current
beer production by 30 per cent to meet the 48,000 tonnes required to
supply the export market. The Jamaican beer is supplied to more than 25
markets around the world. Following the
acquisition of a controlling stake by Heineken in Desnoes and Geddes,
there is renewed confidence that repatriating beer production to the local
market will allow for more competitiveness and consistent high-quality
production. What’s more, the company believes that Jamaica’s
improvement in macroeconomic conditions are enough to re-establish the
country as the global hub for the iconic brand.
Windies
Under-19s win cricket Youth World Cup
West
Indies cricket needed a big boost and they got it from their under-19’s.
Underdogs West Indies Under-19 stunned favorites India Under-19 by five
wickets in a low-scoring final of the ICC Youth Cricket World Cup to crown
themselves world champions for the first time in their history. Chasing
146 for victory at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, the Caribbean side
were reduced to 77 for five in the 29th over, before they were bailed out
by a brilliant unbeaten half-century by Man-of-the-Match Keacy Carty to
get home in the last over with a mere three balls to spare. Let us know what you think. Email us at hotcalaloo@yahoo.com
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