PENSION PAIN Years after retiring from the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), two former district constables say they are still without their full pensions, leaving them in financial distress and demanding answers. Derrick Foster told The Gleaner he spent 36 years in the JCF working at the Pedro Plains Police Station in St Elizabeth before retiring. Two years after his retirement, he said, he received an interim payment of about $800,000, which was intended to suffice until his final pension payment.
Consider use in compiling book lists, Morgan urges schools WESTERN BUREAU: Senator Marlon Morgan is urging school administrators to exercise greater care in preparing book lists, arguing that parents are sometimes asked to purchase textbooks and workbooks that end up not being used in the classroom. Morgan, the parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Education, made the appeal while addressing a Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) meeting in St Elizabeth on Sunday.
Night garbage collections offer relief but added challenges Night-time garbage collection is being used in some sections of the island to beat the punishing heat, but workers say the approach comes with its own risks, including poor visibility, parked vehicles, and the danger of injury from improperly discarded items. National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) Executive Director Audley Gordon said the agency has adjusted collection schedules in some areas because of the heat, allowing workers to operate at night where possible.
Mile Gully High ‘not fit’ for education, JTA president declares WESTERN BUREAU: Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) President La Sonja Harrison has described the condition of Mile Gully High School in Manchester as unacceptable, declaring that it is “not fit to carry out the business of education”. Harrison made the observation during a question-and-answer session with Education Minister Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon at the recently concluded 62nd annual conference of the JTA in Trelawny.
Mom’s leap of faith pays off as 19-y-o takes to the skies When mom Kerrine Blair realised that she could do no more to influence her son’s career choice, she admitted defeat and decided to fully support him in his quest to become a pilot. The fact that she had just bought a house in Montego Bay, St James, hardly mattered then. She packed up and headed east to enable him to attend Wolmer’s Boys’ School after he got his first choice in the Primary Exit Profile (PEP) examinations. Today, she has no regrets as her son, Mikhail Grey, is a pilot at just 19.
Sinclair: Gov’t will find Coopers Pen solution WESTERN BUREAU: Senator Charles Sinclair, deputy general secretary of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), has intimated that the Government will be finding a solution to address the plight of residents of Coopers Pen, Trelawny, who recently had their homes demolished. Addressing JLP supporters in St Elizabeth on Sunday, Sinclair rejected suggestions that the Dr Andrew Holness-led administration is insensitive to the plight of poor Jamaicans.
Children abandoned - Five young ones among 60 patients deserted by relatives Four of the five children abandoned at the Spanish Town Hospital in St Catherine have spent their entire lives at the facility, a situation Chief Executive Officer Jacqueline Ellis says is unacceptable. The latest child – a male who is one and a half years old – has remained at the hospital 11 months after being discharged. Hospital records show that four of the children – whose ages range from 10 months to two and a half years old – were left by their parents shortly after birth to be adopted. The other child was left there for “care and protection”.
Jason Arday planned Jamaica visit to encourage parents of autistic children The late Cambridge professor Jason Arday was set to deliver a message of hope to Jamaican parents of autistic children before his untimely death, organisers of the Hope, Tools and Tomorrow Autism Summit have revealed.
Hutchinson plans to rally Labourites for JLP’s fourth term WESTERN BUREAU: While J.C. Hutchinson will be stepping down as the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) deputy leader in charge of Area Council Four come October, he has made it clear that he plans to remain active to help secure a fourth consecutive term for the party. In reminding party supporters that he has served as an officer of the area council for more than two decades, Hutchinson said he intends to use his retirement from the position to focus even more on helping the JLP secure victories at the municipal and parliamentary levels.
Library closure raises fears for students, residents in Oracabessa “What is a community without a library to help the kids with assignments and things to print?” That is the question a 15-year-old St Mary student is asking as the Oracabessa Branch Library faces closure, leaving students and residents uncertain about where they will turn for books, Internet access, printing, and a place to study. The Jamaica Library Service (JLS) says the branch was temporarily closed on August 15 because of concerns about the safety and condition of the building. The closure came ahead of the August 31 expiration of its tenancy arrangement.