Search Result for: kent gammon

By Kent Gammon Op-Ed Contributor Jamaica’s murder rate is one of the highest in the world with a prosecution success rate of a highly unimpressive 30 percent.  The effects of these statistics on the Jamaican economy are manifested in lack of sufficient foreign and local direct investment and lack of confidence in the criminal justice […]

Jamaican’s Kent Gammon, formerly a caretaker candidate for the St Andrew South-East seat, is an attorney, lecturer at UWI and author, most recently of Two Steps Forward, Two Steps Backward — the Jamaican Story: 1972-2007. Gammon, who now has his own chambers, Kent Gammon & Company and was previously a senior associate at DunnCox, was […]

By Kent Gammon Op-Ed Contributor THE REVELATIONS of eight positive steroid tests by Jamaican athletes this year sent shockwaves through the sporting world. As an island renowned for its track and field prowess this sounded alarm bells for WADA and perhaps the death knell for the JADCO Board. Indeed, there has been increased international scrutiny […]

By Kent Gammon Op-Ed Contributor THE MURDER RATE per 100,000 is 41 in Jamaica, making it one of the most murderous countries in the world. With its economy heavily dependent on tourism, crime is not a variable it can afford. No one will travel to “marketed paradise” if it really is a war zone. And […]

By Kent Gammon Op-Ed Contributor JAMAICA JOINED the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1963. At that time, Jamaica had positive international net reserves of US$115.8 million falling by 1976 to negative net international reserves of $435.5 million. In 1976, Jamaica sought funds from the IMF that came with stringent economic conditions that put an end […]

Above: Kingston   By Kent Gammon Op-Ed Contributor The trade union movement’s early days in Jamaica The trade unions of Jamaica came into prominence in the workers’ riots of 1938. At that time the workers were protesting the level of their wages and took to rioting in the streets. Sir Alexander Bustamante was imprisoned defending […]

By Kent Gammon Op-Ed Contributor The four gold medals earned by the Jamaican track and field team in the London Olympics 2012 shine as unequivocal testimony of the country’s prowess in track and field. Sporting activities are an area in which the Jamaican people across all socioeconomic strata unite around their athletes. The Jamaican people, […]

By Kent Gammon Op-Ed Contributor The state of the Jamaican economy over successive administrations tells the story of Jamaica’s evolving debt trap. The distinction that should be appreciated amongst successive administrations is how well each managed (or perhaps more appropriately mismanaged) the country’s affairs. How did Jamaica become so debt burdened? The current Prime Minister, […]

By Kent Gammon Op-Ed Contributor The Jamaican people have answered the call of the People’s National Party (PNP) that they should elect their local councillor candidates to, as Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller termed, “join up the power of government.” The People’s National Party received — as in the recent general election — an overwhelming […]

By Kent Gammon Op-Ed Contributor There is far too much of a large proportion of youth in Jamaica that is being reared destructively. At midday on any day of the working week one only need to go to Portia Simpson Miller Square (there are other public thoroughfares I could list of course, such as in […]

By Kent Gammon Op-Ed Contributor The Jamaican people will decide their fate on the Dec. 29 in the country’s 16th general election. They face a major crossroads: go with the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) which will mean austerity measures due to International Monetary Fund (IMF) prescriptions or with the People’s National Party (PNP), which will […]