Jamaican Till I Die!

2010: Stand-By Arrangement,  US$1.25 billion 2013: Extended Fund Facility,  US$932.3 million 2016: Stand-By Arrangement, US$1.64 billion Jamaica and the International Monetary Fund reached an agreement to make $1.64 billion in funding available over the next three years as the government seeks to further cut one of the world’s highest debt loads while jump-starting a sluggish economy. The stand-by agreement, announced Thursday, would make $430 million available immediately after the IMF board approves it next month. It replaces a four-year IMF loan that Jamaica took on after it restructured debt in 2013. Andrew Holness said: “Our request to move to a precautionary arrangement is a sign of strength and reflects the policy credibility and strong macroeconomic management of the Jamaican government,” “Jamaica has made commendable progress in its economic adjustment program over the past three and a half years,” said Alejandro Werner, IMF’s director for the W...

What I love about software development is the process of designing a system, trying to think about all possible permutation of what could go wrong, the edge cases then design and code for it. I also love the feeling of unleashing my creations on the world, in that regard I suffer from a little bit of the god complex, knowing that my children, my creations are still running, still alive and still changing the world. What I love about the permaculture method of agricultural is the process of designing a food production system that mimics nature. Hijacking the natural world and using it for food production because nature has everything figured out, it is the most efficient system. This method requires patience and a deep respect for the natural world because what nature gives you on one hand, nature can take back with the other. But it is all part of the natural plan, it is nature’s way of replenishing the earth. What looks like destruction today is a rebuilding process tomorrow as n...

US Slams Jamaica’s Record On Police Killings, Detentions The United States administration says it is deeply concerned about the high rates of killings in Jamaica, highlighting the murder of women, even as it bemoans the “insufficient response” by the Government to end the violence and hold the perpetrators responsible. Black Americans are killed at a much higher rate than White Americans Although half of the people shot and killed by police are White, Black Americans are shot at a disproportionate rate. They account for less than 13 percent of the U.S. population, but are killed by police at more than twice the rate of White Americans. Hispanic Americans are also killed by police at a disproportionate rate. Until the philosophy which hold one race superior / And another / Inferior / Is finally / And permanently / Discredited / And abandoned / -Everywhere is war - / Me say war. That until there no longer / First class and second class citizens of any nation / Until the colou...

PRIME Minister Andrew Holness yesterday called for cooperation between the Government and the Opposition in dealing with crime. It would be easy for me to ask the question, why you did not offer this cooperation while in opposition and why you used crime as a political football during the election campaign. BUT as a nation we must at some point move crime out of the political arena and view it as a threat to national security that requires all hands on deck. NO party should be boasting that it alone can solve crime because that is a false statement to make as no political party alone can solve Jamaica's crime problem. I go even further to say that the Political class alone cannot solve crime and that all good people must stand together and fight this scourge on the land. Political parties must realize that a lot of the people they call political activist are in fact criminals and they must distance themselves from these people and bring them to justice. When you were in op...

I always have a really good laugh whenever one of our bubble-headed technocrats compares Jamaica and Singapore. The confusion and the blame game as to why Jamaica is not as successful as Singapore is never ending because at one point in our history, Jamaica was economically ahead of Singapore.  This really had nothing to do with Jamaica but had more to do with Singapore’s history. One just need to look at the countries violent past to see where it is coming from. Then something changed - Singapore change because the people of Singapore realized that they needed to change. ONE of the world’s great economic success stories. Singapore owes much of its prosperity to a record of honest and pragmatic governments, create by the legacy of Lee Kuan Yew. When one look at the legacy of Lee Kuan Yew one clearly sees why Singapore was successful and Jamaica NOT. In the 1960s, Singapore was known for its opium dens, gang-ridden streets, fetid slums and racial tensions. Under Lee Kuan...

The 2008 Global Recession In 2008, The International Monetary Fund stated that the drying up of global credit after the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the ensuing Global recession would lead to serious concerns for Jamaica’s economic prospect and the sustainability. They declared that the country’s 1.5 trillion debt would put pressure on the country’s economy and exchange rates. However the then Minister of Finance the Honorable Audley Shaw dismissed the IMF concerns and declared that the Global financial crisis would not have any impact on the Jamaican economy. In fact the Minister of Finance the Honorable Audley Shaw stated that the Global recession would be opportunistic for Jamaica. He declared that, as a result of the recession, the Jamaican economy will grow +2.0% to +3.0% in the next fiscal year, as he moved to downplay concerns of the effects of a global economic slowdown. And in particular, any effects the looming recession in the United States will have on the Jamai...