THIS WEEK’S TOP NEWS STORIES
HOLNESS PROMISES “NO BAILOUT” FOR ANY FAILED FINANCIAL INSTITUTION
Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said his government will not bail out any financial institution that has failed. The government “will not socialize any debt” and “will not socialize” the failure of any banks, Holness told attendees of the annual Jamaica Stock Exchange capital markets conference on January 24, 2023. He believes that any bailout would send the wrong signal to banks and investment firms, allowing them to be negligent and expecting the government to cover the consequences of their negligence. While the bailout that occurred in the late 1990s preserved the savings of many depositors, it crippled the ability of the government spend money on activities that would actually help to grow Jamaica’s economy and cause the nation’s debt levels to keep rising until 2013.
JAMAICA’S FINANCE MINISTER CALLS FOR STRONGER PENALTIES TO BE IMPOSED ON WHITE-COLLAR CRIMINALS
Dr. Nigel Clarke, Jamaica’s Minister of Finance, stated that the government is reviewing legislation applying to the financial sector to apply harsher penalties for white-collar crimes after the discovery of the multi-billion-dollar fraud at Stocks and Securities Limited (SSL). He made his remarks during a policy address at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade on January 23, 2023. The review is designed to improve Jamaica’s ability to detect, investigate, and prosecute financial crimes occurring in the banking, insurance, pensions, and securities sectors. It will involved amendments to the Securities Act, Banking Act, Insurance Act, and the Pensions Act. Clarke called for the erasure of differences between the way white-collar crime is treated compared to other types of crime.
THIS WEEK’S TOP CARIBBEAN NEWS
BONAIRE TAKES MAJOR STEP TO RESTORE CORAL REEFS
Bonaire has decided to take action in the restoration of coral reefs in the Caribbean by planting new reefs. Already recognized as a pioneer in the field, Bonaire will outplant three species of boulder coral for the first time in history. These are the Lobed Star Coral, Mountainous Star Coral, and Great Star Coral. The Reef Renewal Foundation Bonaire began its project late in 2022 by outplanting fragments of boulder coral propagated through fragmentation in 2020 and raised in nurseries. All of the three species of coral are endangered and are key in building a healthy marine ecosystem.
THIS WEEK’S TOP JAMAICAN DIASPORA NEWS
DECISION OF UK HOME SECRETARY TO “DITCH” KEY WINDRUSH REFORMS STRONGLY CRITICIZED
In the United Kingdom, David Lammy of the Labor Party, criticized the decision of Suella Braverman, UK Home Secretary, to abandon several key Windrush reforms that were meant to prevent a similar scandal. Braverman quietly announced she will not honor a commitment to establish a migrants’ commissioner, and she rolled back calls to enhance the powers of the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI). Braverman has also abandoned a plan to conduct reconciliation events with individuals affected by the Windrush scandal. Critics call her actions “a slap in the face” of those wronged in the Windrush situation in which British citizens were wrongly threatened with deportation, removed from their jobs, stripped of benefits and homes as they did not have the “correct” paperwork reflecting their status as members of the Windrush Generation who moved to the UK from the 1940s to the 1970s to help alleviate UK labor shortages.
THIS WEEK’S TOP BUSINESS NEWS
JAMAICA TO HOST HISTORIC GLOBAL TOURISM RESILIENCE CONFERENCE IN FEBRUARY 2023
Jamaica will host a first-of-its-kind global tourism resilience conference in Kingston from February 15 to 17, 2023. The conference is being promoted by Jamaica’s Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Center at the University of the West Indies (UWI). The event’s focus will be on enhancing competitiveness and sustainability; collaborations across sectors; global funding and technical aid; adapting science, technology, and innovation, development of niche markets; building of human capacity, and small business support, among other elements. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of tourism resilience to Jamaica’s national development, and it is necessary to ensure that the industry will recover and thrive following similar disruptions in the future. The event will celebrate Global Tourism Resilience Day on Feb. 17.
THIS WEEK’S TOP ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
RECORDING ARTIST ALKALINE TO DEBUT AS FACE OF GIVENCHY’S SPRING/SUMMER 2023 GLOBAL CAMPAIGN
According to the Creative Director of fashion brand Givenchy, Matthew M. Williams, Jamaica’s dancehall star Alkaline will become the face of his first dedicated international advertising campaign for menswear. Williams’ Haute Paris runway collection has intrigued fans of reggae and dancehall since the summer of 2022. The collection provides “enigmatic chic” to Alkaline, who served as the muse for Williams and whose music played as models made their appearances on the catwalk. Alkaline announced the partnership with Givenchy in a campaign that will explore the contrast between the fashion house’s heritage of tailoring with the “urban aesthetic” established by Williams. Alkaline will thus become the first dancehall artist to feature in such an advertising campaign and the first for Givenchy.
THIS WEEK’S TOP SPORTS NEWS
JOHN CHIN WILL REPRESENT JAMAICA IN PENDING DAVIS CUP TIE
Tennis professional John Chin is set to represent Jamaica in the upcoming Davis Cup tie for the first time since he turned pro. Chin is a former top junior player and made one of the most notable professional debuts in men’s tennis in 2022 at the young age of 18. He made it through the qualifying round and into the semi-finals of the men’s tournament in the Dominican Republic in his first professional competition. Chin is from Mandeville and trains with Ryan Russell of the Russell Tennis Academy. He said it was challenging to transition from the juniors to the pro circuit, but he plans to continue working on his game and improve his ranking in 2023. Chin, now 19, twice played on Jamaica’s Davis Cup team, and he is readying himself to an additional Davis Cup battle on February 4 and 5, 2023, when Jamaica plays Estonia at home in Jamaica.
