The Fundamental Rights and Freedoms

Did you know the Constitution of Jamaica, as amended April 7, 2011, states "all persons in Jamaica are entitled to preserve for themselves and future generations the fundamental rights and freedoms to which they are entitled by virtue of their inherent dignity as persons and as citizens of a free and democratic society"

Have a read of what those Fundamental Rights and Freedoms are as contained at section 3 of the Act.

(a) the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in the execution of the sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offence of which the person has been convicted;

(b) the right to freedom of thought, conscience, belief and observance of political doctrines;

(c) the right to freedom of expression;

(d) the right to seek, receive, distribute or disseminate information, opinions and ideas through any media;

(e) the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association;

(f) the right to freedom of movement, that is to say, the right­

(i) of every citizen of Jamaica to enter Jamaica; and

(ii) of every person lawfully in Jamaica, to move around freely throughout Jamaica, to reside in any part of Jamaica and to leave Jamaica;

(g) the right to equality before the law;

(h) the right to equitable and humane treatment by any public authority in the exercise of any function;

(i) the right to freedom from discrimination on the ground of—

(i) being male or female;

(ii) race, place of origin, social class, colour, religion or political opinions;

(j) the right of everyone to­—

(i) protection from search of the person and property;

(ii) respect for and protection of private and family life, and privacy of the home; and

(iii) protection of privacy of other property and of communication;

(k) the right of every child—

(i) to such measures of protection as are required by virtue of the status of being a minor or as part of the family, society and the State;

(ii) who is a citizen of Jamaica, to publicly funded tuition in a public educational institution at the pre-primary and primary levels;

(l) the right to enjoy a healthy and productive environment free from the threat of injury or damage from environmental abuse and degradation of the ecological heritage;

(m) the right of every citizen of Jamaica—

(i) who is qualified to be registered as an elector for elections to the House of Representatives, to be so registered; and

(ii) who is so registered, to vote in free and fair elections;

(n) the right of every citizen of Jamaica to be granted a passport and not to be denied or deprived thereof except by due process of law;

(o) the right to protection from torture, or inhuman or degrading punishment or other treatment as provided In subsections (6) and (7);

(p) the right to freedom of the person as provided in section 14;

(q) the protection of property rights as provided in section 15;

(r) the right to due process as provided in section 16; and

(s) the right to freedom of religion, as provided in section 17.

Money and Happiness

Y'all every noticed that it's the people with more money than they can spend in many lifetimes saying "money can't buy happiness"? The very instructive irony though, is they still spend a significant amount of their time in the pursuit of even more money.

In a recent article on the world renowned Economist Magazine's website [link] it notes a study that showed "money can buy you happiness—but only fleetingly, at others’ expense". 
So it would seem, as a fellow Blogger [http://thevanillanetwork.blogspot.com/] likes to say, the monetary system is designed to keep some people down.

The doctrine of those who have money, is that those who don't, don't need it. All I will say is, "the obsessive love of money can only lead to evil".

What the IMF said recently about Jamaica

On September 11, 2015 the IMF published figures on Jamaica’s International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity. The report showed that “Official Reserve Assets” stood at US$2,775.63 Million. 

Additionally, it showed “short-term domestic currency debt indexed to the exchange rate” at US$59.39 Million.  

In the footnotes to the report the IMF stated “In principle, only instruments denominated and settled in foreign currency (or those whose valuation is directly dependent on the exchange rate and that are settled in foreign currency) are to be included in categories I, II, and III of the template. Financial instruments denominated in foreign currency and settled in other ways (e.g., in domestic currency or commodities) are included as memo items under Section IV.”

A subsequent press release, on September 23, 2015, announced “IMF Executive Board Completes Ninth Review Under the IMF's Extended Fund Facility Arrangement for Jamaica and Approves US$39.7 Million Disbursement”.

In the press release Mr. Min Zhu, Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair, is quoted the as making the following statement:

“The authorities remain firmly committed to the economic program supported by the Extended Fund Facility. Program performance is on track and structural reforms have progressed broadly on schedule.

Macroeconomic fundamentals continue to strengthen. Inflation is at a historical low and the current account is improving, aided by declining oil prices. The recent upgrade in the credit ratings followed by the large international bond placement signaled improved investor confidence in Jamaica’s reform program. But growth remains weak and unemployment needs to decrease further. Sustained efforts in structural reforms, including by reducing energy costs, improving the business environment, and developing critical infrastructure, should help boost investment and growth.

The recent Petrocaribe debt buyback has lowered the ratio of public debt to GDP, which the ongoing fiscal consolidation should maintain firmly on a downward path. Nonetheless, it is essential to move forward with public sector reforms, including as regards public financial management, to improve the efficiency of government services. It is also important to continue strengthening fiscal revenue by reforming customs and tax administration and broadening the tax base.

Recent steps to loosen the monetary stance should support credit creation, while maintaining price stability. The completion of the transition of the retail repo contracts to a trust-based framework represents a milestone in buttressing financial sector stability.”

What will the IMF have to say after the Tenth Review? Only time will tell...

Recent Tweets...

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1. Lance DaleF ‏@876Lancedf  14h14 hours ago

   An interesting new stock tool from #BaritaInvestments http://www.baritastockalerts.com/  @JaStockEx

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2. Lance DaleF ‏@876Lancedf  22h22 hours ago

   net sales at D&G rose 14% to J$13B for 12M with net profit falling 26% to J$2.3B even with general, selling & admin expenses relatively flat

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3. Lance DaleF ‏@876Lancedf  Aug 19

   Entertainment group #KLE revenues slide 3.4% in 2Q2015 to J$98.5 even with opex down 1.9% to J$85.7 net loss rose to J$34.6 or a big 65.5%

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4. Lance DaleF ‏@876Lancedf  Aug 18

   Revenues @KPREIT rise 2% to J$51.4M for Q2 with opex rising to J$47.6M or 43.1% plus ex item of J$32.9 landing with total losses of J33.9$M

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5. Lance DaleF ‏@876Lancedf  Aug 17

   The #BankOfJamaica has, effective 18Aug, cut benchmark interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point for the second time in four months

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6. Lance DaleF ‏@876Lancedf  Aug 17

   Seprod clips Q2 revenue of J$3.9B down 3% on 2014 with direct expenses also down 1% to J$3.2B. Net profit landing at J$252M down 14%

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7. Lance DaleF ‏@876Lancedf  Aug 17

   PJAM declares 3rd interim dividend of J$0.70 per share payable on 18Sep2015 to shareholders on record as at 1Sep2015, ex-div date 28Aug2015

Yuh too BLESSED...tu be STRESSED!

It has been said stress has become part and parcel of our life and, particularly, workplace today. However, while some stress is normal, excessive stress can interfere with your productivity and can also impact your mental and physical health.

Workplace stress is generally associated with the pressure one is encompassed by the issues at the workplace. Although workplace stress can't be avoided, however, there're means to manage or at least reduce it.

Many of us are victims of a stressful work environment. However, when it becomes to dealing with it, most of us do nothing but freak out and end up making the situation even worse.

Stress, all said and done, is relative. What is stressful to one may not trouble another. If your capabilities and attitude are stronger than your stressors, then you will not complain of stress, even if your circumstances are slow to change.

In addition to applying different practices and techniques to cope with your stress, your most important weapon against it is - YOU. If you develop yourself at all levels - technically and behaviourally - you can become bigger than your stress.

What is your back up plan if you do not succeed in your current role, or cannot keep your job? A lot of our 'stress' is our mental and physical response to the fear of what might happen if our current plan fails.

Having a back-up plan can help you allay those fears to a large extent. It helps you accept and be at peace with what you will do if, despite giving your best, your current efforts fail.

Yuh too BLESSED...tu be STRESSED!

Greece: What Jamaica shouldn’t become

Greek banks are to remain closed and capital controls will be imposed as the Government tries to put a lid on the run of the system. A system that is cracking under the pressures of debt repayment without the revenues to support it.

Greece has a 1.6 billion euro (US$1.8 billion) debt due to the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday (30 June 2015) and its bailout program expires the same day, after which it is unclear how the country might survive financially.

The Greek Government has scheduled a referendum to get the populations answer to the question of whether to accept proposed reforms needed to get bailout loans from other euro-zone countries and the IMF. Proposals…the government wants to reject.

The rich countries in the euro-zone, led by Germany, is pressing Greece to accept the proposals and implement the reforms being demanded. Bitter medicine the Greeks seem very reluctant to swallow.

So, we in Jamaica should want to recall the events of the 1990’s and the period since. We should also take a deep look at what is being called “The Greece Crisis” and then consider seriously the kind of Jamaica we want to leave for you children.

China-nomics

China's economic growth in the first quarter of 2015 was 7 percent year-on-year, the slowest since 2009, while investment grew only 2.8 percent, becoming the main drag on the economy. New jobs created in the first quarter added up to 3.24 million, 0.2 million less than the same period last year, and both the manufacturing and non-manufacturing purchasing managers indexes (PMIs) stayed below 50, suggesting reduced use of labour. The GDP deflator dropped into negative territory (-1.1 percent), implying the current growth rate is below potential. In other words, there is a negative output gap.

House sales slid 9 percent year-on-year, housing inventory rose 25 percent, while revenue from government land sales fell 36 percent. The sharp drop in land-sale revenue, along with tighter control of local government debt, will likely dampen infrastructure investment for the rest of the year. High-frequency data, such as new order indexes (as part of PMI), suggest the growth downturn has not run its course yet. And we (at Standard Chartered) forecast that GDP growth could fall further to 6.7 percent in the second quarter. We thus expect the government to take four-pronged easing policies in the next few months to reduce growth risks.

First, the 2015 budget suggests a nearly 1 percentage point increase in the deficit/GDP ratio. This year's approved budget deficit is 2.3 percent of GDP, compared with 2.1 for in 2014. Our estimate suggests the budgeted deficit for this year will be 2.7 percent of GDP, which means the official budget leaves room for fiscal policy to be more proactive. But the extra-budgetary deficit is likely to decline due to stricter control of local government debt, and the more expansionary official budget will be offset by a tighter extra-budgetary stance. So the overall fiscal stance is likely to be neutral or slightly supportive.

Second, recent required reserve ratio cuts should boost M2 growth in the near term, but more is needed in the second half of the year. We estimate that China's trade surplus to exceed last year's level because of slower import growth, and other investment outflows in China's balance of payments to increase by 50 percent. So, even if the central bank injects liquidity on a net basis through open market operations and lending, it will still have to cut RRR by 100 basis points to raise the money multiplier in the second half and achieve a growth of about 12 percent for a couple of years, on condition that capital outflows continue throughout the year.

Third, according to media reports, the central bank will convert its foreign exchange loans to China Development Bank ($32 billion) and Export-Import Bank of China ($30 billion) into equity stakes, and the Ministry of Finance will inject $25 billion as capital into Agricultural Development Bank in the form of tax rebate. In the first two cases, the debt-for-equity deal should not increase net cash inflows, but the swap could significantly improve capital adequacy ratios (CAR), allowing the banks to take on more risk assets. Since the central bank has fixed the CAR for policy banks at 10.5 percent, the added capital will allow the three banks to take on additional risk assets of $700-800 billion, or 7-8 percent of 2014 GDP, over time. And the policy loans would provide much-needed financing for government-led initiatives, including the "Belt and Road Initiatives", the social housing program and agricultural modernization.

Fourth, the easing of property market policies both at the central and local levels suggests the government supports a rise in real housing demand (versus home-buying for investment and speculation) to help digest excess supply.

We think policy easing this year will aim at bolstering domestic demand, and the yuan will not depreciate. But we lower our 2015 GDP growth forecast to 6.9 percent (from 7.1 percent) because of the sluggish start to the year, and we revise our 2016 growth forecast from 7.0 to 6.8 percent.

Reproduced from ChinaDaily

Jamaican economy should rebound in FY2015/16

Dem sey big tings ago gwaan ina di Jamaican ehcanomi. Di is wey dem reely did sey "Although economic growth in the second half of FY2014/15 was lower than expected, due to unforeseen temporary factors, the macroeconomic environment continues to improve. Benchmark market interest rates have been trending lower, inflation is contained, the current account deficit on the balance of payments continues to contract, foreign reserves exceed expectations and business confidence is high. Against this background both the IMF staff and GOJ concur that the Jamaican economy should rebound in FY2015/16. Further, the outlook for growth over the medium term remains positive, supported by on-going reforms to the business environment and the progress being made on the key catalysts for growth, such as the port expansion projects, the regime for special economic zones and the work of the Electricity Sector Enterprise Team." Well mek wi si nuh.

Cry fi guh home

mi probly luv yuh more dan mi ate yuh but wey di distinction?

mi gut is swollen wid keys dat need fi find dem doors

mi dey four airports away fam kicking dem dun who hav di patience fi keys?

seh escape in word associations trapped in by naily full tall bildin

mi sey dat like mi ah prisoner but mi so daam Jahmeakan

mi probly hav double house belly bronchiole street black dem soak ina dutty black smoke

dis ah di face mask yuh ah deding mi ah ded Jahmeaka mi

ah nuh homesick mi country jhunk