Prime Minister Bruce Golding on Saturday implored residents of St Catherine to cherish emancipation as a meaningful achievement.

Addressing a civic ceremony held at Emancipation Square in Spanish Town, Golding also urged Jamaicans to unshackle their minds from the legacy of colonial slavery. He said failure to do this would undermine the full freedom gained by slaves on August 1, 1838.

The prime minister was accompanied on his visit by CARICOM chairman Bharrat Jagdeo, who is also president of Guyana, and Minister of Culture Olivia Grange.

Soothers recalled

The United States Food and Drug Agency has ordered a recall of all Nuby gel-filled teethers and some UPC codes of Cottontails and Playschool teethers, two Jamaican watchdog consumer agencies have said.

Teethers are popularly called baby soothers in Jamaica.

These products have been found to contain Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus circulans in the gel. These bacteria generally do not cause illness. However, the bacteria can affect children with weakened immune systems, causing stomach pain, vomiting, and diarrhoea, if the teether is punctured and the liquid from the teether is ingested.

National regulatory authorities have been advised of a shipment to Jamaica and have taken the necessary steps to ensure that consumers are informed and that the products are withdrawn from sale.

Get additional information on the web link www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm172689.htm.

Pan Carib donates books

In a move to improve literacy, Pan Caribbean Financial Services has donated 250,000 books to the Expanding Educational Horizons (EEH) reading programme, which targets select primary schools.

This brings to 500,000, the number of books the financial institution has donated to children at 25 selected schools since February.

The schools are located in Kingston, Ocho Rios, Mandeville, Savanna-la-Mar and Montego Bay.

Karlene Dennis, assistant manager of corporate public relations and internal marketing, said the aim of the programme was to transform children into avid readers.

"Children do not read enough and they gravitate more to the many video games available and pay less attention to the books. But we want our Jamaican children to be proud of themselves and so we see the need for intervention from the institution," she told journalists at Pan Caribbean's offices in New Kingston on Tuesday.

Dennis said the Pan Caribbean team visited the schools monthly to engage the students in reading exercises, which are done in exciting ways in order to capture the children's attention.

Legal aid warning

The Legal Aid Council is reminding members of the public who are granted legal aid that where a contribution is required, the payment is to be made directly to the bank.

Legal aid court assignments are granted to accused persons who are without privately retained attorneys-at-law.

When an individual completes a legal aid application form, he is assessed and asked to make a contribution if he can afford to.

According to Hugh Faulkner, executive director of the Legal Aid Council, once payment is made to an attorney-at-law, the legal aid assignment is revoked.