JANUARY: In his New Year message Prime Minister P.J. Patterson called for increased momentum of poverty alleviation and social renewal programmes, improved levels of productivity and more effort to combat crime in 2003.
Edward Seaga, the Jamaica Labour Party leader, warned Jamaicans to expect in 2003, "the most massive cuts in public expenditure and increases in taxes ever imposed by any government of Jamaica."
Mr. Patterson and Mr. Seaga expressed regret at the passing on December 31 of the Hon. Hector Wynter, O.J., 76, who died of injuries he suffered in a traffic accident.
Anthony Irons, the acknowledged "dean of Permanent Secretaries" and "doyen of industrial relations", took up duty on January 2 as senior adviser to Portia Simpson Miller, Minister of Local Government and Community Development. Mr. Irons, who retired in 1998 as Permanent Secretary for Labour and Social Security, was fired in October 2002 as senior adviser to that ministry, the letter terminating his contract being delivered to him in the ministry's car park, North Street, central Kingston.
The Gleaner reported that on January 2, 50 Special Constables who were trained to deal with praedial larceny, were deployed to strategic areas in a bid to control the crime and the illegal marketing of stolen farm produce.
Gordon Leslie Stewart, father of Gordon 'Butch' Stewart, chairman of the Sandals group of hotels, and of Air Jamaica, died on January 2 at the age of 84 years.
The island's government-employed medical technologists went on strike on January 2 demanding equal pay with government scientific officers who they say were doing similar work.
Forty employees of Cable & Wireless Ja. Ltd. were made redundant on January 3 as a result of "the continued regional restructuring" of the giant telecommunications company.
ISLANDWIDE DEMONSTRATION
One man was killed, 19 persons were arrested and thousands stranded on January 6 as taxi drivers staged an islandwide demonstration to protest increased taxes and fines imposed since the beginning of the year.
Auditor-General Adrian Strachan said he had found no evidence that Ronald Thwaites, former MP
for Kingston Central, Roman Catholic Deacon, attorney-at-law and radio talk show host, had attempted to defraud the Post and Telecommunications Department of millions of dollars.
The British Home Office decreed that from January 8 Jamaicans would require visas to enter the United Kingdom. Previously, Jamaicans visiting the U.K. for less than six months did not require visas. K.D. Knight, Jamaica's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, said Jamaicans had to take the blame for the circumstances which led to the visa restrictions as the British had provided overwhelming evidence that Jamaicans had committed substantial breaches of U.K. immigration procedures.
Danville Walker, the Director of Elections, is named The Gleaner's 'Man of the Year'. He was given the top Gleaner Honour Award for his work in improving the electoral processes which resulted in the October 16, 2002 General Election being "the cleanest and most peaceful election in Jamaica's modern history".
Swedish consultants recommended a 90 per cent bus-fare hike as a measure to turn around the money-losing Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) which is owned and operated by the government.
The JUTC announced on January 14 that it would be sending home 300 employees within a week as the first phase of retrenchment recommended by Swedish consultants.
Herbert Denham 'Denny' Repole, 69, the world renowned Jamaican architect, was on January 14 conferred with the national honour of The Order of Distinction (Commander Class), C.D., at a ceremony at his home in St. Andrew by Sir Howard Cooke, Governor-General.
EXONERATED
Prime Minister Patterson told the House of Representatives on January 21 that Dr. Karl Blythe, the former Minister of Water and Housing, was exonerated from any wrongdoing in relation to the Operation PRIDE-National Housing Development Corp. scandal, based on the findings of Dr. Kenneth Rattray, Q.C., the former Solicitor-General. Dr. Rattray had been asked by the Prime Minister to probe the report of the Erwin Angus Commission, the findings of which led to the resignation of Dr. Blythe in April 2002. It was Mr. Patterson who had named the Angus Commission to probe allegations of corruption and massive cost overruns on Operation PRIDE housing schemes.
The governments of the United States and Jamaica signed a multimillion-dollar agreement on January 21 to build a model police station in Grants Pen, north-east St. Andrew.
The board of directors of Life of Jamaica said on January 21 that its offer to acquire all the ordinary shares of Island Life Insurance Co. Ltd. had been accepted overwhelmingly by Island Life shareholders.
To be continued tomorrow.
