Your news in a nutshell
- PNP wins Greater Portmore North by-election
- Champs starts, to boost small hotel business
- Ganja data war
- Early childhood centres not meeting standard
- Phillips would welcome Crawford back
- Fitz Jackson pushes on with lawsuit over bank fees
1. PNP wins Greater Portmore North by-election
Accountant Gary Nicholson has won the crucial Greater Portmore North by-election for the People’s National Party (PNP) to maintain control of the St Catherine Municipal Corporation. Nicholson polled 2,125 votes to the 995 by his Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) contender Ann Lewis. See full story on The Gleaner website.
2. Champs starts, to boost small hotel business
Small hotels across Kingston and St Andrew are in for big business during the five-day period encompassing the annual staging of the ISSA-GraceKennedy Boys & Girls’ Athletics Championships, which begins today at the National Stadium. See full story on The Gleaner website.
3. Ganja data war
A standoff between the Ministry of Health minister and a lobbyist of the Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA) has forced the National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA) to defend its research methodology which provided data suggesting increase ganja use among adolescents since possession of two ounces or less is no longer a criminal offence. See full story on The Gleaner website.
4. Early childhood centres not meeting standard
Floyd Green, the state minister in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, says that of the approximately 2,500 registered early childhood institutions in Jamaica, only 18 schools, or less than one per cent, have so far met the required 12 standards to be formally certified under the Early Childhood Commission. See full story on The Gleaner website.
5. Phillips would welcome Crawford back
New People’s National Party (PNP) president, Dr Peter Phillips, says he would support a return by young politician Damion Crawford to representational politics as a member of Parliament. The firebrand former member of Parliament was ousted as the PNP’s representative in the Eastern Rural St Andrew in the run up to the last General Election. See full story on The Gleaner website.
6. Fitz Jackson pushes on with lawsuit over bank fees
The Member of Parliament for St Catherine South, Fitz Jackson, says the decision of some banks to suspend fees for dormant account will not stop him from going to court to compel them to pay compensation. Jackson is of the view that the banks only took the decision after realising that their action breached the law. See full story on The Gleaner website.
