What a year 2014 has been! As usual, there were highs and lows; good, bad and ugly. Below, we round up some of the biggest headline-making stories of the year. Look back with us.
- Prime Minister’s $50M Travel Bill irks Jamaicans, but PM unfazed
- Political Ombudsman office still vacant
- Minimum wage increased, but job cuts considered to balance the scale
- The Goat Islands saga continued
- National Security minister was supposed to resign, but didn’t
- Finance Minister said no new taxes! But PM couldn’t make any promises
- Jamaicans toyed with the idea of boycotting goods from Trinidad & Tobago
- A number of government assets were finally sold off
- Local banks were raking it in with high fees and service charges
- Major earthquake predicted, panic ensued
- Ex-cop exposed so-called ‘death squads‘ in the police force
- It was Cool Runnings part 2 in Sochi, Russia as bobsledders qualified for the winter Olympics
- Will Jamaica ever “legalise it,” even for medical purposes?
- The music industry lost two of its greatest voices as William ‘Bunny Rugs’ Clarke and John Holt passed away
- The prep vs primary school debates continued
- International athletes insurance plan announced
- The KSAC approved $3.4 billion in investment projects across the Corporate Area
- Gangsters, beware! Anti-gang legislation was passed in Parliament, despite concerns
- Jamaica’s population looks set to remain below 3 million, according to STATIN
- A police station was established in Tivoli Gardens
- Eight months after testing positive for a banned substance, sprint darling Veronica Campbell-Brown was cleared to resume competition
- Chinese tourists were declared free to enter Jamaica without a visa
- Jamaica’s debt ratio is on a downward trajectory
- The year has ended and we still do not have number portability, despite promises
- Sexual harassment bill drafted
- Healthy lifestyles needed amongst Jamaicans as non-communicable diseases reached epidemic proportions
- Entertainer Vybz Kartel moved from ‘World Boss’ to inmate as he and three co-accused were found guilty on murder charges
- … And one juror will also likely join them behind bars after he was caught trying to bribe a fellow juror
- It’s been a rough year for JADCO, but the anti-doping programme is back in WADA’s good graces
- After a drawn-out Cuban light bulb trial, no one was surprised when Kern Spencer walked free
- Some 1.1 million Jamaicans are living below the poverty line
- Parents in St Thomas were found to be pimping out their daughters
- Fat or fluffy? Whatever label we put on it, 80 per cent of Jamaican women are overweight
- Calabar’s Javon Francis broke Usain Bolt’s 400m Champs record
- Calabar and Edwin Allen ruled the roost at Champs 2014
- JUTC reclaimed routes in the Kingston Metropolitan Transport Region
- Debt and public-sector wages are to accounted for nearly 70 per cent of the $539.3-billion budget, which included the controversial bank withdrawal tax
- US embargo forced suspension of Cuban shoppers at PriceSmart Jamaica
- PATH beneficiaries received a 15 per cent increase in benefits
- Drought on the land! The beginning of the water crisis forced school closures
