Transparency and Accountability are not merely convenient words in good governance Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (31 August 2022) — Commitment to “Transparency and Accountability” are precepts for good governance and rule of law in modern civilized society. These are not just words to be spoken, they are action words which define the character of leadership in governments and societies at large. It is tiresome to hear political leaders claim that they adhere to these precepts when in fact...
Unable to rebut the message, Jamaican government attacks the messenger Ambassador Curtis A. Ward “Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.” Sir Walter Scott, 1808 (20 August 2022) – An interpretation ascribed to this verse from Sir Walter Scott’s “Marmion”, is “when you lie or act dishonestly, you are initiating problems and a domino structure of complications which eventually run out of control.” A major problem with some governments is that they...
Disrespect to Jamaicans who leave Jamaica Dahlia Walker-Huntington, Esq. (14 August 2022) — The remarks of Montego Bay’s Deputy Mayor that “Only cowards run away to go to America because they are seeking out opportunity” smacks of ignorance at the highest levels. How could a politician in Jamaica who reads the newspapers, listens to the news, or is on social media make such an ill-informed, public statement? Jamaicans for generations have been travelers – from the pioneers in...
Call for transparency and factual details of Jamaican Government expenditure on Kamina Johnson Smith’s failed Commonwealth Secretary-General bid! Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (09 August 2022) — Since release by the Jamaican government on August 7th of the long-awaited response to repeated demands for transparency and disclosure of the cost to Jamaican taxpayers for the unsuccessful bid of Foreign Minister Kamina Johnson-Smith to serve as Commonwealth Secretary-General, the...
Mark Golding, Leader of Opposition & PNP President calls for progressive leadership to advance Caribbean regional integration by Ambassador Curtis A. Ward “We cannot stand still. We must take action to achieve the benefits of regional integration. We must move forward with confidence, commitment, and abundant energy. Standing united and acting together, we in the Caribbean can fulfil the promise of a brighter future for all our peoples.” — Hon. Mark Golding, M.P. (02 August...
Our Jamaican Republic – the Bread & Butter Issues Rosalea Hamilton, PhD (26 July 2022) — There is much discussion about establishing a Jamaican Republic, i.e., a state without a Monarch where the people are sovereign, and the related comprehensive constitutional reform being proposed by the government. For many Jamaicans, this move is inconsequential because it seems unconnected to their day-to-day struggles to “eat a food” and “step up inna life.” Even the more affluent...
The Caribbean: Lessons and Outcomes from the IX Summit of the Americas Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (11 July 2022) – The Summit The IX Summit of the Americas (Summit) while providing no history-making policy declaration, offered some insights into the Biden Administration’s hemispheric policy and discernment of U.S. pragmatism in the Americas. The Biden Administration included some important hemispheric issues on the agenda and offered U.S. partnership to deal with them. I anticipate...
University of the West Indies’ Dilemma Adam Raffoul (12 June 2022) – On June 2, 2022, the Trinidad & Tobago government, due to financial constraints, announced its decision to cut its annual subvention to the University of the West Indies St Augustine campus (UWI St. Augustine) by 10% from TT $517.1 million a year. This has plunged the university into a deficit, with campus administrators proposing an increase in tuition of 25-71%, depending on the programme. The government has...
Human Trafficking: Understand it to End it! Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (08 June 2022) — While the human trafficking scourge is an abhorrent and widespread criminal activity in every country, operating as major domestic and transnational criminal enterprises, human trafficking seldom receives media attention except when law enforcement shuts down an operation and make multiple arrests. Generally, law enforcement actions of this nature are transnational in nature and result from cooperation...
Putin’s aggression in Ukraine: Lessons from Milosevic and the Balkans Ambassador Curtis A. Ward Many of the images we see in Ukraine today are reminiscent of the horrors we saw during the Balkans wars of the 1990s, only worse. While the Balkans wars were a complex series of conflicts involving ethnic cleansing and independence driven insurgencies which resulted in break up of the former Yugoslavia into newly independent states in Europe, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is an act of aggression...
