Job cuts loom

AN IMPENDING wave of job cuts triggered by the slowdown of the global economy has spurred Jamaica's Labour Minister Pearnel Charles to schedule a meeting with trade unions this week to head off the developing crisis.

According to Charles, several companies have indicated to the ministry that they will send home hundreds, if not thousands, of workers in the coming months.

"Based on the state of the talks, I cannot name the entities as some have not even spoken to their workers yet," Charles told The Gleaner editors at a forum last week.

"We have to take preventative measures and that's what we are doing now. We are in discussions with the trade unions and the management of various companies to see how we can manage the inevitable."

Also in the news last week ...

Victory in vain

Despite scoring a courageous 3-0 victory over Canada in their Group Two semi-final round match at 'The Office' on Wednesday night, Jamaica's Reggae Boyz were eliminated from CONCACAF 2010 World Cup qualifying on goal difference.

Luton Shelton (28th), Marlon King (56th penalty) and Omar Cummings (85th) scored for Jamaica. Canada's Charles Gbeke had a goal disallowed in time added to the second half.

Victory in front of a sell-out crowd of nearly 40,000 pushed Jamaica to 10 points, the same as Mexico, who claimed second in the group after their 1-0 loss in San Pedro Sula to hosts Honduras, who topped the group with 12 points.

Only two teams qualify, and with goal difference being the tie-breaker, Mexico, who scored nine and conceded six times, came out better at +3, while Jamaica cancelled itself out to zero after scoring six and conceding as much.

Death penalty vote on Tuesday

Prime Minister Bruce Golding late Wednesday afternoon moved a motion for the adjournment of the House, effectively suspending the debate on hanging until the next sitting. Golding said this was done to give members who were not in attendance an opportunity to vote.

Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller was noticeably absent from the sitting.

Contributions made by Members Parliament during the debate over the retention of the death penalty, which began last week in the House of Representatives, suggest most members are ready to give a lifeline to the irreversible punishment.

Another board goes

The directors of the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) have joined the growing list of public-sector executives, appointed by the 13-month-old Jamaica Labour Party government, to resign.

At least five members of the JTB board stressed last week that the resignations were willingly submitted to allow Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett to install a team to weather the new challenges facing the industry.

Gleaner sources have indicated the new team will be led by John Lynch, who will be appointed executive chairman and director of tourism. Lynch was, up to Monday, chairman of the board.

Shooting at JLP conference

Gunfire disrupted the 65th annual conference of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) on Sunday sparking a stampede at the National Arena. According to a statement from the JLP, the violence was triggered by an altercation between men that resulted in a policeman shooting one dead inside the arena. Two others were rushed to hospital after they were also shot.

In a reaction, General Secretary Karl Samuda declared that the party will not yield to hooligans aiming to disrupt its business.

"If it happens again, the Jamaica Labour Party will never terminate a conference under those condi-tions," Samuda told The Gleaner in reaction to whispered criticism that the conference should have been called off after the incident. "We will not yield to the hooligan elements."

DCP Shields out of JCF February

Mark Shields will cease being a member of the Jamaica Consta-bulary Force (JCF) next February.

The Ministry of National Security last week said Shields, the deputy commissioner of police (DCP) in charge of the crime portfolio, declined the offer of a one-year extension to his contract, which expires at the end of February 2009.

"Appropriate steps will be taken to acknowledge DCP Shields' contribution to the JCF and to thank him for his service," stated a release from the ministry.

Attempts to reach Shields for comment yesterday were unsuccessful.