Ganja boom - Farmers will turn to crime if sugar industry crumbles - study
Failure to save the ailing sugar industry could result in a spike in crime, including an increase in marijuana production and prostitution, as displaced workers try to make ends meet, a study has revealed. The social impact assessment was commissioned by the Planning Institute ...

Ban carnival too, says Ras Kassa
ONE OF Jamaica's leading music video directors, Gerald 'Ras Kassa' Hynes, believes the Broadcasting Commission's clampdown on explicit content should target the airing of other risqué productions such as carnival parades, not only dancehall...

'Rampin' debate rages
Vybz Kartel and Spice's Rampin Shop is doing more harm than good to the psyche of our Jamaican youth. Our Jamaican artistes ... need to understand that they have a greater responsibility to contribute to the behaviour modification of our young people...

Shari-Jo set to cast spell over Scripps rivals
Jamaica's new Gleaner's Children's Own Spelling Bee champion, Shari-Jo Miller, has shifted her focus to a new level. She is keen to take on the challenge of the United States Scripps National Spelling Bee Competition won by Jody-Anne Maxwell a decade ago...

New OUR boss appointed
Zia Mian has been appointed director general of the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR).Mian's appointment becomes effective today, approximately nine months after the resignation of former Director General J. Paul Morgan...

Health sector may buckle if bird flu hits, says expert - Infection could hamper workforce - Hospital bed-capacity woes loom - Caribbean water systems at risk
(Panos): Jamaica's already fragile public-health system could be severely burdened if there is an outbreak of the bird flu, which some health experts predict could occur by next year."The nature of the impact will depend on the severity of the pandemic"...

A faithful few vs an indifferent majority
WHILE WE recognise that not all members of a parliamentary committee might, at any one time, be in attendance at committee meetings for various reasons, including ministerial appointments and other constituency demands, the problem of absenteeism and flagrant tardiness...