Profits plunge at Red Stripe

“Our brands continue to be highly visible through advertising and marketing spend. However, we are yet to see the upturn in domestic beer volumes,” Red Stripe reported, admitting that traditional marketing tools have so far failed to break the back of the business fall-off.

“We have been successful this year in re-entering the music arena (and) the innovation programme delivered Red Stripe Bold, Dragon Stout Spitfire and several variants of Smirnoff flavours into the Jamaican marketplace,” Red Stripe said of its strategic market moves over the year.

Red Stripe’s Managing Director Alan Barnes

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20100903/business/business4.html

Scotia loses $150 million in card scams

“Our challenge for efficiency is to make sure that we are continuing to upgrade our system so that we catch those as quickly as possible and we can shut down the problem before a lot of money is lost. But that is a very significant problem,” he said. “Using our point of sale machines, ABMs, it is globally and in Jamaica a huge issue,”

Scotia Group CEO Bruce Bowen Bowen

we are training you to recognise the signs

“We cannot be there at the point of sale, that is why we are training you to recognise the signs. It is very important that you acquire and apply this knowledge, because we are just going to have to sever ties if you cannot control the frauds at your location. If we determine that you were irresponsible, or worse, complicit with (fraudsters) we are going to blacklist you,”

NCB’s risk management and securities officer Richard Patterson

how much the service would cost customers?

“If you can afford to buy a patty and a cocobread, you can afford to buy this,”

LIME Mobile TV project manager Akil Strachan

“This is more G”

"This solidifies our position as the largest telecommunications network provider in Jamaica and the Caribbean," said Dehring

“This solidifies our position as the largest telecommunications network provider in Jamaica and the Caribbean,” said Dehring at the launch held at the SportsMax Zone in New Kingston.

In reference to the launch of 4G internet by competitors Digicel last week, Dehring said the introduction of LIME Mobile is better than 4G.

“This is more G,” he said. “They can’t do this on their mobile network.”

LIME chairman and chief marketing officer Chris Dehring

Mind Your BlackBerry or Mind Your Manners

Mr. Brotherton, the consultant, wrote in an e-mail message that it was customary now for professionals to lay BlackBerrys or iPhones on a conference table before a meeting — like gunfighters placing their Colt revolvers on the card tables in a saloon. “It’s a not-so-subtle way of signaling ‘I’m connected. I’m busy. I’m important. And if this meeting doesn’t hold my interest, I’ve got 10 other things I can do instead.’ ”

Digicel all set to unveil 4G Broadband offering

“In Jamaica we have more than a hundred per cent mobile penetration. So if customers are using their mobile phones then they are paying for a landline that is not being regularly used. So one of the things we will be able to do is offer Internet access to customers who can now get rid of their landline telephones. Then there are 147,000 customers that do not have computers, so in order to improve Internet penetration we have to improve PC penetration. So a key part of our strategy is to provide low-cost access to computers. We are working with retailers and distributors to provide finance and bundle arrangements for PCs, laptops, netbooks and our other products. Internet access is one thing, but you have to enable people to get PCs.”

Digicel Group WiMax CEO Alex Boothroyd,

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business/Digicel-all-set-to-unveil-4G-Broadband-offering_7875517

4G what does that mean?

Can 4G technology do this? Chairman of LIME Jamaica, Chris Dehring, tunes in to CNN news on his LIME mobile phone.

“People tell you about the wonderful new technology they can offer but you have to ask them, really, what can you do? I must admit that I do get easily fooled by marketing. Now I hear people talking about launching 4G, but what does that mean? Does it even exist? Can you use it to watch CNN on your phone like this ? (promptly whips out his phone to demonstrate) If it’s 4G, can it do this? I know LIME can do this, watch live CNN on the phone.

LIME Caribbean chief marketing officer and chairman of LIME Jamaica, Chris Dehring, at a media briefing in Kingston.

LIME investing US$600 million in 13 business units across the region

“Over the next five years, we intend to invest more than US$600 million in our 13 business units across the region to improve the services that we offer, and to roll out the kind of new technologies and innovative services that will help us to retain our present customers and attract new ones,”

LIME Caribbean chief marketing officer and chairman of LIME Jamaica, Chris Dehring, at a media briefing in Kingston.

JDF gets new ‘rules of engagement’

“I am confident that this new training system will significantly improve members of the JDF’s understanding of the rules within which they must operate, while giving them the confidence to get on and do their job in support of the police. Most important, it will reduce the chances of innocent civilians being killed or injured during JDF operations,”

British Defence adviser Colonel Neil Salisbury

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20100813/news/news3.html

Bartlett fires back at critics

“Every industry has its challenges …. but the fact is that we do have a strong team. We have done our work properly. We have done it well, and I dare say we have done it better than most, if not everyone else in the Caribbean, and I am very proud of the performance of the tourism industry under my watch so far.”

Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20100813/news/news5.html

State punishing persons who have failed in business under the bankruptcy laws.

“You need to be able to say to people that, at the end of the day, if what you did was to develop a good brand, a good product, but you had run into difficulties, it can’t be that the only option is to chop up the company and its assets and sell it off. There must be a way to rescue what it is that you have built, shelter it and have it re-emerge,”

Milton Samuda, president of the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce, during a Gleaner Editors’ Forum

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20100813/news/news1.html

competent leadership with high levels of integrity

“This country desperately requires competent leadership with high levels of integrity, which is truly committed to the principles of sustainable national development and repudiates the duplicity, cronyism and the tacit endorsement of criminal gangs that has dogged our politics for generations.”

Earl Delisser, president of the NDM

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20100813/news/news4.html

Bolt loses $53m after early end to season

The 23-year-old Jamaican is easily one of the hottest properties in global athletics, and sports in general. Checks with individuals close to the athlete, as well as industry insiders, reveal he currently commands an appearance fee of approximately US$300,000 (J$26.7 million) for major meets, not taking into account bonuses and endorsement deals.

Bolt, who has competed in six high-profile international meets this season, including four Diamond League outings, is estimated to have earned in the region of US$1.8 million (J$153 million) in appearance fees alone this year, excluding bonuses and endorsement benefits.

http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20100813/lead/lead5.html

Survival of the fittest, EXIM boss tells farmers

Lisa Bell, chief executive officer of the EXIM Bank. - Photos by Ian Allen/Photographer

“I am a little bit wary because it sounds like protection to me … and I am very aware of what protection has done to this country. It is why sugar is the way it is. It is why banana is the way it is, because we have stayed in the mode of protection for so long that we did not see the new wave of competition and how world trade operates to move forward.”

Chief Executive Officer Export-Import (EXIM) Bank, Lisa Bell,

“If we hear that you are going to be negotiating, say, with Panama, from where I sit there are going to be two opportunities: one is to sell chips in Panama, or to make chips in Panama. That’s the opportunity,” Martin told representatives of the foreign ministry, who accused the private sector of lack of involvement in trade consultations which could result in the signing of agreements that are disadvantageous to local producers.

“I can’t contribute to that discussion unless I go there (Panama) and see what the market opportunity is, understand who is growing what (and) what’s the cost of energy; what’s the cost of oil, and then make a decision about what it is you need put in that agreement to suit us,”argued the Jamaica Producers Group executive.

David Martin, general manager in charge of snacks for the Jamaica Producers Group.

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20100811/news/news4.html

MSME Alliance to mourn “death” of small business

“The organizers intend to bring to the attention of the government and the public that many MSMEs have folded under the tremendous pressures of the global recession, worsened by high JPS (Jamaica Public Service Company) bills, the new tax measures, high interest rates especially for MSMEs without collateral, high and growing bank charges, business closure during the state of emergency, criminality, praedial larceny, among other challenges,” said the release. “While several MSMEs have died, more and more people are opening businesses with the hope that they can survive and grow in these troubling times.”

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business/MSME-Alliance-to-mourn–death–of-small-business_7870293

Family businesses getting PSOJ focus

“I believe there is very good evidence that this conundrum — high levels of FDI coexisting with low growth — has a lot to do with the fact that as a country we have failed to mobilise our SME sector through a wide range of policy initiatives that would have served to encourage the sector,” he added. These initiatives, he said, include “better access to credit, the creation of an enabling business environment and a competitive tax regime that encourages entrepreneurship.”

PSOJ president Joseph M Matalon

The political culture is antagonistic

It is known that there is nothing ‘national’ about our politics that the PNP and JLP will agree to. The political culture is antagonistic and it is always based on snatching power and holding on to it. As example, when Opposition Leader Portia Simpson-Miller suggested that if Golding was really interested in winning the State of Emergency (SOE) extension vote recently he should have carried all of his troops to Parliament, she was playing to the divisive politics she knew.

‘Dudus’ was close to controlling PNP votes

“What a lot of you journalists failed to realise is that he was always trying to go legit, to drop the demons that haunted his father, ‘Jim Brown’. The signal was that Seaga list. Although Tivoli was his home base, in the 15 years after 1994 he had amassed so much power in garrison communities of every colour that if he truly wanted, he could have told many PNP to jump for the JLP and they most likely would have.”

Said the man: “Dudus was close to, if he wanted to, to give the JLP about six of the PNP garrisons. For that reason, he was the most powerful man in the country. The JLP needed him to stay and the PNP wanted him to go but not for the grand reasons given.”

When I asked him about ‘Dudus’ and his ability to swing PNP votes to the JLP he said: “All I can say is, if the man decided to pass through an area and leave certain directives, those orders would be carried out. Remember now, when he escaped from Tivoli, he went through Denham Town then through Jungle. If he could pass through one of the strongest PNP garrisons untouched, who knows, maybe he could do what your JLP activist friend said he could.”

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/Blaine-will-need-much-more-than-God_7860889

unheard of in the 43 year history of the JSE

The Lasco management team, on the other hand, has set its sights on marketing its offer to over 10,000 public sector workers. The Lascelles Chin led group, which is projecting to raise $490 million from the IPO of three entities – Lasco Distribution, Lasco Financial and Lasco Manufacturing, can give the JSE a boost in participation while building both the JSE and Lasco brands. And this is the type of awareness that the JSE and the investing community on a whole has been striving for.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business/Has-Lasco-found-the-model-to-get-Jamaicans-investing-in-the-JSE_785482

next quarter will be somewhat more challenging

“We anticipate that the next quarter will be somewhat more challenging, having regard to the increasingly competitive media environment and the fact that most regional economies continue to experience difficulty,” Sir Fred said. “In response to the sharp contraction in the market for advertising revenue the group continues to place greater focus on innovative and strategic initiatives aimed at cost containment and the general improvement of operational efficiency.”

One Caribbean Media Group chairman Sir Fred Gollop

Wyclef Jean is running for President of Haiti

“Overall, Haiti needs to be re-imagined. There was so much devastation from the earthquake, the country has the opportunity not just to rebuild but transform approaches from overall infrastructure and, construction, to education, business and politics. Can Wyclef Jean do that through the power of his passion for his country and its people? The country needs more than marketing. It needs highly dedicated, and ethical individuals in government, business and social services to collaborate surrounding a new vision for the country. The question is could he galvanize that collaboration and does he have the long-term will to keep up the fight for change?”

Cause marketing legend, Carol Cone

http://www.fastcompany.com/1677960/why-wyclef-deserves-a-chance

Port of Spain most murderous district

By Akile Simon akile.simon@trinidadexpress.com

PORT OF SPAIN, the capital city, is the most murderous district in the country over last five years with 657 people being murdered, crime statistics have revealed.

The statistics were obtained under the Freedom of Information Act from the Ministry of National Security.

Of the 2,475 murders committed between January 2005 and June 2010 throughout the county, 545 were detected. Up to late yesterday, the murder toll stood at 308.

East Port of Spain, once described as one of the most dangerous places in the country, has shown a decline in killings.

The 657 murders which occurred in the Port of Spain Division was the highest toll within the nine policing districts, between January 2005 and June of this year.

Seventy-four of the 657 killings were detected.

Freeze on waivers: Government moves to reduce budget deficit

“Distributors and others are constantly seeking waivers. We are under pressure to grant licences to import products on the one hand, because some business people will say to you, we can’t get enough tomatoes for example. The JAS, on the other hand, will say to you, don’t ‘leggo’ no licences or waivers, and (agriculture) Minister Chris Tufton has not been unwilling to say to some of the most powerful, no, you not getting any waiver,”

Prime Minister Bruce Golding addressing the closing ceremony of the 58th annual Denbigh Agricultural and Industrial Show in Clarendon.

Private sector urged to invest more in agriculture

“We want the private sector to look seriously now at investment in agriculture. We used to appeal, a great deal, for the private sector financial institutions to lend money to agriculture. We want them to do more than that. We want them to invest in agriculture, and investment in agriculture doesn’t mean investment in putting crops in the ground,” Golding said.

“It doesn’t necessarily mean investing in raising livestock. If you’re investing in that part of agriculture that ensures that the farmer can produce because there is a market, and the farmer is assured that no matter how much he produces there is a market, and the price is reasonably safe, you are investing in agriculture.”

Prime Minister Bruce Golding addressing the closing ceremony of the 58th annual Denbigh Agricultural and Industrial Show in Clarendon.

The man of medicine and laughter

“It’s the weirdest thing. People see me on TV and might not know it’s me, and when they come into the office and see me, is like they’re confused or they just start to laugh. Everybody tek me for poppyshow now. But you know, I always tell people you have to have a balance between your job, family, and the stuff that interests you. I have my job, my family and this is what interests me, and it’s working out comfortably”.

Dr Michael Abrahams obstetrician and gynaecologist at the Ruthven Medical Centre.

Natural justice denied PCJ’s Ruth Potopsingh PAC admits

“You cannot have a situation where serious charges have been laid against a professional of long-standing and we by agreement have decided that until you have reached a final conclusion that report cannot be seen by the person.This approach is the anti-thesis of natural justice. She should be privy to the draft audit as a matter of right,”

Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament Dr Omar Davies said.

“Don’t come to Manchester.”

“Anyone who come to Manchester and can’t give an account as to their business here will have to explain to the police,” he said. “If you live here, you must show us. If you have business here, you must show us. But you can’t just come to Manchester for no reason at all… You have to explain yourself.”

“I tell him that Manchester is not a place for him to stay, so I send him off back to Kingston,”

CHIEF of police in Manchester Superintendent Lascelles Taylor

Are we truly emancipated?

“I really don’t think we are truly emancipated. I think that intellectually we are still enslaved. You are hard-pressed, even among our learned people, to find independent thinkers and consequently, ‘waggonists’ are a dime a dozen. People jump to support individuals who promise them betterment on a platter, whether in the church, in community or in employing organisations. People are easily excited by promises of betterment on a platter and that is one of the reasons why con men and scam artistes succeed so readily. People don’t realise if it is too good to be true, it maybe is not true. And so we have a long way to go. True emancipation can only come when each man sees his inherent worth; realises that indigenous is as good as imported; and that the nation’s destiny is but one block at a time with each citizen’s contribution. Then we wouldn’t need the politicians, the State of Emergency or foreign aid. All the raw materials we need are resident in our minds and in our energies, in our creativity and in our coming together as one people.”

Pastor Charles Brevitt of the West Jamaica Conference

NCB squeezes visa card holders. Charges Classic holders exhorbitant rates

“It is ludicrous for any financial institution to come to you and tell you I am going to charge you 49 per cent on something that you have been paying 18 per cent on,”

Sharon Beckford, a client of the commercial bank and a cardholder of both the local and international Visa cards.

Keep Negril party weekend in enclosed structures

Josef Forstmayr

“Come Emancipation weekend, Negril has a noise pollution problem. These parties are held outdoors and take over the entire community. The party organisers keep saying everybody wants to be outdoors and that it works. Well I like to party too and I go to Ibiza and stay up to the break of dawn. In Europe, particularly in Ibiza they had a similar problem and were losing regular tourism business because the mega open-air parties meant visitors couldn’t sleep. So what did they do? They decided to have these parties in covered clubs on the fringes of town. Thy are all indoors and prove better to manage.”

President of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourist Association (CHTA) and Managing Director of Round Hill Hotel and Villas Josef Forstmayr

‘Leave Christie alone’

“Greg Christie’s work is absolutely critical to the democratic process. He may be uncomfortable to live with, but we need him,”. Gomes said his integrity is unquestionable and his legal skills are sound. “I can only judge him by his action and his relentless pursuit to stamp out corruption. One thing I know also, he has never tripped up on a legal point. So, for those who don’t want him, remove him and we will see what, and who you really are. I guarantee that any such move will be an indictment on this country and what we stand for…”.

Dr Carolyn Gomes, executive director of Jamaicans for Justice

brutally honest

“The role of the manager is to be the most honest person that that artiste has around dem. You gotta be brutally honest wid dem, you gotta be able to guide dem in their strengths and help them overcome their weaknesses as an act. You have to have the ability to engage the services of others who can help to move the product forward. You have to have the ability to realise its a product and that you need to take care of the business end of things and you’re not there to be a celebrity like the artiste.”

Producer and manager Jeremy Harding

sacred cows in Jamaica

“Then there is the case of the advertisers. Jamaican media houses more so than most are dependent on advertisers and to incur their wrath means that one cannot pay their bills. Very few Jamaican companies grasp the concept of a free and unshackled press. Many are unable to take it on the chin and shrug it off. There are those who seek vengeance by withdrawing advertising . This means there are certain sacred cows in Jamaica one dare not touch because they call the shots, and if you want to stay in the game and continue to collect a pay cheque you dare not venture there.”

Bruce Golding can escape

“All this means is that Bruce Golding can escape from a media that lacks vigour and so he should do his best not to rile it at this point. The smart play would be to let it work for him over the next two years ensuring there are no scandals or slip-ups. He does not want to be in the media spotlight right now for all the wrong reasons nor does he want to be the subject of probes and inquisition. He wants to be a media darling for all the right reasons. It is not too late from him to extricate himself from this tale of sophistry because after all, politics is the art of the possible. It was possible for him to get away with it once. Perhaps he will be unable to get away with it twice.”

Al Edwards

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business/Golding-must-guard-against-taking-on-the-media_7784289

The Bolt Collection

“Throughout the years, I’ve helped Puma design the track spikes that I compete in, but it’s been fun to get involved in the development of these fitness and lifestyle products,” said Bolt. “The Bolt Crest is a symbol of all that is important to me: running, home, and my country. Being able to put my stamp on these products is an honour. I hope people will like what we’ve created.”

Sprint king Usain Bolt

No dirty money

“One of the things that we must consider is what is happening in the United States. It cannot continue where criminal lawyers are enriching themselves from defending these criminals. I think that it should be ensured that the money that they are using to pay these lawyers is not ill-gotten gains,” said Bartlett in reference to Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke, who will have to prove the source of the money he will use to pay his lawyers.

Understanding the mindset

“I think that it is very important to understand the mindset of many of our legislators who seem to think that there is no distinction between an allegation, an alleged criminal, a suspect and a person who has had the evidence put before the tribunal (court) and have them adjudged through that mechanism,” Goffe said, in an apparent swipe at Bartlett.

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20100704/news/news4.html

MIDDLE-CLASS ENTREPRENEURS IN BARBADOS

“In the Caribbean, the traditional path to a middle-class lifestyle was to get a good education and pursue a job in civil service or the professions. The top scholars went to Oxbridge, got their degrees, and returned to become statesmen and professionals. Becoming an entrepreneur was an option primarily for the white elite and a few “free coloureds” and was generally believed to be reserved for those not smart enough to reap the rewards of a good education.”

http://www.marial.emory.edu/newsletter/Spring%2005/5.pdf

Entrepreneurs in Barbados told to be more innovative

“Innovations improve the quality of life in Barbados by increasing the range of choices available to Barbadian consumers. They enrich people’s lives in numerous ways through enhanced communications, new forms of entertainment and improvements in the delivery of health care. Thus, innovation and entrepreneurship are complementary qualities which would lead to long-term success. Government sees the importance of entrepreneurship in bringing the economy out of this economic slump. Entrepreneurs create new businesses and generate employment for themselves and those they employ. In many instances, entrepreneurial activity increases competition and with technological or operational changes, it can increase productivity.”

Minister of Economic Affairs, Dr David Estwick,

Throw down the weapons

“You might as well turn in your guns, because it doesn’t make sense. Give up. Even if you don’t want to give up, throw down the weapons and we’ll come and pick them up.”

The young  Jamaican soldier and his colleague corporal said.

FTC calls Digicel pricing unfair

“Based on our review of the matter, we conclude that Digicel’s conduct is likely to substantially lessen competition and harm consumers in the fixed and mobile voice services market in Jamaica”

The Fair Trading Commission (FTC)

An inconsistency that cannot last forever

“What is happening now is that the nominal exchange rate is appreciating at the same time when the US inflation rate is less than the Jamaican inflation rate. This is an inconsistency that cannot last forever.”

Economist Dr Peter-John Gordon, fellow at the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute for Social and Economic Studies and a director of the Jamaica Productivity Centre

The Jamaican dollar appreciating is good

“The Jamaican dollar appreciating is good, if sustainable, and prices trend downward. So far, I have only heard of Jamaica Broilers and Wisynco, but many more companies now need to show new prices, lower prices, so that the US-dollar-earning sector, like tourism, is not impacted negatively on the ground,”

President of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association, Wayne Cummings.

Dollar gain hits exporters

“Imports have reduced and there is quite a bit of US dollars on the market, plus inflows from the IMF, but (there is) no production to take that up, and if there is no production to underpin the money in the system, then there is likely to be a massive devaluation if the inflow spent is not used for production,”

Vitus Evans, president of the Jamaica Exporters’ Association.

Jamaica has performed very well

“Jamaica has performed very well under the programme. All quantitative performance targets and structural benchmarks for end-March were met and prospects for meeting the end-June targets and benchmarks appear favourable. It will now be necessary to focus on moving the public sector reform programme forward. In the financial sector, efforts to strengthen the supervisory and regulatory framework are advancing in line with programme expectations. This includes work to enhance capital and margin rules for securities dealers and the introduction of risk-weight rules for foreign-currency denominated government securities.”

Naoyuki Shinohara, deputy managing director and acting chair The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)

we are going to trace, locate and strip them of their assets

“In addition to going after them criminally, we are going to trace, locate and strip them of their assets. We have already earmarked 20 individuals in respect of whom we are going to strip assets and today we are serving papers on one individual (Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke). Many of these gangsters are able to launder ill-gotten gains because they find accommodation in private enterprise, so I think the first move against them is for the private sector to shut them out,” declared Police Commissioner Owen Ellington

Tisona was in fact an Israeli mobster

Tony Abrahams in Tourism

While Tisona had ‘most favoured person’ status in the eyes of the boss in Jamaica House, two ministers in the Seaga-led Government, Tony Abrahams in Tourism and Brascoe Lee in Agriculture, told me, at the time of Tisona’s conviction, that on separate official trips they had made to Israel in the 1980s they were approached by Government officials who told them that Tisona, who was being paraded as an agricultural expert in Jamaica, was in fact an Israeli mobster.

Both men told me that on their return they took the information to Prime Minister Seaga. Tisona continued as the guru of Jamaica’s new launch into high-tech agriculture until it became bankrupt, lost $48 million and continued to rack up debt until the 550 acres of farmland in Clarendon was leased to High-Tech Farms in 2001, a joint venture between Jamaican and Chinese investors. That, too, bombed miserably.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/Seaga-cannot-have-it-both-ways_7721762

Jamaica has some of the richest people in the world

“For a poor country, Jamaica has some of the richest people in the world,” the source remarked last Monday during a late-night hotel room meeting. “Do not be surprised when I tell you that there are some filthy rich Jamaicans with huge financial assets — in such a short period of time — you have to ask, how did they acquire so much wealth so quickly.”

“Jamaica’s debt of US$1.3 trillion could be reduced substantially by the wealth of your people, believe me,” the investigator said.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Another-rich-J-can-under-US-probe_7726628

Bad debt now higher than Olint loss

NON-PERFORMING loans (NPLs) across the financial sector jumped 78 per cent over 12 months to $19.4 billion to March 2010 which equals investments in failed FX trading firm Olint, which was partially blamed for the rise.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business/Bad-debt-now-higher-than-Olint-loss

the intervention could in fact have been much worse

“had this crime offensive taken place last fall when the economic programme was being hammered out, I think it would have been a disaster. Coming now, after the IMF agreement has been inked, the domestic debt restructuring completed, and the peak tourism season behind them, I believe, makes it less financially destructive than it could have been.”

Oppenheimer’s Dr Carl Ross

“Jamaican conflict could not happen at a worse time”.

“Thus far, this complicated adjustment has gone quite well. As recently as 18 May, the IMF stated that all quantitative targets were met without the need for waivers, while “substantial” progress was made on reforms. The impact of this conflict on Jamaica is particularly negative at this time, as the economy was beginning to turn a corner, despite still being technically in a recession. The negative publicity, with images of shootings on mainstream media, reinforces Jamaica’s already unfortunate reputation as one of the Western Hemisphere’s most murderous countries, which could deal a major blow to tourism.”

Moodys international rating agency analyst Alessandra Alecci

committed to leading a business that can survive tough times

“Any redundancy decision is always regrettable, but I am committed to leading a business that can survive tough times by doing what is right to maintain the long-term viability of the company for all the employees and stakeholders and that means downsizing our operation to reflect today’s business imperatives.”

Red Stripe board chairman, Richard Byles

“We are cutting supplies to everyone who is not paying, big or small,”

Last week, a JPS official told The Gleaner that the west Kingston enclave of Tivoli Gardens and seven neighbouring communities were robbing the company of an estimated $271 million in revenue each year.

Hundreds of residents from these communities pay no utility bills, with some persons yet to pay a single electricity bill, although enjoying the service for years.

According to JPS records acquired by The Gleaner, fewer than 30 of the more than 4,000 residents in Tivoli Gardens are registered as customers.

give us some dignity

“We have no problem with a police post. Stay as long as you want. In fact, we welcome it, but give us some dignity,” declared an infuriated tivoli gardens resident.

fight the biggest fight of my life

“I am a man who has been treated like a piece of meat with attorneys who are more concerned with representing themselves to the public than representing me. Almost all my attorneys have effectively left me on my own to try to fight the biggest fight of my life.”

R. Allen Stanford, now known as inmate #35017-183 in the Houston federal detention center. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704080104575286760595101400.html?mod=WSJ_business_whatsNews

cricketers excellence is about the bling and the money they have

“Hilaire noted that the region’s cricketers are not prepared, that the players seem devoid of pride, that all the cricketers speak about is money, that all that matters is instant gratification, that sometimes when you speak to the cricketers you feel a sense of emptiness, that the whole notion of being a West Indian has no meaning at all, that as a region we are producing young men who cannot dream of excellence, and in many cases that is a fact.

More than that, Hilaire said that for the cricketers excellence is about the bling and the money they have, that they are products of the Caribbean society, that it is difficult to replace the present cricketers because half of the Under-19 team can barely read or write, and again, that is a fact.

The lack of ability to read and write must have been what forced coach Ottis Gibson to speak about the lack of “common sense” in the West Indies approach to batting.”

Dr Ernest Hilaire, the chief executive officer of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB)

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20100606/sports/sports10.html