Roleli Speaks

Today May 1, the toll rates on Highway 2000 officially move up. It is very interesting how this was done. As stated in another blog as part of the contract or terms of agreement they are allow do so. The increase is interestingly based on the U.S. inflation rate and changes in the value of the Jamaican dollar the United States dollar. The Jamaican dollar has slipped from US$ 60:1 to US$65.50:1 over the last 2 years while inflation has run at over 20% over the last 2 years. However over that period, many motorists were shackled by the MOU between the government and the public sector workers. Also of interest is that by the end of June the Portmore residents should be paying the toll if the builders of the highway meet their stated deadline of June 2006.

Maxfield Bakery seems to be all sold on Buns at least on-line. I went to check the Maxfield Bakery web site, on Tuesday April 11, 2006, to look the prices of Easter Bun on-line. To my shock I was greeted by the notice below. It seems that Maxfield is doing extremely well with this on-line venture. For years they advertised and marketed this service on Go-Jamaica.com & Jamaica-Gleaner.com along with other sites. In later years they even added to the advertising mix online an audio advertising clip on or before the Power106 FM stream. This was a good case of advertising to a niche overseas of Jamaicans scattered around the world by using web sites, on-line properties, that they new their target market visited. It would be good if other Jamaican advertisers followed suit. nb: The actual URL http://www.maxfieldbakery.com/(hrisug55brvue1ubixfd4hel)/default1.aspx I suspect that the notice will be removed soon so I took a screenshot.

Well Flow , a new entrant in the internet Service Provider(ISP) market in Jamaica, is here and once again Cable and Wireless Jamaica(CWJ) find themselves challenged. Flow Jamaica is getting ready to roll out their Internet service bundled with landline and digital subscribe channels to residential customers for as low as US$10(J$650).The promised bandwidth sounds better that CWJ but seeing in Jamaica is believing. They have a big advantage over most of the other ISPs in Jamaica in that they have their own fibrelink out of the Island. I have heard it is 250 GB/s link. When Digicel came, with their hype and in reality better service, I stuck with my CWJ cell phone because honestly I was having no real problems so I never rushed and got a Digicel phone.That was despite the fact that nearly everyone I knew was getting on the supposed 'bigger better network'. I think though I might behave differently when it comes to internet Service. I started with Colis, in those BBS days, then to...

I have noticed with concern an increase in the number of incidents of disabled or broken down Jamaica Urban Transportation Company(JUTC) buses on the roads of Kingston & St. Andrew. It now seems like everyday I am likely to encounter one if not two cases. This must be taken in the context that I don't spend much time on the road. I mostly drive to work in the mornings and back home in the afternoons. Is the maintenance program at the JUTC not going to plan? Or is this part of the short-sighted 'cost saving' measures to delay the time between maintenance? Someone should investigate and find out what is going on at the JUTC as it relates to maintenance. I surely would not want to be a commuter on one of those buses when they break down. The JUTC is already facing stiff competition from the taxis, illegal and legal ,and an unreliable service certainly will not help their cause.

It is no surprise and it was expected, the cigar smoking cowboy lawyer has thrown in the towel. Given the cowboy taunts that were thrown the way of 'Sister P', it was coming. I was always thinking how was this well-spoken educated lawyer going to present his reports at a cabinet meeting. Imagine 'Sista P' stating something like can you give a report on your ministry but oh I need a written one. I am not sure he could take kindly to that. He would have found himself constantly trying to refrain from uttering a few 'choice jamaican words'. The Minister of Misinformation has also indicated that he too will be leaving. As the crowning of Sister P draws near, interesting days are ahead. We now wait to see who will step aside voluntarily and who will be pushed. Related Knight Leaving the Round Table

The police must be congratulated in working to change the missing person policy. Before the change it required that a person must be missing for more that 24 hours before a report could be made and the police could take action. The family of Jamie-lue Chin had who was killed in December knew something was wrong but they were told the police had to wait 24 hours. Now once the person is missing from a place(s) of frequency for more that an usual time and no contact has been made, the matter can be reported to the police who will now act. This is a definite step in the right direction. The police are asking that once persons show up though that the complainants t inform them of this so that those persons can be removed from the list. There were over 1500 missing persons in Jamaica in 2005. Related Missing policy change

It is good news as the director of Public Production in Jamaica has directed that a policeman is to be charged in connection to the death Corporal Grantly Waite. In November of 2005, Corporal Grantly Waite was badly beaten at a Police Station in Mount Salem, St James and later succumbed to his wounds in hospital. Happily this has not gone the way of the Micheal Gayle case. Someone will now have to answer for this gruesome crime. Related Cop Beaten Dies Cops Batter Cop

The operators of Highway 2000 have requested a toll increase of 12 1/2% on average for the different categories of motor vehicles. As part of the contract or terms of agreement they are allow do so. The increase is interestingly based on the U.S. inflation rate and changes in the value of the Jamaican dollar the United States dollar. Use of the toll road. On the week-ends, with my journeys to the north coast of Jamaica I have often opted to use the Mandela to Spanish Town leg of Highway 2000. What I noticed was that but for a few other motorists I was generally on my own. So one week-end on my way out of Kingston I decided to try the old route which is Mandela Highway (Ferry) through Central Village unto the Spanish Town Bypass then unto the Bog Walk Gorge. Interestingly I found that the old route indeed seems shorter and I will be checking the distance next time. Also the time I took was about the same if not less. Since then, I have not used the Highway to leave Kingston but I stil...

If you think statistics lie then I am convinced that some polls create lies. There is a country with a population of about 2,700,000 where 1670 people were murdered in 2005. In this same country well over 1500 persons were listed as missing in 2005 and many others violently injured with many coming close to death's door. In this country a pollster has returned results suggesting that most residents feel safe. 83% of Jamaicans to be exact feel safe reports a Jamaica Gleaner headline of March 15, 2006. It is either that the persons questioned just did not understand what feeling safe meant or I don't understand. The first thing about the headline is that it says most Jamaicans feel safe. This might be seen as misleading as when you read the article you recognize that it actually says most Jamaicans feel safe in their community. The second thing is that this number drops by roughly 20% to only 66%, feeling safe, when they have had to leave their communities to run errands, go to w...

There are times we feel the quality of customer service meted out especially to Jamaicans in Jamaica is oh so disappointing. This is not always the case as there are so many cases that highlight the opposite and make us proud but they are often not mentioned. At times they are buried in the inner pages of the newspapers and they don't make the home pages of websites. Here are two wonderful cases I would like to share with you. Excellent service in the Hospital The first case was to be found in the Gleaner's Hospitality Jamaica edition of February 22, 2006 in an article written by Janet Silvera. In the article she talked about the excellent customer service she had received not at a hotel, not at a restaurant, not at a big bank but at a hospital. So impressed was Ms. Silvera that she even referred to the hospital as a hotel and recommended hotel practitioners to take a lesson or two from this institution. She spared no effort in praising the doctors and the nurses for their fiv...

The PNP presidential race involved four trains, Prosperity, Solid as a Rock, 21st century and Team Portia. We will now review the performance of the teams. The prosperity train it turns out was simple on the wrong track. The prediction of the number of delegates that would vote for the prosperity train was so wrong that is was even worse than Dr. Davies's projections for economic growth and lower inflation over the last 13 years. The prosperity train failed to ignite any support from the delegates as they said it was prosperity not for many and asked unity in which community? Dr. Davis was left puzzled and clueless as to how come he only got 283 votes. The return on investment (ROI) of this campaign must have been very bad, what with radio, TV, newspaper and website expenditures. There was serious disconnect here with the delegates as while the economy is taking off into the air the delegates (and the country) seem to have missed the launch. The Solid as a Rock train was on the rig...

I knew the daughter of the slain SSP McDonald and I shared her grief as his murder was brutal and cold. Yesterday the man charged with his murder was set free after the judge upheld a no-case submission by the defence lawyers. The jurors were instructed to return a not-guilty verdict. The guilty man had been in detention since March 2004 and now 2 years later he was being set free. There has got to be something wrong in this case. The case depended on the word of two eye-witnesses. They had never seen the accused before but where able, in an area not known for wonderful light, to see him well enough to later positively identify him. When the defence lawyers made a noise about the poor identification in the case the judge was also not pleased and had no choice. Where was the additional evidence? Detention That is one thing, but the other is that this possibly truly innocent man has spent almost two years behind bars. He on one hand must feel relieved that justice has been served but on ...

As the PNP presidential race drags on the contest seems to becoming a two person race. There have been many interesting comments, statements and announcements. The overall puzzling ones have to do with how it seems that once they are set free, from the shackles of the present leader of Jamaica and the party, they are going to turn around Jamaica from the mess it is in. Where were all these plans and ideas in the last fifteen (15) years? Keep in mind that all four candidates have been influential members of the cabinet in those years. There have been other statements that have also caught my ears. A supporter of one candidate, who is also a member of the cabinet, was reported to say that you have to vote for a leader that does not always need a sheet of paper in hand every time they need to make a speech. That statement has been followed by another that went something to the effect that you need a leader who does not need to get the topic or questions on deep issues three hours before...

In a December blog I attempted to highlight the importance of giving blood. I also tried in a limited way to explain the differences in blood group and type and the significance. On Tuesday February 7, 2006, in a article in the Observer, Ken Chaplin shared his " No Blood close call " experience. It is an interesting read so if you missed it please take the time to look at it. It turns out that Ken Chaplin's blood type is A- which is a one of the rarer types and he was now in need. The Blood Bank in Jamaica generally has limited supplies of blood so it was no surprise that there was a problem providing the A- blood requested. The fact that Ken Chaplin was a blood donor was of no help as he found himself in a situation where he had to turn to the media to appeal to other blood donors to come forward in his time of need. To the credit of his friends and other Jamaicans they did. One such donor is a close of friend of mine who has the rare blood type O-. She can donate to a...

After reading an article by Senator Chris Tufton, I could understand why the learned Senator is puzzled but there is a possible explanation. I would like to provide that explanation and some analysis. Two quotes from the article read as follows. “SENATOR Christopher Tufton wants the Statistical Institute (STATIN) and the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) to explain why official figures show that while unemployment is being reduced, the number of young people not seeking work continues to grow.” According to the Jamaica Observer Senator Chris Tufon said that of a population of over 665,000 people who are 14 years old and older, 325,000 were in the "did not want to work" category and placed outside the labour force. Please note I do not support or condone any of these professions I am about to outline as I am just presenting a case. When a field officer attempts to ask persons what they do, the responses cannot be noted or voiced due to their sometimes illegitimate or unacce...

I have been used to working late at my office for the last few years with no real fear. Lately though after much pleading from some of my close friends I have re-considered my position and since 2006 I have been making a conscious effort to leave early. Reasons The killing of the priests in 2005 where one bullet took snuffed out 2 lives shook me. I was at work that night and left after the shooting unaware of the tragedy that had occurred a few hundred feet from my office. I drive past that address most days after leaving work. Then there was the shooting of man on the same road. This was followed into this year an incident where a staff bus was hit by cross-fire and persons injured. There are also three incidents of bullets lodged in different windows of the building I work in. This fear drives people to want to leave work early, to think of leaving work quickly and sometimes to quite simply ask why am I working here. The fear generated by crime is a big problem. Although I believe in...

The Jamaican police are in the news again. It was announced a few days ago that murders in Jamaica for the month of January 2006 were down by 23% when compared to January 2005. That is good news. How much that has to do with the effort of the police another thing but it is still good news. Then comes the news that a female cop aided by civilians took it unto themselves to beat a male cop. The Observer reports that there was an accident involving a vehicle driven by the male cop and another in which the female cop appeared to be a passenger. Instead of trying to resolve the incident peacefully, the off duty male cop was dragged from his vehicle, abused and beaten by a civilian while at some point the female cop points her gun at him. What madness is this? The level of the madness increases based on the fact that he even attempted to identify himself to no avail. This happens to occur in the same parish, St. James, where a policeman, Coporal Grantly Waite, was beaten and subsequently ...

On Wednesday, January 22, 2006, I paid the price for not thinking. I had journeyed to downtown Kingston Jamaica, a place I hate because of the parking issue. After completing my first task of making a delivery at the Administrator General's Office I decided to sit down get something to eat and pen a few thoughts for a report I was preparing. I saw a spot by Burger King on King Street and decided that this must be a nice place to park. No "No Parking" signs, no curb painted yellow and the parking area looked similar to spots all along King Street on both sides of the road. So I parked my car and went inside Burger King where they ran me out because they were closed while asking me how did I get in? I pointed out that the door was open. They said they were locked and the door should have been locked. I decided to try Juici Patties instead just across the street. I am vegetarian but will have fish at times. I purchased my meal of 2 vegetable loaves and sat down and ate while...

A January 22, 2006, the Prime Minister of Jamaica at a Peoples National Party's NEC conference announced the date and place for the PNP's presidential elections. The election exercises he announced would be held at the National Arena on February 25, 2006. This was to be the beginning of the real drama. JBU Clash It turns out that this was again a pie in the sky announcement. It seems the Prime Minister kept the date and place close to his chest and any feeble attempts to see if the National Arena was really available was poor to say the least. The National Arena was booked by the Jamaica Baptist Union(JBU) for the Saturday February 25 and Sunday February 26, 2006. Although the JBU conference was to be on the Sunday, the JBU needed the Saturday to make preparations. In the days following the announcements we heard of meetings to see if the PNP and the JBU could broker a compromise. Eventually we heard of a possible compromise where the JBU would make preparations before, during ...

Amazing! Jamaicans no longer need a visa to travel to Columbia and even more amazing is that Colombians no longer need a visa to travel to Jamaica. This comes on the heels of a decision of the Jamaican government, in response to visa restrictions imposed on Jamaicans by the Cayman Islands (November 1, 2005), to impose visa requirements on Caymanians coming to Jamaica beginning December 1, 2005. Now with no hard feelings to the innocent people of Columbia, which country would you prefer having people being able to visit Jamaica without visas, Columbia or Cayman? Related Gleaner: Vistors from Cayman need Visa Observer: No Visa for Columbia