Nine-year-old Nowa Paye is taken to an ambulance after showing signs of the Ebola infection in the village of Freeman Reserve, Liberia, on Tuesday. Aid donations are still inadequate, as the international community tries to increase the ability to care for the spiraling number of people infected with the disease which has hit Liberia the hardest. AP Photo Corey Robinson, Staff Reporter If the Ebola virus should reach Jamaica, doctors at the nation’s hospitals, particularly the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI), do not have the safety gear needed to treat affected persons, and some say they will not expose themselves or their charges by treating Ebola patients. A workshop put on yesterday, in light of the outbreak in Africa, erupted in concerns after it was disclosed that health officials in Jamaica do … Read entire article »

Earl Richards, president of the Airport Authority of Jamaica (AAJ), says the bad publicity that Kingston gets is partially responsible for passenger traffic at the Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA) being 3.5 million below its capacity. “We are working as an airport with the major stakeholders in Kingston. One of the things we want to do is to change the whole profile of Kingston. When we travel to various meetings, conferences, we find that Kingston is given a bad rap, even by Jamaicans,” Richards said. Kingston is often portrayed as being overrun with violence. The AAJ president told Parliament’s Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC) that even tour operators “are not really sending people though Kingston as a matter of routine”. Passenger traffic through the NMIA, which sits on the doorsteps of Jamaica’s capital city, was 1.45 million people last … Read entire article »

By Cecelia Campbell-Livingston–  Cocoa Tea— REGGAE singer Cocoa Tea is gearing up for the release of his latest album Sunset In Negril on his Roaring Lion imprint. The 12-track project will be released in time for his upcoming United States tour which kicks off on October 22. “It’s a mixture of lovers’ rock and social commentary,” Cocoa Tea told the Jamaica Observer. The set includes the title track as well as Darling, North Wind and cover of Bob Marley’s classic War. “The tour will encompass the US East and West coast, as I promote the album,” he said. After concluding his US tour on December 13, the singer will be heading to Nigeria and then Europe. Sunset In Negril follows Cocoa Tea’s 2012 album, In A Di Red. The Clarendon-born singer, who started the annual New Year’s Eve stage show … Read entire article »

Peter Bunting— By Daraine Luton– LORD ANTHONY Gifford has hailed the passage of a bill to expunge the criminal records of persons convicted of certain offences, including minor ganja-related offences, as “the beginning of the end for persecution”. His comments came as ganja lobbyists welcomed announced reform for the regime governing ganja on the island, which National Security Minister Peter Bunting said is a critical part of the “social engineering” taking place in the country. “There is no doubt that the vast majority of persons who will benefit from this bill are those who have been convicted for possession of small quantities of ganja. We are talking about the thousands and thousands of Jamaicans who have been confined to the back quarter of the economy because with a criminal record, there are many jobs … Read entire article »

Dr. Kevin Harvey— Jamaica is now on high alert following reports that the deadly Ebola virus has reached the Western world. The Ministry of Health is stepping up its response, monitoring travel, and is affirming the country’s surveillance system in quickly identifying, isolating, and managing any suspected cases should they reach the country’s shores. “We have been preparing for the possible introduction of Ebola for a while since the outbreak, so we will be continuing our vigilance. We note what is happening in the United States and we hope that it will be quickly contained,” Dr Kevin Harvey, acting permanent secretary in the Ministry of Health, told The Gleaner yesterday. “We are encouraged by the fact that Nigeria seemed to have been able control its epidemic, not having any cases since September.” He added: “We are on … Read entire article »