By Karyl Walker— THE elderly will be the hardest hit when the new Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) fare structure comes into effect on August 24. Transport, Housing and Works Minister Dr Omar Davies announced yesterday that people 60 years and older will now pay 200 per cent more for bus fares in the Kingston Metropolitan Transport Region. The fare was previously $20 and will now rise to $60. Fares were last increased in 2013. Davies also announced that all other adults will pay $120 or 20 per cent more, while the fare for children, students in uniform and the disabled will now be $30 and only with a Smarter Card as the JUTC seeks to become fully cashless. “The reality is that the current fare levels are inadequate and have been for years. … Read entire article »

  Photo courtesy of Urban Islandz By Jodee Brown—   Incarcerated Reggae/Dancehall entertainer, Mark Myrie, more popularly known as Buju Banton has been granted approval by a U.S. appeals court to make oral arguments in a bid for a new trial as he attempts to overturn his conviction on drug-related charges. The breakthrough came on Monday following an appeal submitted in May by Buju’s legal team, headed by Harvard Law School professor, Charles Ogletree asking that Buju be granted a new trial and oral arguments on the basis that the singer was entrapped by a paid U.S. informant and that his case was compromised after a juror in his 2011 trial was found to have unlawfully researched aspects of the case while it was taking place. A statement issued by the Buju Banton Defense Support Committee detailed the latest developments in the matter. It reads, “In May 2014 … Read entire article »