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Your favourite person, enjoy
Never trust any J'can Government
published: Sunday | September 17, 2006 <DIV class=KonaBody>
Dawn Ritch
When I started working at 22, with a first degree, my annual salary was $8,000.
I rented an unfurnished, air-conditioned, one-bedroom apartment in Manor Park with separate living/dining room and kitchen for $150 a month. Yes, $150 a month. I can't recall what I paid for electricity. The place was so nice that an older <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: blue! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">married</SPAN> relative was delighted to be given the key for the conduct of assignations. So, morn-ing, noon and night it was locked up. The curtains were drawn, and the air was always running. But I still can't remember the light bill, so negligible was it in the scheme of things.
On that salary, I also collected Jamaican art, entertained friends at <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: blue! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">restaurants</SPAN> a couple times a week, and travelled overseas quite frequently. The <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: blue! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">airfare</SPAN> to Florida was US$50, or J$40.
Underemployed
Like the vast majority of Jamaicans, I've been underemployed for the last decade. During this time, the policies of Dr. Omar Davies and the People's National Party government have turned bank clerks into taxi drivers. They've caused garment manu-facturers to sell their factories. Over 30,000 individuals lost their jobs, most of whom were the breadwinners of their families. And now the International Monetary Fund and the Jamaica Labour Party want the Government to make thousands of civil servants redundant, instead of making the civil service more efficient.
The Patterson administration flooded the country with redundancy payments virtually from every sector. Before that, Edward Seaga, <A class=kLink oncontextmenu="return false;" id=KonaLink3 
Your favourite person, enjoy
Never trust any J'can Government
published: Sunday | September 17, 2006 <DIV class=KonaBody>
Dawn Ritch
When I started working at 22, with a first degree, my annual salary was $8,000.
I rented an unfurnished, air-conditioned, one-bedroom apartment in Manor Park with separate living/dining room and kitchen for $150 a month. Yes, $150 a month. I can't recall what I paid for electricity. The place was so nice that an older <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: blue! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">married</SPAN> relative was delighted to be given the key for the conduct of assignations. So, morn-ing, noon and night it was locked up. The curtains were drawn, and the air was always running. But I still can't remember the light bill, so negligible was it in the scheme of things.
On that salary, I also collected Jamaican art, entertained friends at <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: blue! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">restaurants</SPAN> a couple times a week, and travelled overseas quite frequently. The <SPAN class=kLink style="FONT-WEIGHT: 400; COLOR: blue! important; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; POSITION: relative">airfare</SPAN> to Florida was US$50, or J$40.
Underemployed
Like the vast majority of Jamaicans, I've been underemployed for the last decade. During this time, the policies of Dr. Omar Davies and the People's National Party government have turned bank clerks into taxi drivers. They've caused garment manu-facturers to sell their factories. Over 30,000 individuals lost their jobs, most of whom were the breadwinners of their families. And now the International Monetary Fund and the Jamaica Labour Party want the Government to make thousands of civil servants redundant, instead of making the civil service more efficient.
The Patterson administration flooded the country with redundancy payments virtually from every sector. Before that, Edward Seaga, <A class=kLink oncontextmenu="return false;" id=KonaLink3 
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Shirley Williams </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>In Jamaica, the prime minister is the most powerful member of government, and while his or her powers are in part stated in our constitution, the functions, duties and responsibilities were never, as far as I am aware, defined in any statute or constitutional document. However, over the years, there has been an established code of practice for prime ministers and expected functions, duties and responsibilities. Let us discuss these.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The prime minister is head of government, and is required by the constitution to be the member of the House of Representatives, who, in the judgment of the governor general is the person "best able to command the confidence of the majority of the members of that house "(Chapter 1V, Sector 69 Jamaican Constitution). The prime minister is, usually, the leader of the party which gained the greatest number of seats in the election and the chairperson of the Cabinet.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Powers to appoint<P class=StoryText align=justify>The powers of the prime minister to appoint persons to political and other public offices are enormous. They include the appointment of the governor-general - although under our constitution this appointment is by Her Majesty, in recent years, this has been on the sole recommendation of the prime minister without reference to the leader of the opposition, attorney-general, ministers and parliamentary secretaries - appointments being by the governor-general based on the recommendation of the prime minister.<P class=StoryText align=justify>In addition, the prime minister, under the provisions of the Constitution, is empowered to recommend appointments to various public offices after consultation with the leader of opposition, for example the appointment of the chief justice. In practice, the prime minister's consultations are often without consensus, so I would conclude that such appointments are in fact at the discretion of the prime minister.
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>PORTIA SIMPSON MILLER. has said she cannot do every thing and must delegate </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>Most importantly, as Prime Minister Simpson Miller has stated
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