1 – A boy enjoys a drink on his way to school in Maverly, St Andrew, Wednesday.

2 – A man is seen pushing a refrigerator on a cart Wednesday on Slipe Road in Kingston.

3 – Seems like the water restrictions have not eased in some areas, as our lens caught this man carrying empty containers in search of the precious liquid in Trench Town, Kingston, on Wednesday.

4 – These two fishermen show off their catch in St Thomas yesterday.

5 – With his face partially covered with his ‘load’, this man is seen making his way along Victoria Avenue, East Kingston, yesterday.

6 – Group of men loading boxes into the back of a van yesterday along Half-Way-Tree Road in Kingston.

7 – A girl stops to fasten her shoe Monday while on her way to school in Pembroke Hall, St Andrew.

8 – These men, apparently on their way to fishing, were seen walking

along the Mandela Highway in St Catherine on Tuesday

FOLLOWING the discovery of a body buried in a shallow grave in Tivoli Gardens last week, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Les Green, says sniffer dogs are to arrive in the island from the United States to aid in the search of other bodies believed to be buried within the community.

“These dogs should have already been here so I am unable to say just when they will arrive,” ACP Green said.

A Jamaica Defense Force soldier digs around a skull which was found at lands near to a section of Tivoli Gardens known as Rasta City. (Observer file photo)

Police on Wednesday, theorised that the body uncovered in Tivoli Gardens last week, is that of a District Constable attached to the St Andrew Central Division who went missing on May 23, a day before the onslaught in Tivoli Gardens.

He was, however, unwilling to give the name of the DC, as further tests are to be done on the corpse.

“We are still waiting for an autopsy as well as fingerprints and DNA samples in order to confirm this,” ACP Green told Chat! “But based on the items found with the body we believe it is that of the district constable.”

He said the dentures, along with uniform and watch belonging to the missing police man which were found along with the body, point to the missing cop.

It is believed that the officer went into the community to visit a friend when he was kidnapped, gagged,  killed, then given a quick burial, as thugs planned their attacks on the security forces.

EXPO Jamaica 2010 is providing a sea of networking opportunities for prospective and well-established business persons to boost promotion of their products or ideas.

One company in the spotlight is Virtually Here, a business that proposes to ‘take care of business’ for small or start-up companies both inside and outside Jamaica.

The brainchild of Beverly Palmer, Virtually Here is located on Windsor Avenue and is marketed to businesses that do not require or cannot afford office space.

Palmer is ‘head cook and bottle washer’ for five companies providing everything from seminars to property management. Palmer yesterday seemed proud of the suite of options she provides for her prospective clients.

“If there is a smarter way of working, we will provide it, because we are committed to business development,” said Palmer. She said her company helps others to stretch their dollar, a constant concern in a recession-stifled economy.

“We can match any budget because our facilities and business support come without the higher costs and commitment of a full-time office.”

Palmer, who has clients as far away as Washington, DC, said her business was ideal for those who could not constantly be in the island. Those businesses can benefit from payroll, meetings, mail and correspondence services.

Filling the gap

Dr K’admawe K’Nife, entrepreneurial studies lecturer in the Department of Management Studies at the University of the West Indies, Mona, said businesses like Virtually Here fill an entrepreneurship vacuum in Jamaica.

K’Nife said such companies “are important in the absence of an entrepreneurial policy in Jamaica”.

While applauding recent efforts, by the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce to formulate a micro, small and medium-size enterprise (MSME) policy, K’Nife said that Virtually Here and the Jamaica Business Development Corporation were the true visionaries needed to facilitate growth in entrepreneurship.

“These groups cater to MSMEs and these are the true drivers of the economy. They have the highest potential. They generally produce the highest level of performance in the economy,” he said.

K’Nife pointed out that mature companies often stagnate and do not grow as rapidly or provide as many jobs as MSMEs.

Palmer’s Virtually Here has been receiving mixed reviews from the market. The relatively new concept is strange to some, so she spends a lot of time explaining it to prospective clients.

However, Palmer is confident that things will pan out.

“It’s all about getting the company out there. That’s the major challenge. It’s all very different from how we are accustomed to doing business in Jamaica but times are changing and we’ve got to change with it,” she said.

EXPO Jamaica, jointly hosted by the Jamaica Manufacturers’ Association and the Jamaica Exporters’ Association, opened yesterday at the National Arena and will end tomorrow.

TENS OF thousands of students across Jamaica will finally be free of hand-wringing, hair-pulling anxiety when they find out the results of the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) which are scheduled to be released today.

Suspense will likely morph into elation for most, as Colin Blair, communications director at the Ministry of Education, confirmed yesterday that the 2010 grades were an improvement over last year’s. Blair also sought to assure that there was sufficient space in the high-school system to accommodate all students who sat the exam.

Despite the nerves, however, students expressed confidence on Thursday that they were well on their way to gaining spots in choice schools.

School administrators and teachers shared similar enthusiasm, saying that although they were a bit tense, they knew the students would make them proud.

At Windward Road Primary School in Kingston, students juggled attention between taking photographs for their graduation package and hoping to get word of the results from their teachers.

“They are excited now because they are taking pictures, but they continued to ask when they will get the results,” said grade-six teacher Esmie Crawford.

Vice-principal Noel Pennant, who seemed confident that the students would be successful, said the school had done its best, with help from devoted parents.

“We tried to get the parents involved in the students’ work because we saw the need for parents’ involvement and they have been working with us, and so we expect that what we normally get, in terms of traditional high schools, should be higher compared with last year,” he boasted.

Both Rennay McDermoth and Kabrina Martin, who the vice-principal labelled top students, told ” VIBEZ “ they knew their hard work would help the kids gain a places at Campion College, one of the island’s elite high schools.

Teachers found it hard to control students at Half-Way Tree Primary School in St Andrew as they awaited the results.

“I can’t get them to settle down, as they are too anxious. The minute I leave the classroom and return, they want to know if I have the results,” said Paula McLaughlin, a grade-six teacher.

Though harbouring hopes of academic excellence, McLaughlin conceded that some results might be below par because of the mixed abilities of students.

It was no different at Jessie Ripoll Primary, where teachers and students waited patiently to see the outcome of their hard work.

Carlos McMaster, Jessie Ripoll’s top student, was supremely optimistic yesterday that he would score above 90 per cent, which would book him a ticket to the co-ed Ardenne High.

Claudette Fennell, a teacher at St Richard’s Primary, boasted that the institution was expected to maintain its place among the top public-schools, which earned St Richard’s up to three scholarships per year.

Even the parents were uneasy. Verona Hunt, mother of Trina-Gaye Campbell, a student at Bermaddy Primary Schools in Linstead, St Catherine, told “VIBEZ” that she was waiting to exhale.

Yesterday, president of the National Parent-Teacher Associa-tion of Jamaica, Miranda Sutherland, said the organisation had projected improved grades over last year’s based on the Ministry of Education’s literacy thrusts.

“We anticipate the best results since GSAT started because of the level of work that the ministry is doing,” she said.

But while the official results will be released today, those wishing to see the list of scholarship winners will have to wait about two weeks.

The GSAT results will determine the grade-seven placements assigned to all 48,200 candidates who sat the examination on March 25 and 26. The students were from 797 public and 207 private schools. Included in the number are 17 children who were homeschooled.

Al Fearon PhD.

JAMAICA – Jamaica Broilers yesterday announced a roll back of chicken prices, poultry products and Hi Pro animal feeds.

According to ” Vibez “,the president of  Jamaica Broilers Group, Christopher Levy made the announcement at the Denbigh Agricultural show launch at the Ace Super Centre Farm Store at White Marl in St Catherine this morning.

“The price reduction is as a result of the strengthening of the Jamaican dollar,” Mr Levy said.

Chicken and poultry products will be reduced by two per cent while there will be a reduction of between two and three per cent on Hi Pro feeds.

Seeking Excitement in Jamaica

Horizons are expanded and exoticism explored in “Wah Do Dem,” a shaggy road movie about relinquishing your comforts to find your bliss. Our halfhearted traveler is Max (Sean Bones, drifting rather than acting), a Brooklyn musician reconciling two tickets for a Caribbean cruise and a last-minute kiss-off from his unrepentant girlfriend (a minuscule cameo by Norah Jones).

A tedious sea voyage populated mainly by sexagenarians leaves Max even more depressed, so when the ship docks in Jamaica he sees an opportunity to shake off his ennui. Local people, for their part, see a sheep ripe for fleecing and a mind longing to be freed.

As Max lurches from one mishap to another, the film’s natural light and raw, hand-held compositions lend his adventures a spontaneity that compensates for his perpetually slack demeanor. Lively support from local actors and musicians (including a surreal performance by the Congos) is invaluable, as is the authenticity of the setting. The cultural richness of Jamaica — presented here with a faintly menacing underbelly — is a world away from the bland safety of the cruise ship.

Written and directed by Ben Chace and Sam Fleischner, “Wah Do Dem” (Jamaican patois for “What’s wrong with them?”) explores the limits of cultural isolation with ramshackle avidity. “Surprise, surprise, you don’t fit in everywhere in the world,” a creepy cruise passenger says to the dreary Max. Maybe so; but by the end of the movie it doesn’t bother him quite so much.

WAH DO DEM

Opens on Friday in New York and Los Angeles.

Written, directed and edited by Ben Chace and Sam Fleischner; director of photography, Mr. Fleischner; music by MGMT, Yeasayer, Santigold, Suckers, Mykal Rose, Mr. Lexx and the Congos; produced by Mr. Chace, Mr. Fleischner and Katina Hubbard; released by Wah Do Dem LLC. In Manhattan at the Cinema Village, 22 East 12th Street, Greenwich Village. Running time: 1 hour 15 minutes. This film is not rated.

WITH: Sean Bones (Max), Norah Jones (Willow) and Carl Bradshaw (Mystical Rastaman).

Jamaica continues to be attractive to United States investors, despite the recent civil unrest in west Kingston, says Rick Wade, senior adviser and deputy chief of staff at the US Department of Commerce.

Wade gave the assurance on Wednesday evening after his arrival in Kingston with a trade delegation of seven investors seeking to forge partnerships with Jamaican businesses.

“We are here, that is a testament that we will continue to do business with Jamaica,” he said, when asked by the ” VIBEZ “ whether investors were still attracted to Jamaica given the upsurge in violence in west Kingston.

The civil unrest erupted after Prime Minister Bruce Golding changed position and opted to approve a extradition request for one of his constituents, Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke, who is wanted by the United States for drug trafficking and gunrunning.

But Wade, who reports directly to US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, is insisting that the country’s internal problems are not a turn-off to the Americans. He said the trade mission will give participating US companies the opportunity to meet with potential business partners and network with key Jamaican Government and industry officials.

The United States is Jamaica’s largest trading partner, where exports last year to that market reached US$560 million, while US exports to Jamaica totalled US$1.85 billion.

According to Nathan Carter, economic officer in the Political and Economic Section of the US Embassy in Kingston, there are more than 60 American firms invested in Jamaica – with their capital spread largely across the tourism, bauxite, manufacturing, and services sectors.

The current trade mission is here for exploratory talks only, but “it is hoped that they will lead to concrete agreements,” Carter said Thursday.

The seven small- and medium-sized American companies from the states of Georgia, Florida and Idaho, are in the business  of cosmetics and software develop-ment, among other areas.

Wade said the trade mission is part of recent a National Export Initiative which is being pushed by the US President Barack Obama. The trust aims to double US exports within five years to support the creation of two million jobs.

The mission comes one week behind US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to the Caribbean in what was seen here as fence-mending by the Obama administration, which has largely ignored the region since taking control of the White House in January 2009.

Wade said Jamaica was not the only Caribbean country being targeted under the export initiative. Similar visits were made to the Dominican Republic and Haiti, he said.

While here, the delegation will meet with members of the business sector and with Karl Samuda, minister of industry and commerce.

The group leaves on Saturday.

PRIME Minister Bruce Golding continued his West Kingston constituency tour today with a visit to 11 schools.

He applauded teachers at each school for their continued commitment and service to the nation’s children particularly during this critical period of the country’s history.

He said he recognised that the events of the last couple of weeks had impacted the schools and that both teachers and students would have been traumatised.

Encouraged by Golding to share their stories with him, teachers at many schools spoke of their experiences and that of their students. They shared ways in which they were helping them to cope and overcome the psychological trauma and dislocation some have suffered.

Golding promised that he would be working with them to help the process of healing and the restoration of the comfort level that they need.

“We are going to be helping those whose houses were damaged, and we are going to be providing assistance for those who lost loved ones,” Golding said.

The prime minister assured the teachers that the recent law enforcement operation in West Kingston was just the beginning of a comprehensive transformation programmed that would address social and institutional needs and address voids that need to be filled. The state, he said, must assert not just its authority but its responsibility.

Al Fearon PhD.

Ital is a term derived from the language of enslaved Africans in the Caribbean characteristic of Black English dialects throughout the Americas.  The “I” signifies emphasis on self preservation for a once colonized people; revealing what is essential from not only a dietary standpoint, but as a  cultural necessity for all Rastafarian people.

The dietary regimen is consistent with Bible verses found in Leviticus and Genesis 1:29 restricting the use of meat, especially condemning pork.  In addition to mere food the cultural concept of ”I-livity”  forbids the consumption of alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs excluding the herbs.  Salt, oil, chemical additives, flesh  egg whites, and meat are likewise forbidden requiring the cook to become adept at the use of spices and herbs.  The Ital diet is stringent to the extent that preparation of food cannot be done in a steel pot and must be cooked in clay/ wood vs. metal pots to prevent ingestion of potential carcinogens from metal.

While the dietary restrictions concerning fish may vary a vegetarian diet is observed by all.  According to a representative from Patties of Jamaica, a restaurant located at 5172 Allisonville Road, some Rastafarian clients come in and request vegetarian meals while relaxing the condition of cooking in non-metal pots.  For practical reasons canned foods can also be utilized for some.  Some Ital restrictions exclude only fish without scales, or shellfish, while some exclude it all together.  As Rastafarian Brother George Singleton is fond of saying “If it has eyes it is not Ital.”

The origin and diffusion of Ital food lies with the history of food in the Caribbean beginning with the Arawak Indian tribes who inhabited the islands 2,500 years ago.  These early Indians subsisted on a fruit and vegetable diet.  While pork is readily attributed to the influence of the Coromantee hunters from West Africa it is important to note the affect of the colonial era and subsequent conditions of the “marooned” Coromantee tribe of Jamaica.  Food historians agree the renowned Maroons of Jamaica hunted wild boars for sustanence while evading British enslavement.  Taking refuge in the forest necessitated the cultivation and use of salt to preserve pork for future consumption.

The etymology of the term Charqui eludes to the ancient Peruvian method of cooking: meat, fish, and vegetables, and fruit  disseminated among the Coromantee, eventually becoming the staple of ”Jerk cooking” which incorporated the use of Pimento wood, peppers, and Caribe Indian spices.  Lattices of wood, or hot rocks were used to cook these foods.  Where its use is consistent with the original culture of the indigenous Arawak tribes, its tradition survives according to Biblical Law in the Rastafarian movement.  Linda Thompkins attributes the use of large clay pots for this end to the Taino Indians of the Caribbean while delineating the food staples of West Africa introduced to the Caribbean to include: salt fish, and fish cake.

Ital food can be seen as the culture of early indigeonous people who adhered to and propogated a fruit and vegetable diet, diffused into contemporary times by Afro Caribbean Rastafari culture, or “livity”

“Everything for them come from the earth they don’t even self go to the market they don’t go down to the market for nothing some people who do gardening in the yard and they go  and bring it down to the market and they spray it with some pesticide that they have to to make it look fresh and pretty… they don’t want it lookin’ pretty…that mean you get all the elements and minerals and the proteins and all the vitamins that came from the nourishment of the earth.”

Al Fearon PhD.