Wed | Jan 14, 2026

Stories by Mark Titus

Time to include LGBTs - Fabi

Published:Saturday | March 18, 2017 | 12:00 AMMark Titus

Canadian High Commissioner to Jamaica, Sylvain Fabi is urging Jamaicans to be on the right side of history by advancing inclusiveness towards the local lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.Speaking with The Sunday Gleaner...

Tax package leaves western stakeholders fuming

Published:Wednesday | March 15, 2017 | 12:00 AMMark Titus

WESTERN BUREAU:Some top stakeholders in western Jamaica are hopping mad with the Government's decision to place a levy on group health insurance and want a rollback of the $1.5 million tax threshold set to take effect April 1. Instead, they want the...

Sweet prospects for new crop - Sugar production up by more than 50 per cent

Published:Wednesday | March 8, 2017 | 12:00 AMMark Titus

Major players in the island's sugar industry are upbeat as Jamaica seems poised to record a much greater production than the 100 tonnes projected for the 2016-17 crop year.Since last December, Jamaica has been seeing a more than 50 per cent increase...

Government firm on BPO tax - Stakeholders warn that this could drive away investors

Published:Saturday | March 11, 2017 | 12:00 AMMark Titus

Western Bureau:Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service Fayval Williams has slammed the door in the faces of operators in the business processing outsourcing (BPO) industry who have been pushing for a rollback of the 12.5...

'I wanted to do something'

Published:Sunday | March 5, 2017 | 12:00 AMMark Titus

Western Bureau:It is not very often that one is forced to live with the memory of watching the lives of five of your family members being taken, execution style.Yet, this is the burden being carried by 69-year-old Marvin Bloomfield since gunmen...

Absent architects hurting buildings - UTech-trained professionals failing to find jobs in Jamaica despite shortage

Published:Thursday | March 2, 2017 | 12:00 AMMark Titus

Less than 10 per cent of the more than 500 architects who have graduated from the Caribbean School of Architecture (CSA) at the University of Technology in the past 20 years have been able to find jobs in Jamaica.This has forced many of the...

Monymusk facing uncertain future

Published:Tuesday | February 21, 2017 | 12:00 AMMark Titus

Despite its expressed reluctance to get back into the management of sugar factories, the Government might have no choice for the 2018 crop, as the operators of the Monymusk Sugar Factory in Clarendon have made it clear they will not start the...

Crime disease - Treat flare-up of violence as public-health issue, says Bunting

Published:Friday | February 24, 2017 | 12:00 AMMark Titus

Western Bureau:With crime at an all-time high in western Jamaica and the crime-fighting strategies seemingly ineffective, Peter Bunting, the Opposition People's National Party's (PNP) spokesman on national security, wants to see a change in strategy...

Big plans for Invest MoBay initiative

Published:Monday | February 20, 2017 | 4:43 PMMark Titus

Western Bureau:The inaugural staging of the Invest MoBay initiative, which is geared towards providing the investor community with araft of potential business opportunities, is slated to unfold at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St James on...

Pushing Portland | Thomas broke glass ceiling in Portland

Published:Sunday | February 12, 2017 | 12:00 AMMark Titus

Western Bureau:Thirty-one-year-old Daney Ann Thomas has accomplished an important feat in business circles in Portland. When she was elected president of the Portland Chamber of Commerce in 2012, she broke the proverbial glass ceiling, becoming the...

Pushing Portland | Police vow to keep 'safest parish' title

Published:Thursday | February 9, 2017 | 12:00 AMMark Titus

With Jamaica re-cording approximately 1,350 murders last year, the quiet eastern parish of Portland saw a more than 50 per cent jump in its murder total but still kept its place as the most peaceful parish in the island.And Deputy Superintendent of...

Sugar prospects sweet - Rickards

Published:Wednesday | February 8, 2017 | 12:00 AMMark Titus

Western Bureau:Allan Rickards, chairman of the All-Island Jamaica Cane Farmers' Association (AIJCFA), says that there are encouraging signs that sugar manufacturers could realise the projection of 100,000 tonnes of sugar for the 2016-2017 crop year....

Nation won't lose business process outsourcing jobs - expert

Published:Monday | February 6, 2017 | 12:00 AMMark Titus

Western Bureau:Dr Guna Muppuri, president of the Business Process Industry Association of Jamaica (BPIAJ), says he is not perturbed by a suggestion by a New York Daily News columnist that United States (US) President Donald Trump should bring back...

Aquaculture gets big boost

Published:Friday | January 27, 2017 | 12:00 AMMark Titus

Fish-farming company Algix Jamaica is leading a resurgence of aquaculture in Jamaica and is exploring a plan to get most of the more than 2,000 acres of deserted fish ponds in Jamaica back in operation to expand its production capacity as it...

Local cruise shipping poised to shine - Prospects for 2017 good ... the ships will come sailing in

Published:Monday | January 23, 2017 | 12:00 AMMark Titus

Western Bureau:With a 13 per cent increase in cruise ship passenger arrivals last years, and an additional 105 vessel slated to visit in 2017, local business stakeholders at the various destinations are cautiously optimistic that the increased...

Urgent call for stern, unbiased policing in the region

Published:Wednesday | January 11, 2017 | 12:00 AMMark Titus

Western Bureau:Despite having many of the important variables to achieve success, business stakeholders in western Jamaica are worried that the scary crime situation, which churned out 268 murders in St James last year, could derail their plans to...

Western stakeholders disappointed with SEZ delays

Published:Friday | January 6, 2017 | 12:00 AMMark Titus

One year after passing the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) act into law, government is yet to roll out the regulatory framework to govern the new regime, and members of the investing community in western Jamaica are not happy."We know things cannot...

'Fire on Frome' - Pan Caribbean warns that its sweet plans could turn sour if illicit cane burning continues

Published:Saturday | January 7, 2017 | 12:00 AMMark Titus

New chief executive officer of Pan Caribbean Sugar Company (PCSC), Liu Chaoy, is confident that the company will turn around its financial fortunes, but has warned that this will depend on the level of cooperation from the residents along the sugar...

Cops arrest pastor caught in car with 15-y-o girl

Published:Thursday | December 29, 2016 | 12:00 AMMark Titus

The leadership of the Moravian Church in Jamaica is separating itself from the alleged actions of a veteran clergyman accused of committed sex crimes. According to reports, about 9 p.m., the police were on...

Karl James steps down as head of Jamaica Cane Products Sales

Published:Friday | December 23, 2016 | 4:23 PMMark Titus

Western Bureau:After serving 30 years at the helm of Jamaica Cane Products Sales (JCPS) Limited, Karl James, one of the most respected voices in the local sugar industry, will be demitting office as the general manager of the sugar marketing agency...

Much optimism for new sugar crop year

Published:Thursday | December 22, 2016 | 12:00 AMMark Titus

Western Bureau:Local sugar manufacturers are projecting an output of approximately 100,000 tonnes of sugar from the five factories that will be in operation for the 2016-2017 crop year."The production that we have projected is just under 100,000...

Christmas shopping flourishes in the west, bringing joy to retailers

Published:Sunday | December 18, 2016 | 12:00 AMMark Titus

Retailers in Montego Bay are anticipating a further spike in sales as preparations for the Christmas celebrations intensify, following an increase in business from as early as November."The holiday buzz is gradually building up, more so within the...

Local BPO players unfazed by Trump’s protectionist threat

Published:Sunday | December 11, 2016 | 12:00 AMMark Titus

Western Bureau:Local business process outsourcing (BPO) stakeholders have declared that they are confident that the protectionist policy position of United States President-elect Donald Trump, which focuses on keeping jobs in his country, will not...

Pan Caribbean aims at 28,000 tonnes of sugar for 2016-2017

Published:Tuesday | December 6, 2016 | 12:00 AMMark Titus

Western Bureau:Pan Caribbean Sugar Company (PCSC) will be placing its primary focus on the Frome Sugar Estate in Westmoreland for the 2016-17 crop year and is targeting an output of 28,000 tonnes of sugar. It produced just about the same amount last...

NWA to speed up MoBay bypass plans

Published:Sunday | December 4, 2016 | 12:40 PMMark Titus

Western Bureau:The National Works Agency (NWA) is now moving swiftly to complete a second traffic study on the proposed Montego Bay bypass after the data, which was initially collected for the study, was among the items that went missing when an...

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