Quotes

Anti-poor policy

I believe the current system of tax exemptions is an anti-poor policy. Can we justify spending $22.6 billion to provide $2.5 billion of benefits to the poorest 20 per cent of the population. I personally don't think so. That is why we proposed that the exemptions be eliminated, that the rate be reduced and that the additional revenues that are generated from that measure be allocated for directly targeted social expenditures that benefit those whom the policy was originally intended to benefit.

Joseph M. Matalon, Chairman of the PSWG
- The Gleaner

No woman left behind

The concept of an empowered woman is a very complex one, it challenges all of us to go beyond the confines of established ideas about the lives and realities which women face. We must change our negative societal attitudes and disadvantages that our women and girls continue to experience.

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller
- Jamaica Observer

Rat attack!

What the committee has been trying to do is to source the bait, and we are working with the private sector to see if we can get a special price on the baits that we will use because it is very very expensive. We can’t afford this kind of budget in a consistent way to clean up the country, and so once we do this we must have enforcement and ensure that communities and towns are kept clean and that we as a Government also ensure the people keep their communities clean. We have to now in Jamaica have personal responsibility and pride.

Information Minister Senator Sandrea Falconer
- Jamaica Observer

Discovering our Jamaica

Destination Jamaica is world class; and with the Experience Jamaica Campaign we have offered an incentive for residents of Jamaica, Jamaican citizens, the diplomatic community, and other international residents to discover for themselves why in 2011 alone Jamaica was voted the world’s leading Honeymoon destination, Caribbean destination, and Caribbean’s leading beach destination.

Director of Tourism John Lynch
- Jamaica Observer

Call rates to plunge

My view on rates is that you really want to get to a point where even the regulator is not involved, you want a competitive marketplace where the power of the market drives the setting of rates, but we are not there yet, so in the meantime we need a referee to guide that pace. I think to put a minister in that position is invidious, it should be adjudicated by a body with the requisite power to do so. I believe that with the power now being given to the OUR they will be able to move with greater certainty and alacrity.

Technology Minister Phillip Paulwell
- Jamaica Observer

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