**************************************************** **************************************************** *** *** *** THE PORTMORE WEBSITE NEWSLETTER *** *** *** **************************************************** **************************************************** Newsletter: Number 1 for 2004 Publication Date: January 13, 2004 Editor: Kennedy Reid Subscribers: 95 Contact: webmaster@portmore.org Contact: kennedyreid@yahoo.com Subscribe: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/portmore_newsletter/ Web site: http://www.portmore.org Phone: 876-320-7343 Note: Please read notices at end of newsletter CONTENTS ======== 1. "New subscription process" by Kennedy Reid 2. "Asstn of Jamaican Teachers in the UK" by Jacqui Clarke 3. "Sting & Noise in Portmore" by ODA 4. "The Advisory Council" by Cynthia Vaughan 5. "Best Wishes" by l.sloley 6. "Interesting web site" by Jerry Nelson 7. "Prevention of Terrorism Bill" by Yvonne McCalla Sobers 8. Messages From Andrea 9. "Notes : Municipal Council Meeting of Jan 14, 2003" by K. Reid ############################################################ 1. New subscription process - Kennedy Reid ############################################################ Greetings everyone! Recently, the USA passed a strict anti-Spam law and this Means that in order for me to avoid problems I had to move us to a more formal (and easier to use) method of publishing the Portmore Website Newsletter. I have chosen to use Yahoo! Groups as it is free, automated, and reputable. I do not believe that they will abuse your e-mail addresses. We just have to cope with their ads at the top and bottoms of the newsletter. So far I have sent out over 650 invitations for persons to get registered and so far over 80 of you have registered. THANKS! I know that over time our circulation will grow back to the high numbers! PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING: 1) From now on, you can subscribe to,(OR unsubscribe from), the Portmore Newsletter AUTOMATICALLY... You do not have to have a Yahoo account, but they will try to get you to register! Just visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/portmore_newsletter/ 2) If you wish to write an article in the newsletter you still need to email me at webmaster@portmore.org or rhouse@cybervale.com. You can call me at 320-REID. 3) If you are having difficulty registering, I can register you automatically... but Yahoo does not like this. 4) I still need you to pass on this newsletter to others. Tell them that they can register at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/portmore_newsletter/ Enjoy this publication! And thanks for understanding. ############################################################ 2. Sting & Noise in Portmore - ODA ############################################################ Date: Wed, January 7, 2004 4:46 pm Season's greetings and a safe and prosperous 2004 to you and your family Mr. Reid. Sting really stung and stung quite a few people. Persons indeed where injured during the greatest one night reggae show. A lady lost your pregnancy, a number of persons received bumps and burses, new comers and repeaters traumatized by the mayhem; sponsored prizes where almost destroyed, numerous clothing, shoes lost; so indeed the sting stung indiscriminately. Re: the noise in portmore, I am not sure if the police can do much proactive action against these noise makers especially when they are entertainment entities (of course some legal and others illegal, but I guess its the municipal office to police land uses), unless scrutinizing their equipment with a view to confiscate or issue warnings. Indeed the noise level has increased to unacceptable levels (for many) especially the staging of Sting. I once resided in the Meadowvale community where yes I could heard that a "concert" was being staged at Jam World but the voice of the performers and sound of the band where muffled. But now residing at Bridgeview it seemed as if the voice and the sound of the "concert" has magnified 100 times so much so that the noise level gave my TV stiff competition. I was not present at the sting venue but I know the time each artist took the stage and what he or she preformed by just sitting in my living room. I am approximately 2 + miles from Jamworld and was significantly disturbed by the proceedings their. This means that every house within a 2-mile radius of the venue was affected likewise. How many thousands of persons are we taking about? Key note to the municipal authorities (inclusive of the police as they are a part of the municipality) and the host/promoters of these entertainment events: Persons do not have any qualms with you conducting your dance, concert, stage show whatever, but once its begins (without consent) to disturb me within my home you are infringing on my rights (of peace & quite) and I am sure also breaching the noise abatement law I have the right for redress. I believe this redress show be sort through one of three means or all. 1. Redress through the municipality for poor governance and endorsement of staging such an activity that will disturb the greater neighbourhood. 2. Redress through the police for not enforcing the noise abatement law. And 3. Redress through litigation in the courts from the promoters and the municipality for directly and indirectly causing you discomfort and possible aliment for approximately 12 hours (7 pm - 6 +am). But however I cannot agree to the following statement "What we need for the Police to STOP all amplified sound after 2:00 p.m. and to not allow night noise on week days (including Fridays). Is this too much to ask? Frankly, I would love to See the law changed to have all outdoor amplified sounds off At 12:00 a.m. and Town Crying limited to public service Announcements, political rallies, and charities only! Political rallies when since these where incident free anyway these activities with amplified sound are actually business ventures providing employment and cottage industries vital to the survival of many families. Within this day and age businesses are operated on a daily basis inclusive of weekends. Not because a person does not like a particular entertainment that does not mean it has to be restricted in such a manner. What is needed is proper and transparent enforcement and organizing of such business activities so as to benefit the majority of residents of Portmore. ODA :::::::::::::::::::: Webmaster's Comment :::::::::::::::::::: Dear ODA, How about us organising a noisy demonstration of Portmore Citizens!!??? We could call it.....hmmm "Citizens Against Noise In Town" (CAN-IT!) This would let Police officers know how strongly we feel and support their efforts! Every time one ask for "DECENCY", "LAW AND OREDER", or for "RESPECT FOR OTHERS" in Jamaica, there is an outcry about someone needing to make a living. EVERYONE should make a living, but does it have to be at my expense? Bottom line...I don't want someone's music in my home! I went to Atlanta USA the other day, and I was constantly waiting to hear public music. It never came. Such a huge city... and all I could hear were birds and vehicles. I even went to the inner city area to see Martin Luther's church and grave.... no noise still. I have gone to hotels in our north coast towns of Mobay and Port Antonio... and there was no peace to be had at nights! One hotel had to move me to another room... with little improvement. Everyone should call the police once they hear noise, And talk to the politicians so it is a priority, And for God sake, keep your music to yourself! Have a great 2004! Kennedy PS In the last newsletter I meant to say 2:00 AM (and not 2:00 PM.) for public music to be turned off. ############################################################ 3. Association of Jamaican Teachers in the UK - Jacqui Clarke ############################################################ From: Jacqui C Date: Fri, January 9, 2004 3:25 pm Hi Kennedy, Happy New Year! I would like to introduce the website of the Association of Jamaican Teachers in the UK (AJATUK). At present the URL is http://web.onetel.com/~jacqroch It is aimed at teachers who are working in England and those teachers in Jamaica considering moving to live and work in England. Any queries can be directed to me at: jacqroch@yahoo.com Regards Jacqui Clarke Website: http://web.onetel.com/~jacqroch ############################################################ 4. The Advisory Council - Cynthia Vaughan ############################################################ From: "Vaughan, Cynthia" Date: Tue, January 6, 2004 1:03 pm Dear Kennedy, I wish to add my little bit on the matter of the Advisory Council. I went out of my way to contact the Mayor by telephone, to offer my services on the Advisory Council. Being an Auditor and a long-time resident of Portmore, I wanted to be among this group of 'watchdogs' to see that things are done in a fair manner and to eliminate partisanship as much as possible. However, I was advised that I could not be a part of the Council as I was not a member of any civic group such as the Kiwanis etc. I don't see it that way at all. I think that anybody should be able to be a part of this group. There are reputable people out there who should be given a chance to serve if they so wish. They don't need the same people from other organizations serving over and over again. As a final note, thanks for the greetings and I wish you and your family all good things for this new year. Regards, Cynthia Vaughan :::::::::::::::::::: Webmaster's Comment :::::::::::::::::::: Dear Cynthia, Thanks for offering yourself... we need more persons like you to get involved. The Advisory Council is a VERY controversial part of the structure set up for the Portmore Municipality. At one point it almost never made it! One problem was to determine who should be members of The Advisory Council. Everyone can not be on it and in a democracy we determine who has the right to sit by holding public elections. Since these people are not to be elected, constituting the Advisory Council was, and will always be, controversial. One "solution" was to accept only representatives from major "recognized" Portmore Organisations. So then, all Portmore organisations where to apply to Municipal Council to see whether they could have is a seat on the Advisory Council. If accepted, then they would hold an internal election to determine which person would represent them and take the seat. (This is what the Greater Portmore Joint Council did! In this way all members of that organisation will have a chance of being on the Advisory Council.). The down side of this plan was that skilled individuals like yourself would be left out. I am sure that the Advisory Council can still use your Support. Rev. Suarez is the Chairman... Call him at the Anglican Church in Portmore. Kennedy ############################################################ 5. Best Wishes - l.sloley ############################################################ From: l.sloley Date: Wed, December 31, 2003 8:19 pm To: rhouse@cybervale.com hello best wishes to all jamaican and portmore people love you all . I'm coming home soon it take new york to let me see Jamaica is the best place on earth, please take good care of it. and all the best for the new year hold tight bye for now I'm l.sloley ############################################################ 6. Interesting web site - Jerry Nelson ############################################################ From: "Jerry Nelson" To: webmaster@portmore.org Subject: Interesting web site. Date: Fri, 2 Jan 2004 23:31:06 -0500 Hi Web Master, It was good to visit your website. I found it broad and very interesting. I am also hosting a website for my community (springvillage.org). I was wondering, where did you get those maps? Did you just scan them in from regular street maps, or did you get them from a particular web site. I am looking for some maps for my village to post also. Keep up the good work, its is certainly good for the community. Just a comment. It seems a lot of your material was scanned in. This seem to take a while to download, maybe a more compressed format would help. Happy New Year. Jerry Nelson. ############################################################ 7. Prevention of Terrorism Bill (POT) - Yvonne McCalla Sobers ############################################################ PLEASE NOTE: The article below is a composite of two e-mails. Unfortunately, significant sections had to be deleted. If you want the full article, please write to "Yvonne McCalla Sobers" Dangerously deficient - Prevention of Terrorism Bill They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. (Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759) 1. Background Many countries rushed to enact anti-terrorism legislation following the September 11 2001 attacks on the World Trade Centre. Errors of the haste are now being recognized. [ Section Deleted] Jamaica faces special problems with draconian legislation, given a record of abrogation of rights under the 1976 State of Emergency and the Suppression of Crimes Act lasting from 1974 to 1993. Systems of accountability have proved ineffective, yet Jamaican's POT Bill has increased powers of agencies that are the least answerable to the public - the police force [13, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25][1], and the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions [14, 15, 19, 21, 28, 29, 35, 36, 40]. International commitments United Nations Resolution 1373 (passed October 2001) requires Jamaica, as part of the international community, to ensure its laws address the criminal nature of terrorist acts, and the financing of terrorist acts. A December 2001 UN resolution requires that human rights not be breached in efforts to combat terrorism. Jamaica's urgency to pass POT laws is said to be based on global obligations under ten International Terrorism Conventions, of which Jamaica has ratified only three. Commonwealth model Jamaica's Prevention of Terrorism (POT) Bill is patterned on the document: Commonwealth Secretariat Draft Model Legislation on Measures to Combat Terrorism.. The Commonwealth model was approved by representatives of countries - including UK, Canada, Australia, India, and Sri Lanka - whose anti-terrorism laws have been described as draconian. 2. Deficiencies of Jamaica's POT Bill Jamaica's POT Bill infringes rights of citizens as enshrined in the constitution and protected by international conventions such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). [ Section Deleted] From: "Yvonne McCalla Sobers" Subject: FASTforward no. 23: Dangerously deficient - Prevention of Terrorism Bill Date: Sun, 28 Dec 2003 21:18:52 -0800 What you need to know about the Terrorism Prevention Bill 1. You could get life imprisonment for taking part in street protests. [3(2, 4)] 2. You could be fined and locked up if you fail to inform the police on persons who seem suspicious to you. [12, 13] 3. Your bank or credit union or remittance agent could be fined millions of dollars for refusing to give out your private information. [15, 16] 4. You could lose your remaining human rights as the police will have even more power to search, seize, arrest and detain you without giving any reason. [19 (1, 2), 21 (4-7), 23, 24] 5. You could be charged for being a terrorist for words you use and clothes you wear. [7 (4)] 6. You could have everything you own seized and not returned, without a trial, if you are accused of being a terrorist or helping terrorists. [4-9, 28] 7. You could lose the right to be presumed innocent till proven guilty. (10 (2), 11 (2)] 8. You could be called a terrorist and never have a chance to hear the evidence against you. [14 (8)] 9. You could be charged for helping a terrorist if you do any business (such as vending, renting a house, driving a taxi) with someone whom the government says is a terrorist. [7] Sponsored by Families Against State Terrorism (FAST) telephone 977-3602. Yvonne McCalla Sobers Chairman Families Against State Terrorism December 28, 2003 :::::::::::::::::::: Webmaster's Comment :::::::::::::::::::: Dear Yvonne, I am a supporter of President Bush, but I wonder if the Americans have not gone a little paranoid and carried the rest of us with them? The Terrorist have achieved their purpose.... The destruction of our way of life thru FEAR. Anyway, we have to follow our US masters... we owe them too much money. Kennedy ############################################################ 8. Messages From - Andrea ############################################################ From: FabulusDre@aol.com Date: Wed, 14 Jan 2004 12:37:10 EST Subject: i use to attend portmore SDA To: webmaster@portmore.org my name is andrea and i'm now living in miami i'm just emailing you guys and i would like if you can email me and give me the web site for gregory park sda at fabulusdre@aol.com thank you FabulusDre@aol.com Date: Wed, 14 Jan 2004 12:33:25 EST Subject: i wold like to know To: webmaster@portmore.org i would like to know if theres a flight attendant by the name of kadene campbell that works there let she email me at fabulusdre@aol.com ############################################################ 9. "Notes : Municipal Council Meeting of Jan 14, 2003" by K. Reid ############################################################ Notes by Kennedy Reid on the Portmore Municipal Council Meeting held January 14, 1004 at Dernasson Plaza in Independence City. The meeting was chaired by Mayor Lee starting at 7:00 p.m. One Councillor was absent and another very late. The public audience was very low. Question and Answer Section: *) Eight new jobs with the municipality were advertised. These are temporary positions. *) There is to be a meeting with Highway2000 officials to discuss the possibility of flooding in Portmore due to construction. *) There is still a discussion on about bringing a Ferry Service to Portmore Mayor's Notices *) A beautification project AND a Public Education Campaign about Municipal Codes will begin in February. *) Municipal offices will be ready by the end of February and Code enforcement in Portmore will start in March. *) A Temporary Market has been established near the Portmore Mall. Vendors like it. Most Street vendors have been removed from the streets. Funds are being sought to cover the market. Complaints and issues from the Councillors *) There is a need to stop the Commercialization of Agusta Drive in Independence City *) The Police are not responding to local emergencies and are being diverted to address matters outside of Portmore. Mayor Lee points out that there will be meetings with the Police High Command. *) The police at Waterford need assistance with transportation. There is a $500,000 phone bill outstanding. *) The minutes of the Advisory Council is demanded as the Council needs to understand its activities, its composition, and offer 'help'. *) The borders of Portmore need to be changed to include areas such as West Cumberland, etc. *) There needs to be a new "memorandum of understanding" with the St. Catherine Parish Council so that Portmore can collect and manage finances. The new manager said that this was being addressed. *) There are concerns about the Christmas Work contracts. Questions inspection for work done and amounts contracted. It was pointed out that this matter is best addressed at the Finance Committee and that the figures were not for public consumption. The matter was rested. *) Portmore Week was "broadly supported" by the Council and it will run from April 25 - May 2. There will be the popular EXPO this year. *) The round-about in Southborough is to be addressed. Presentation of new City Manager/Secretary Mr. Ian Reid was introduced are the new Manager replacing Ms. Salmon (who was praised). He is the former Secretary Manager for Manchester (one of the Local Government success stories). When he was given the floor... *) He introduced plans for a department of Finance and Accounting, a department of Planning(?), a department Enforcement, and a department of Community Relations. *) He proposed and received approval for, hiring an Attorney to prosecute violators, three municipal Police officers to monitor the municipality, a building code inspector. *) He proposed that the Councillors meet to come up with a Strategic Plan for the City and budget proposals for 2004-5. *) He said that there were discussion on with other sections government for a vehicle and officers reassigned to the municipality. Kennedy's Comments: Since I can not talk at the Council meetings let me speak here.: *) Firstly, the ferry service will flop...ferries are only profitable where they cut out VERY LONG journeys. Also, their routes are inflexible and you have to take multiple modes of transportation to reach your destination. It will cost the tax payer too much! By-the-way, the same is true for trains. Only Freight trains make move. If the tax payer is to subsidies fares, a bus service is a better investment. *) The Mayor and the Manger have VERY good plans and I pray they succeed. If we all pull together they can. However, from the questions asked by all the Councillors, it is obvious that everyone is not in the loop. They are asking about major decisions, policies, activities, schedules and procedures as though they are not the ones in charge. In fact, I was taken aback that all the sub-committee chairpersons where from the majority political party... even Parliament is moving away from that! One or two han caaan clap!!! *) In the interest of time proper Parliamentary procedures are being overlooked.... this is not good. For example; voting is rushed and not tallied, a motion introduced was "ignored", and the meeting ends on the command of the chair instead of by a motion. *) I believe that mayor Lee is going a good job with limited resources. the public neeeeeds to get involved more. For example, we must get the local cable stations to see their Councillors in action!! *) Finally, let me say that Ms Salmon did VERY well as the manager of the Portmore Secretariat... setting a standard that will be difficult to match. God Bless her in her new assignment in Local Government. [-----------------------THE END OF ENTRIES------------------------] Legal Notices - Please read 1. If you wish to stop receiving this newsletter, address a letter to the webmaster@portmore.org saying "Delete from Newsletter" or go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/portmore_newsletter/ 2. This newsletter makes NO guarantees of accuracy nor authorship. 3. The contents of this newsletter do not necessarily represent the views of the publisher, and do NOT represent the views of any Political Party or Community Organisation. 4. Commercial publication of this newsletter needs the express consent of the webmaster in writing. 5. Copy Rights are owned by Kennedy Reid General Notes - Please read 1. Please copy this newsletter to as many persons as you may, your support in this way is VERY appreciated. However, please do not alter the contents. 2. Let us know when your e-mail address changes. If a month passes and you have not received a newsletter, please e-mail us about it! It could be that your e-mails are bouncing. To update your e-mail address go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/portmore_newsletter/ 3. To read our past newsletters go to http://www.portmore.org/newsletters/index.html 5. This newsletter is an open forum so please feel free to send us your contributions relevance to Jamaica, Portmore, and the Internet. We do NOT edit your letters, but may delete sections that can not be published. Deleted sections will be noted. We delete all e-mail addresses from letters except were others need to respond directly to you. However, if you ask, we will delete any part of your communication! The Webmaster may comment on your contribution, but reserves the last word for you once you reply. So do send us your e-mails! "Why be ordinary?" [--------------------------THE END--------------------------------]