Marketing in Montego Bay is chaotic and poorly coordinated, with stakeholders pushing conflicting messages, leading to a fragmented city brand and missed economic potential—essentially “mayhem” instead of a clear, unified strategy.
From the Montegonian News Desk here's what you should know about the potential face-off between Horace Chang and Allan Bernard in the 2025 election for the North West Montego Bay seat:
Candidates:
Horace Chang: The incumbent MP for St. James North Western since 2002. He represents the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP). Chang is also the current Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Security.
Allan Bernard: He is the People's National Party (PNP) candidate for St. James North Western. Bernard is a community development specialist and UWI lecturer. He has been involved in community work for over 30 years.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqziQgnJq2c)
Key Points and Issues:
Chang's Experience: Horace Chang has a long political career, starting in 1976. He has served as a Member of Parliament for Western Hanover and North West St. James, and has held ministerial positions.
Bernard's Background: Allan Bernard has a background in policy and development, having worked with organizations such as the Organization of American States, the European Union, and the United Nations Development Program.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cebhTNoq0YA)
PNP's Strategy: The PNP is banking on young aspirants like Bernard to break the JLP's control in St. James.
Bernard's Confidence: Allan Bernard has stated that he is not afraid to challenge Horace Chang, a political heavyweight.
Campaign Issues: Bernard intends to challenge what he views as "down-trodden policies" of the current government and improve the quality of life for people in North West St James.
Legal Battles Over Campaign Signs: In April 2025, the St. James Municipal Corporation removed PNP campaign signs, leading to legal action by Bernard and other PNP candidates. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the PNP, halting the removal of their signs
4. [Horace Chang - Jamaica Information Service](https://jis.gov.jm/government/ministers/dr-horace-chang/)
5. ['If I don't trod Rastafari' - Jamaica Observer](https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/2023/10/31/if-i-dont-trod-rastafari/)
6. [Allan Bernard: I'm Not Afraid to Face Horace Chang - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqziQgnJq2c)
7. [ALLAN BERNARD- PNP CANDIDATE NORTH WEST ST JAMES: A TRUE VISIONARY FOR THE PEOPLE - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cebhTNoq0YA)
8. [PNP banking on young aspirants to break JLP control of St James - Jamaica Observer](https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/2025/02/15/pnp-banking-young-aspirants-break-jlp-control-st-james/)
9. ['We putting them right back' - Jamaica Observer](https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/2025/06/10/putting-right-back/)
10. [Allan Bernard - Our Today](https://our.today/tag/allan-bernard/)
“Police inevitably become corrupt... Police always observe that criminals prosper. It takes a pretty dull policeman to miss the fact that the position of authority is the most prosperous criminal position available.” ― Frank Herbert, God Emperor of Dune
The Jamaican Constabulary Force (#JCF) is the main law enforcement agency in Jamaica. They are responsible for the country-wide #crime investigation and management, they are creatures of statute and as the government's legal arm of violence, beholden to the Ministry of National Security which is presided over my M.P. Dr. Horace Chang. JCF is an agency of government that enforces the law of the land. They also furbish the government with revenues, amounting to millions of dollars every year through court fines and seizure of assets. Despite this, they are treated with scant regard and rewarded with inadequate remuneration for their service. Crime in Jamaica is a serious and complex issue. Massive amounts of money and manpower are spent on reducing and preventing crime on a daily basis. Yet the Jamaican police have been a less than successful institution in helping to reduce crime rates significantly over time. Why?
Well... if I am to surmise and summarize the current state of the nation,
our government does not listen to stakeholders, the citizenry and even
the police.
Is the State of Emergency a Crime Plan?
THE STATE OF EMERGENCY is not a CRIME PLAN. That is this humble writer's opinion and I am sure it is the opinion of an overworked police force. It is a political device that combines two philosophically different organizations into a haphazard patchwork where they trip over each other and pose unforeseen hiccups in judicial and legal procedure. The military is a defense focused organization that though trained for combat, is not trained to combat civilians, not familiar with civil law or mechanics of criminal law and procedure. But most crucially, from a tactical perspective Jamaica Defense Force, is not geared towards active pursuit of criminals but are geared towards "holding the fort", defending and usually with less regard to civilian law. The JCF is an ever evolving creature whose tactics have to constantly adapt to the shifting and morphing nature of crime, while diligently tiptoeing around the law or doing acrobatics and contortions within the confines of legality.
If the SOE had worked last year our government wouldn't be griping about the opposition's opposition to the S.O.E. now. And most definitely the government wouldn’t need to be having one now. Three years ago February at the near beginning of our Emergency State, I stated that I believed that we need better policing and forensics as no long-term improvements were achieved by 3 years of SOEs, violent crime still plagues our nation. The #SOE is just a drastic short-term emergency response, not a sustainable strategy to reduce crime. There have been no measures accompanying the SOE geared at turning around Jamaica’s crime problem. Social intervention is handled like n a flash in the pan or a momentary public relations stunt rather than a sustained effort.
During recent salary negotiations the Government offered the JCF a four per cent increase on their measly salary and expects them to function at full throttle for another SOE. This situation is unreasonable and untenable, and the Government needs to rethink its strategy or risk losing members, which they can least afford at this time. When speaking to a police friend of mine, he complained bitterly that this has been a sticking point from the day when Bruce Golding said he wouldn’t give them one red cent more! The problems pestering the police force, such as poor working conditions, remuneration, among others, did not happen overnight. Successive governments from either of the two political parties have had to deal with these issues and none have adequately addressed the concerns of the members.
SOE What Now?
When the first SOE was declared in January 2018, murder tallies would reach 1,287 that year. It increased to 1,339 in 2019 and then slightly decreased in 2020 to 1,323. So even Stevie Wonder and Bredda Bull can see that SOE is not the answer as criminals continue to impact the economy and productive segment of society. And now... people have to sit in miserable conditions in hospitals and through curfews and COVID restriction, only to have their rights further stripped away.
What we are getting wrong, is that we have tried it all... already. What is said of someone who does the same thing expecting different results? They are mad. Are our heads of state collectively mad? Furthermore what seems dim witted in these desperate plans we keep repeating is that it pretends crime in Jamaica is simply a problem of a limited number of criminals holding us all for ransom. So if we lock away or execute enough of the criminals the crime will stop or at least be reduced. Such analysis never considers the larger truth that the number of criminals is not finite at all, and that there are structures in Jamaica that produce and encourage criminality. As Sir P of PolitricksWatch likes to put it, Jamaica has a conveyor belt the spits out criminals. And worse, what if these criminals do not fear death or dying? What if they’ve always accepted that as an inevitability? What would have been your point in trying to drive ‘fear’ into their hearts then? Are we adopting the concepts of comic book characters like Batman and Daredevil, who operate on an ethic rooted in fear?
The other day I was reasoning with a breddrin, fellow Cornwallian from Granville. Bobo… and he gave me some profound insight. He had been reasoning with a juvenile from Granville who had been detained during the state of emergency, and he recalled the youth who had been innocent to the inner workings of crime, was now telling him how being locked up had let him meet a whole lot of real criminals in jail and had become “linkees” or “chargees” and “parries”as it were. SO not only did the state of emergency not work and failed to address the root causes of crime… it afforded crime some rest time to foment and ferment, crime got to network to think! Worst of all, by grouping members of the same demographic ages 14 to around 28 from diverse walks of life, allowing them to meet and greet with crime, up close and personal. The monstrous octopus now has tentacles outside and inside the cell, spawning splint cells, who are now possibly some sort of agent of crime. For after the rights of the youth have been trampled long enough, they are eventually let out of jail due to no real evidence there to hold them; they then return to their communities demoralized, disenchanted, disrespected and disenfranchised.
Labourites and those happy for the SOE... applaud the locking away of innocent young men from “those places” in despicable conditions for long periods as a necessary evil. Of course that’s fine, after all, REMEMBER... it’s not OUR sons, brothers or friends. And if that act makes the youths mistrust the Police and later become criminals, then it’s no one’s fault; they would have become that way anyway.
Our history of bad-man policing goes all the way back to Batman & Robin, to Joe Williams, to Laing, to Bigga Fords, to Trinity, to Adams; and our history of strong handed policing has included Echo Squad (1976), Ranger Squad (1980), Eradication Squad (1980), Area Four Task Force (1986), Operation Ardent (1992), ACID (1993), Operation Justice (1995), Operation Dovetail (1997), Operation Intrepid (1999), Operation Kingfish (2004). With all these bad men police and all these heavy handed operations, our crime rate has never fallen significantly, or never stayed fallen.
In recent times, more municipalities across the world have been choosing to place greater emphasis on police-community partnerships and the co-production of safety, which necessitates a strong focus on equity, transparency, accountability, shared information, and changes in how police are trained, evaluated and promoted. Local policing however, is rarely regulated in the same way or under any real scrutiny. Local police have wide discretion to implement various policing tactics without seeking written permissions or public input or following officially-adopted protocol. Essentially, the local police in Jamaica are entrusted to maintain public safety by enforcing laws broadly and by statute at their discretion, but there is no imperative or incentive to employ community policing individually as a tactic or broadly as institution wide mandate.
A local police Superintendent or the Commissioner, for example, may institute a zero-tolerance “tough on crime” approach to policing, or, conversely, a community-oriented “boots on the ground, feet on the beat” strategy to leverage the power of residents to fight crime. How the police operate is mostly at he behest of the heads of the institution or at their own discretion. The ‘zero tolerance’ and ‘tough on crime’ measures are in my eyes and I suspect much of the public, is a total failures. “They’ve created a symbolic criminal law system, a criminal law system that tricks citizens into thinking that with strong penalties we solve the problem or even deter criminals.
The law enforcement officers, "Babylon" as they are known in the street... have been the face of oppression for far too many years, and now that link is embedded in the minds of fellow citizens. In the past, the laws adopted by our society have required police officers to perform many unpalatable tasks, such as ensuring legalized discrimination and ‘classism’ or even denying the basic human rights to many fellow Jamaicans as was the will of our governments. The government need to give the police force a listening ear or court a situation where the entire nation and the police force is opposed to the government of the day, which could precipitate social upheaval or even coups. If indeed the Government had the JCF as a priority, it should not be the case that force's members have to purchase their own uniforms and work under poor conditions for long hours without reasonable remuneration.
As a citizen, journalist and communicator I see the mistrust between many communities and the police and then the growing gap between the government and the police. On speaking with an officer, I realized there is so much about the logistics of policing and its daily operations that aren’t optimized, streamlined or efficient, that it is clear a real operational appraisal needs to take place in the force, then the government needs to come to that table and be forcefully updated.
There are gaps to bridge and connect within many segments of our communities and society. The first step to bridging the gap is for the police to acknowledge and apologize for the actions of the past and the role that their institution has played in our society’s historical mistreatment of poorer communities. After that is the ironing out internal procedures, modus operandi and ethos. Enforcement is part of the core of true policing, however harm reduction, sustaining healthy communities and working with youth lie at the heart of the true task of policing. We, both the public and police must seek to co-produce safety within the community and eventually the nation.
We fear speaking up against injustices and abrogation of powers, especially those that are unleashed by States of Emergency and now the Disaster Risk Management Act (#DRMA) even though these things are wrong. Instead we say "it will all work out”; as if by some magical means the right result will occur. We continue to believe change is “just around the corner” and so plan for a country with less crime. This vain plan is based on the strategy of hope, bereft of a detailed needs analysis and a solid plan of action. We “know” that the next leader from the other party (or maybe even from the same party) will be different and will be the one to “save us”. We continue to wait on the messiah, like waiting for Godot. Yet what type of leaders do we keep getting and our political parties keep producing.
Well... Jamaica's political parties have a well documented history of gang/individual gangster alignment & of patronage and enforcers giving rise to the earliest armed gangs.
Spanglers - PNP connection
Shower Posse - JLP connection
Clans - PNP connection
One Order - JLP connection…
So from bad man policing to bad man linking with politicians, you realize the badness “tun up” in Jamaica. We fully bad as they say in the streets and this maybe at the crux of our problem a culture of badness and badmindedness.
A badness so pervasive that our political leaders are in wikileaked documents on corruption lists and have revoked visas etc. It is this tyrannical, bully mind and bad mind that cannot fathom real social intervention and will make no time for it and won’t have any gusto to give social intervention a thrust and some umph! However if there is no economic aid that truly benefits communities… crime will continue mutating in brooding and breeding ground of badness and badmind. The youth are seeking out new routes to financial power. Some have begun to become mini militias willing to do the Ocean’s 11 style money heists or act out a Jamaican Netflix series.
So after all this legal violence and brute force… with little or no social intervention what comes next… what will fill the current socio-economic void? For the economy is tightening again and that is why we see more and more radical robberies and killings. Let us not pretend the issues aren't real… time to stop acting like Jamaica is a happy camp. The government needs to fix our access to the economy and fix the education system or the rebellions will occur and crime will continue to fester and one day the mob will be at Fort Holness with stakes and pitchforks. The maddening crowd, feverish and sickened by the festering badness that is Jamaica’s true epidemic.
What is necessary now is an "Agreement for the Democratic Security". My greatest concern is the decomposition of the political forces, the increase in institutional violence and desperate resorting to SOEs endlessly, the increase of bad police practices, corruption expressed through acts like collecting money, or freed zones or spaces politicians turn a blind eye to that allow the committing of crimes and many other expressions of crime. We must create a new social paradigm and ethos which is to have a more wide-open approach to solving security problems that is not focused solely on the criminal law functions of police, courts, penitentiaries, and law enforcement, which usually play an active role after the fact and event. We need instead to work on the origins, causes, and the whole aetiology of violence in our nation.
All of these activities unavoidably deal with human nature, with individual victims and their families and communities, with deeply-rooted power structures, with vested interests, with anger, frustration, mistrust, disappointment, and fear. Change will require new data, but also new levels of empathy. To bring all the stakeholders (local politicians, the citizenry and police) together and balance their interests in a process of democratic engagement will not be a simple task. The right questions have to be asked about the means and ends of policing. Are any means justifiable to reduce crime? What are the costs and benefits of different policing tactics? With evidence-based answers, legislation can guide the design of policing processes and set the parameters for rules. Rules and protocol can then be established to guide the administration of police departments. Meaningful public involvement throughout the process can provide legitimacy for new and revised policies, laws, and actions. Furthermore, this may allow us to generate a model of community policing, which is a model of police organization that goes beyond the needs of a political regime. This model goes directly to fulfill the needs of citizens. I rest my case.
About the author: Yannick Nesta Pessoa B.A. is Jamaica’s first blogger, a Social Advocate, Community Activist and Legal Student. Follow on Twitter & Instagram @yahnyk. Follow on Youtube @ and Reply to yannickpessoa@gmail.com
Can a mere singer/songwriter draw in and concentrate the kind of emotional power that without warning stop a community, in the midst of whatever it is doing and stop old women on the way to church, stop a hairdresser in her shop, stop the young crocs and the killy in their tracks, turn young potential gun men into drummers, let a con man for a day become his better self, stop the prostitute about her business, make other singers and deejays afraid -- with powerful vocals, soul and genuine lyrics from the heart? Believe you me, I know one such artist and as the title suggests… his name is Jovexx or as his mother knows him Jovian Jackson. You may have already started hearing some of his songs on the radio, maybe you are an early adopter from facebook or instagram, one thing however is certain, you will know Jovexx, he will be a household name in Jamaica, and amongst the pantheon of Montego Bay’s major icons, Queen Ifrica, Tommy Lee Sparta and Jah Cure.
Do pop music lyrics matter? Do reggae and dancehall lyrics matter? Should culture-watchers and pop vulture be giving them the kind of rigorous, deconstructive attention now reserved for the high arts, great literature and an occasional movie? Most of the activists in the street I know believe that these songs and the words in them matter immensely. Cultural analysts should not be left behind. If movies are now our novels, then reggae and dancehall music lyrics may be the closest thing we have nowadays to a mass-marketed poetry, shaping attitudes and emotions for an audience that is, to say the least, extensive.
So when you hear lyrics like “mi agree seh life too hard but mi nah sell mi soul fi nuh round of applause, many live them life in the fast lane, but mama seh it never too late fi Jah Jah fall rain, so mi jus agwaan wait mi turn, time is the key the more you live the more you learn, a just the life weh we live, thanks we a give” or this verse from another song… “we keep holding on, all when the storm and the pressure is on, mi draw fi mi Bible and chant a Psalm, and when one door close mi carry on, oil and powder them set fi man, the most always kept mi strong, them seh mi nah go mek it but them is wrong, a just my time me waiting pon”
His songs are melodic and filled with bluesy voice and his carefully wrought tales of characters in contemporary Jamaica, that the average person who seeks meaning in the face of society’s evils and havoc can readily identify with. When Jovexx belts a line like “mi nuh sorry mi live a garrison, mi never sorry the way mi born poor, so tell them we proud a weh we come from, ghetto yute haffi make it I sure, is like dem nuh see it seh we a human being, nuffa we pain dem ignore…” I have seen men and women eyes well up with tears.
The way I view this Artiste, it is as though he is a bridge between the Seventies folk and cultural movement and the more socially conscious folk and arts musical revival of the today which Chronixx and Protoje are hailed for. Jovexx's strong convictions, which are relayed in the lyrics to every song in catalogue paint a vivid picture of the struggles that young people, particularly those in Montego Bay, are experiencing now. His message resonated so strongly that he has already amassed a wide following. Jovexx’s stunningly captivating voice is front and center. Whether his lyrics are hopeful or chilling (often both within a single song), this material has a depth and substance well beyond his years. I know this for a fact not hype or fluff talk.
I have known Jovexx since 2014, I met him while assisting another artiste with his career. On our way from a video shoot in Lucea I got into his vehicle. On the way back to MoBay, someone played a riddim in the car, but he started Singjaying a song that sounded beautiful, so I asked him to sing it again, but he said “Rasta, if you never ketch it pon you phone it lost in the wind, caah mi just a mek up supm and gallang pon the riddim and right now mi a drive and mi frass so them lyrics nah come back again!” And I have watched enough Documentaries on true genius and been blessed to have rolled with a few, to know when I am in the presence of it. Plus I’d like to believe the genius in myself recognizes it in another. But as fate would have it, being the way I am, I never wanted to run in on someone else bandwagon. Plus rolling with artistes was proving a little unrewarding since the artiste was rolling with at the time would rather by gunmen 20,000 hennessy at the parties than pay for his bio or help getting a known director from Kingston to shoot his video, nagging industry friends in high places to get him on Morning Time etc etc etc.
But as fate would have it. One Friday morning March 2016, I come down the road in Paradise just in time to see Jovexx stepping out of his car as Stumpy urged him forward, “come in mi artiste, buy wi a liquor and sing song fi mi caah yuh haffi buss, a you alone mek me eye full a water and goosebump tek mi… come in come in” That morning when I asked about the music he was lukewarm as in unsure of where it was going for him. Anyway under the influence of Stumpy he belted out quite a few songs, there was a magic in that moment and I was glad I remember to take out my phone and press the red dot on the video camera… I left the road roughly 12 midday, posted the video of the four songs… when returned in the evening there was more than a million views on Facebook, women and men messaging me from California, New Orleans,England, Italy, producers from Kingston, Twins of Twins, my inbox was more than I could navigate.
Now this is not a promo piece, nobody asked me to write this, I am writing this because too many time great artistes come from Montego Bay and maybe the local papers missed them early or they waited for media in Kingston to validate them as artistes of substance, no not this time… The Mirror and Montego Bay needs to validate our own first, so before you read about him in The Gleaner or the Star or Rolling Stones Magazine, remember, you saw it first in your town, your newspaper, your own legend in the making… Jovexx, go check him on Youtube… from singing on the streets in Paradise to global studios, don’t be the last to know.
“We live in cities you'll never see onscreen, Not very pretty, but we sure know how to run things, Livin' in ruins of a palace within my dreams, And you know we're on each other's team” Lorde: Team
“Don't you think that it's boring how people talk, Making smart with their words again, well I'm bored, Because I'm doing this for the thrill of it, killin' it… It's a new art form showing people how little we care (yeah), We're so happy, even when we're smilin' out of fear” Lorde: Tennis Court
I know the word underground cued you in to this article! So you wanna know what is “the underground”? Well it is the cutting-edge output of writers, musicians and artists linked to together by the zeitgeist (spirit of the times) of Montego Bay today and operate more or less outside the margins of what mainstream artsin Montego Bay and Jamaica has come to be known. Now during the last century, the vast majority of music you heard and bought was controlled by a small number of companies: record labels, radio stations and other dominators of the media. So too with the art you see, it is run by a small cabal of tastemakers and custodians. Artists need them to reach the public and the public’s choice was prescribed by what these gatekeepers believed could best turn a profit or suited their inclinations. Today, however, a networked world is giving artists and audiences the tools to reject those companies forever.
The arrival of illegal filesharing on Napster at the turn of the century changed everything: it was a collision between a new format (MP3) and a new distribution system (the internet), both of which sat outside of the control of the traditional music business. It made the first dents in the arts and culture cartel and gave the underground a hotline to a global audience for the first time. Social Media platforms learned from this and focused on doing one thing well: community (Facebook, Twitter), video (YouTube), audio (SoundCloud), sales (Bandcamp), ticketing (Songkick, Dice), self-serve distribution (TuneCore, CD Baby), alternative funding (Pledge, Patreon, Kickstarter) and so on. In time Google image searches,Deviant Art, Flickr, Instagram and Pinterest would do the same for visual art. For the last two decades, if not even longer, modern Jamaican art has been trapped in the vicious circle of pastiches and appropriations. The art world was full of neo-somethings, post-isms, and meta-artistic phenomena. Conceptual art, minimalism, the revival of the abstract, all these movements were more concerned with conditions of their own existence, self-referential and approachable only through art theory. Modern Jamaican art spoke only to a limited circle of educated people and even they are getting tired of its senselessness.
Today’s underground in Mobay is an eclectic mix and hybrid of intellectualism and energies ignorant of academic discourse and theory, immersed into our real and current everyday reality which contemporary artists ignored, naturally has become a movement attractive to many. Also, it is the only movement that emerged in the last 15 years or more that wasn’t just a revival of some other historic art traditions. What we have here is not a harkening back to Barry Watson or Claude Mckay, not a reggae revival as the artistes in Kingston have engineered but a kind of Afro-Caribbean Futurism. Furthermore, the aesthetic diversity of Mobay’s art practitioners is welcomed in the art world dominated by monochromatic canvases and empty spaces.
Music and art today are highly democratic because of its rootedness in public, communal spaces and social media spaces. The social, political aspects and critical connotations sre to be praised owing to the fact that contemporary art has lost its sense of the social surroundings. When on display at the National Gallery West has on display Art like “How to Kill a sound boy” and “We should keep her”, it seems contrary to what artists and artistes on the ground in Montego Bay Jamaica are doing. Kill a sound boy seems an assault on the musical artist and begs question of sexuality. While a piece that would suggest we have kept the Queen, seems a slap in the face to all the street poets and artists that believe in our ability to govern our own destiny and chart an Afro-Carribean future. It would seem a reneging on the zeal of our predecessors.
“The mass media and mainstream are too expensive and soul sucking for the underground artist. Renting a gallery for exhibition isn’t cheap. There are too many compromises. Too many people telling you how you should be doing things.” Hence, the greatest painters and musicians and poets are rarely on TV as to be invisible, never ever in daily newspapers, and not even in the same universe as advertisers.
Montego Bay’s Underground art is emerging as rebellious owing simply to its exclusion, so expect it be connected to subculture lifestyles, hostile toward art institutions, with anti-capitalist, social and political undertones. The flowering of Montegonian underground art is strongly dependent on the communities and local reception. It originates on a neighborhood and community level, addressing local issues and communicating messages in-situ. Globally, urban art like no other movement in recent art history gained praise and recognition everywhere and the most intriguing thing about it is that it was equally appreciated by the large art loving audience, elite collectors, and art professionals. It is a puzzling fact then it is left behind as Montego Bay presents itself to the world? About the author: Yannick Nesta Pessoa B.A. is Jamaica’s first blogger, a Community Activist and Law Student. Follow Yannick on Twitter at @yahnyk | yannickpessoa@yahoo.com
When one thinks of poetry, dub, culture, history and the arts in Jamaica, most people think Kingston, Edna Manley, Red Bones Cafe, The Ranny Williams Centre, Reggae revival, Jah 9, Protege, Jesse Royal, Kabaka Pyramid, Chronixx, Damian Marley...
Stretch your brain now and see if you can think of any Western Jamaican musicians in that vain... I am willing to bet you couldn't think of any or know any. You do know they exist though right? It is time you know artistes like... new western Jamaican artistes Mentor, Lij Tafari, Lusion, Jovexx, Antwain, Marley Fire, I-Mara, Raydaar, Teacher Dee, Naphtali/Omar, Okonko, Kempo and The Young Jamaica Ensemble these are names represent a western Jamaican authentic arts and reggae musical experiences to be had, if one is going to say they are an adept aficionado of western Jamaican music. Other names like Kolumbo, Mycus Chip and Fury echo of the quasi-street conscious ethos of Jah Vinci's calibre, with shades of both dancehall and reggae in their game. This generation of artists is worthy successors to Montegonian reggae and culture legends like White Mice, Jah Cure and Queen Ifrica. With regard to dub poetry, names bubbling in the local market are Blabber, Kofi Kulcha, Skripcha, Marley Fire, Venise Samuels amongst many others.
This crop of artistes offers cultural enrichment and entertainment that isn't available elsewhere in Jamaica. The hub and foundation of much of the stunningly beautiful music being made in Montego Bay, with amazing insights and great beats, is created in The People's Arcade and Coomb's Lane. Upcoming studios like Skull Yard and foundation studios like Victory One, Vidal and Half-a-Dread are helping to propel both new artists while keeping grounded with foundation artistes. Out here, being produced in the west are songs to dance and vibe to as well as deep cerebral lyrics to creep inside of and crawl through your psyche. This music takes you outside your conventional conceptualization of Jamaican music as most popular Jamaican music is Kingston based, biased and centred. These western Jamaicans give you a different perspective. A true reggae aficionado can no longer ignore the energies being emitted from Western Jamaica.
Although the mainstream often associates contemporary Jamaican music with the harder dancehall of artists like Beenie Man and Vybz Kartel, the Jamaican listenership has an under-reported love for melodic pop and smooth flows. Downtown dances play Celine Dion, Kenny Rogers remains popular and local supergroup L.U.S.T. – Lukie D, Trilla U, Singing Melody and Tony Curtis – scored a hit with a cover of Air Supply's "Just As I Am." Today the airwaves being taken over by local music station Fyah 105, has re-proven that Jamaican ears hunger and are eager to hear global rhythms, and join the procession of new music and musical global consciousness that is flowering all over the planet.
I say to you now, go research these names, these artists... listen to my sampling of videos... witness the blossoming of Mobay Music... the western consciousness revival!
Open-source software (OSS) is computer software with its source code made available with a license in which the copyright holder supplies the rights to study, change and distribute the software to anyone and for any reason or function. Open-source software is very oftentimes developed in a public, collaborative manner. Open-source software is the most striking example of open-source development and often compared to (technically defined) user-generated content or (legally defined) open-content movements.
A report by the Standish Group (from 2008) states that adoption of open-source software models has resulted in savings of about $60 billion per year to consumers.
In production and development, open source as a development model promotes a universal access via a free license to a product's design or blueprint, and universal redistribution of that design or blueprint, including subsequent improvements to it by anyone. Researchers view open source as a specific case of the greater pattern of Open Collaboration, "any system of innovation or production that relies on goal-oriented yet loosely coordinated participants, who interact to create a product (or service) of economic value, which they make available to contributors and non-contributors alike".
The open-source model is based on a more decentralized model of production, in contrast with more centralized models of development such as those typically used in commercial software companies.
A main principle of open-source software development is peer production by collaboration, with the end-product, source code, "blueprints", and documentation available at no cost to the public. The open source movement in software began as a response to the limitations of closed proprietary code, and it is now spreading across different fields. This model is also used for the development of open-source-appropriate technologies, solar photovoltaic technology and open-source drug discovery.
There is an accelerating interest in and use of Open-Source Software worldwide. Local governments are changing. Forward-thinking municipalities are embracing technology to make our cities better for everyone. Innovative government staff are sharing resources, best practices, and collaborating on common problems. Jamaica an its municipalities need to provide a broad range of resources, programs and services to support and advance civic innovation. Open Source Software becomes the leading information technology day by day and there are open source alternatives to most of the commercial softwares...
I use Linux Mint 17! So why can't the government do it?
So why is Government in general, and the St. James municipality in particular not looking into Open Source? It's time that Jamaican government IT policy goes as far as expressing a formal preference to use open source!
How can you apply the concepts of open source to a living, breathing city?
An open source city is a blend of open culture, open government policies, and economic development.
Five characteristics of an open source city
Fostering a culture of citizen participation
Having an effective open government policy
Having an effective open data initiative
Promoting open source user groups and conferences
Being a hub for innovation and open source businesses
Citizen participation: Probably one of the most difficult components of an open source city
is to foster a culture of citizen participation. Having citizen champions around
certain causes can really help boost citizen participation and
engagement.
Open government policy and open data:Policy is another key component of an open source city.
User groups and conferences:Participation comes in another form with user groups and
conferences—like-minded people gathering around their passions. Hosting these conferences and supporting user
groups will boost your open source city credibility.
Economic development:
Finally, having an economic development strategy that includes open
source companies can help foster innovation and create jobs. More and
more cities are also seeing the advantages of having an open data policy
tied to their startup community. Cities that can combine their open
data policy with their economic development strategy can give a real
boost to startups and other businesses. Being a hub for open source
companies and a catalyst for open source startups can have a positive
impact on the city's bottom line. More importantly, this feeds back in
to culture and participation. Municipalities and Open Source
As a Linux User I keep myself abreast by reading Linux Format! I found this interesting article in the April 2014
edition.
Munich’s switch to open-source software has been successfully completed, with the vast majority of the public administration’s users now running its own version of Linux, city officials said Thursday. In one of the premier open-source software deployments in Europe, the city migrated from Windows NT to LiMux, its own Linux distribution. LiMux incorporates a fully open-source desktop infrastructure. The city also decided to use the Open Document Format (ODF) as a standard, instead of proprietary options. Ten years after the decision to switch, the LiMux project will now go into regular operation, the Munich City council said in a document published on its website. As of November last year, the city saved more than €11.7 million (US$16.1 million) because of the switch.
Other cities should do this for many reasons such as:
Proving to its citizen-bosses that it is doing its job and working hard in response to their needs.
Opening up data and processes because, you never know, those
citizen-bosses may be able to do something cool with it or make great
suggestions.
Opening up gives citizens a sense of ownership and welcome.
They are more likely to be engaged and satisfied if they feel ownership
and pride in that ownership.
Benefits of Open Source to Montego Bay
Community Participation – Taking it to the streets
Citizen-led communities
Connection between youth-development programs and open government community
Connection entrepreneurial community and open government community
Importance of broadband access for any of this to be useful
I believe in the critical role of open-source software to create the applications and infrastructure necessary to support electronic medical records and other government-funded technology projects. Open-source software has already resulted in dramatic cost reductions in many technology areas.
Open-source software brings transparency to software development. There are no “black boxes” in open-source software and therefore no need to guess what is going on “behind the scenes.” Ultimately, this means a better product for everyone, because there is visibility at every level of the application, from the user interface to the data implementation. Furthermore, open-source software provides for platform independence, which makes quick deployments that benefit our citizens much easier and realistic.
The open-source industry is changing the world of software development in many of the ways many politicians have promised to change Jamaican politics. The values of open source are hope, change, and openness. I sincerely hope that Montego Bay and the St. James Parish Council if not the entire Jamaican government, will make the use of open-source software a key component of every new technology initiative it is apart of.
The open source characteristics of collaboration, transparency, and
participation are shaping municipalities world wide as we brand our city as a city for the creative classes we must also give it the open source city brand.
It's time that Jamaican government's IT policy goes as far as expressing a formal preference to use open source!
WATCH THESE VIDEOS TO GET UPTO SPEED ON LINUX AND OPEN SOURCE!!!
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The List of top 20 schools in Jamaica is officially out it seems and the figures are quite intriguing to say the least...
Hmmm Mt. Alvernia surpasses Mobay High... Historic if not monumental...
Well as back-to-school time rolls around... one thing I am certain of is this... Mt. Alvernia girls gonna be walking this September with an academic swagg like no other...
Mrs. Cherian will undoubtedly be beaming!!!
Only Westwood from made it into the top 10 from the west, which has shook up teachers and academics out west, for as much as Westwood has a long track record of success, it is still overlooked.
This list has spark the expected Facebook comment and thread wars of MBH vs MHS, Barbra Grayhounds vs Sister White Fowls as youth in my times referred to it.
Hats off to Mt. Alvernia... 'cause I remember back in the day when youths at Cornwall had it that Alvernia a fi dunce or screbbeh screbbeh girls and Mobay High is where you go hunting for high calibre... but as a young gallis... I never prescribed to such a philosophy or doctrine... I and I seek and finds the brightest and the hottest any where dem deh! Also... mi 'member when mi walk over the hill and pass Alvernia in the mornings and all those voices a mystery to me Yannick! Yannick! Yannick... man a Alvernia fuss tun mi inna mega star so... big up Alvernia a thousand times!
But one has to ask... what of Cornwall College... Bastion by the Sea! Disce Aut Discede!
Errol Watts of the "Cornwall College Alumni" FaceBook page posited the following arguments in Cornwall's defense for not being on the list...
"Notwithstanding the fact that CC has to continue to strive for excellence at all times, there are extraneous circumstances that might have been overlooked when analyzing the results. For example, CC does not hold-back any students from sitting the exams; while, other schools are known to submit only their best students that they think will have a chance to pass. We have an 85% (CSEC), and 93% (CAPE) average. We have one of, if not, the largest 6th Form Student Body in the country (130). And, to get into our 6th Form, you need to have 6 passes in grades 1, and 2. You might have noticed that the results offered, included English and Maths; however, we have one of (if not ) the best Physics, and Chemistry programs in the country. We have 30 distinctions at unit 1 and 2, including 50% in Physics and Chemistry. Presently, 15 out of the 138 students enrolled in Medicine at UWI, are from CC, the highest from one school in Jamaica. This year, we have 190 students applying to attend our 6th Form, which has a capacity for approx. 130. Finally, the number one student overall in the country,for the recent grade 6 achievement test, Mark Brown, and the top student from the county of Cornwall, Devin McIntosh, will be attending CC. Yes, we need to improve our English and Maths scores, but all is not lost. SATIS VERBORUM! CC...CC...CC!"
Well he has a point about Cornwall's academic past and current successes... but one has to ask... If Cornwall's admin is running away nobody and not regulating the exam sitting process and everybody sit exam etc... then Disce Aut Discede is a farce... "Learn or Leave" becomes a myth!
Aaaaaaaaaaanywaaaaayzzzzzzz...
As the back-to-school debacle begins, parents and children will no doubt begin the battle of the brands... kids want Clarks and Jansports... straight, close fitted khaki pants vs tailor made or home made and no name bought at Bashco or Market shoes etc etc etc...
I wonder what the literature syllabus is like now for 7th graders/1st formers... aah the good old days of Sprat Morrison!
Burrel must go..., that Old Big Belly Barrel must roll, not Tappa's head. Like Jack Warner... and di whole a di FIFA old boy's fraternity, JFF is a dinosaur... proned to chronic and systemic problems which hamper the Reggae Boys more than coaching inability.
Where was tuffy? Whose ideology is it to use bare foreign ballers? Why do local coaches still get paid less than foreign ones? Why are we still imitating Brazilian football, when Spain and the Germanic countirs are on top and playing a better calibre of ball?
Aye Captain stop chat BS before mi bun down di bakery... as Tappa neighbour/or just member of the same community... Paradise/Norwood a dat me a seh!
We nah seh Theodore perfect but come on man... stop look fi scapegoat... go tek JFF problems to Azazel.
A
brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn
reputation by trying to do hard things well. Jeff
Bezos
“There
is more similarity in the marketing challenge of selling a precious
painting by Degas and a frosted mug of root beer than you ever
thought possible.” A.
Alfred Taubman
Imagine the words Montego Bay,
instantaneously it brings to mind, relaxation, coconut and palm
trees, white sand beaches, sun and sometimes even sex - it's one of
the most powerful images in the Caribbean. So how is it, dozens of
companies use the name to sell products – Payless is notorious for
selling a brand of sandals called the Montego Bay Club, there is even
a foreign band full of white boys called Montego Bay Band, A
Freemason pub of some sort in England with the Name Montego Bay
littering the menu- so I put it to both the government and the public
now, that we start considering seeking protection for Brand Montego
Bay, under intellectual property, through trademark and copyright.
Freemasons Arms Pub... on the Menu Montego Bay Chicken Wrap!
We must consider that in today’s
environment cities compete amongst each other for talent, business
and human resources. In many ways they have to act like commercial
entities by selling themselves to potential customers – business
investors, visitors/tourists, the working and creative classes– as
successful, vibrant, forward-looking brands. Simply put they have to
market themselves as the place to be, project an image of tomorrow
and betterment. At the same time that image, that name, that identity
must be guarded. Just as commercial entities, have lawyers and make
legal cases on issues of copyright and trademark infringement. So too
must local government and even central government entities now seek
to protect the Brand Montego Bay and Brands of Jamaica.
How do a group of white boys in America or is it England become the Montego Bay Band?
Intellectual property rules offer the
potential to provide a valuable source of income for people in
developing countries, who tend to get only a small sliver of the
profits made on their goods on the international market. Do we profit
from made in China T-Shirts that say Montego Bay. NOPE! Montegonians
are not getting value. Their image and name is being abused.
Consequently I saw a study that detail through study of Mobay and
other areas, how Brand Jamaica has mostly benefited entities like
Puma, whilst craft vendors and small businesses flailing in the harsh
economy. Montego
Bay City must re-examine its role and function, as well as define its
appeal to ‘citizens/consumers’, at the same time protecting the
name and the Brand of the city for the citizens. Our city must
distinguish itself from our competitors (Kingston, Portmore, Ocho
Rios) and position our self as a recognizable brand in an
increasingly regional and international market place. Port of Spain,
San Fernando, Bridgetown, Kingstown are all Caribbean cities vying
for status and international cosmopolitan appeal, so what of us in
the Bay?
I noted on twitter that a few
Kingstonians started noticing that “Mobay look like farrin” and
that “any time mi waan go farrin mi go Fairview, Montego Bay.”
Here is an excerpt of Mobay through a foreigners eyes
“Downtown resembled a cross between America and what we would
picture as rural Africa. The streets were full of activity. People
yelling, laughing, buying and selling items. Playing music. Their
skin was black as tar and beautiful. Their hair was the epitome of
natural. They wore clothes that we would have worn in the early
2000’s but did their best to match it up.”
From
instagram.com (via @RudeboyRJ) - June 3, 4:05 PM
What is the vision of Mobay, what is
the vision for Montego Bay, who protects the name Montego Bay? The
name Montego Bay has been already been branded and used and bandied
about like there is no tomorrow, but Montegonians haven't seen the
benefits.
I put it out there that Montego Bay is
the biggest cultural brand in the Caribbean. When I travel abroad,
Montego Bay always seems to be the more popular Jamaican destination
and known location. So those companies using the Montego Bay Brand in
ways that really do enhance their business, they use the name to make
association with luxury, comfort, sun, breeze and such... so it's
reasonable for the Montegonians to ask, Why aren't you coming to talk
to us? Why aren't you asking our permission? Why don't you engage
with us?
The notion of cities and cultures
seeking IP protection is not an entirely new one - the Native
American Navajo recently brought a case against the clothes company
Urban Outfitters, for use of their name.
Relying on past glory is no longer
enough; As the once den like, homely Montego Bay is now becoming a
metropolis and showing a citizenry acquiring the cosmopolitan
lifestyles to go with it… the friendly city is now a big city, and
nowhere near as friendly as it used to be.
Today, successful
companies and young talented people have lost hometown loyalties;
note the influx of outsiders and outside businesses in Mobay, not to
mention the ‘Spanish Invasion’. They can choose where to cluster.
Cities with distinctive characteristics; be they economic, cultural,
environmental or life style, and it these things that will attract
the best companies and people. So now we have questions of Montego
Bay’s identity and its brand identity: What are the distinctive
characteristics of Montego Bay, what makes us, US?
