JAMAICA TO BECOME A REPUBLIC BY 2025 GENERAL ELECTIONS, SAYS MALAHOO-FORTE
According to Jamaica’s Minister of Legal and Constitutional Affairs, Marlene Malahoo-Forte, Jamaica will declare that it is a Republic in the next general elections scheduled for 2025. The Minister provided this update during the House of Representatives 2022/23 Sectoral Debate. The decision to remove the British Queen as Jamaica’s head of state comes as the island is celebrating 60 years of independence from the United Kingdom. Malahoo-Forte also announced the establishment of a Constitutional Reform Committee (CRC) that will include member of the opposition and said she has already written to the Opposition Leader asking for the appointment of two Opposition members to join the reform committee. Support of at least two-thirds of all members of either House is required in the final vote to remove the Queen as head of state. While the Jamaica Labor Party government had the required two-thirds majority vote in the House of Representatives, it will need at least one of the eight Opposition senators to vote with the government. She also advised that a referendum on the issue should be held among Jamaica’s people.
JAMAICA’S MINISTER OF CULTURE SAYS MINISTRY WORKING TO ADDRESS SEXUAL HARASSMENT
Olivia Grange, Jamaica’s Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, reported to the House of Representatives that the Ministry is establishing a Sexual Harassment Unit to investigate complaints. Recruitment to staff the unit has begun, with some officers ready to work as of July 1, 2022. She also said Danny Roberts, an expert in labor relations, will serve as a consultant to help create the Sexual Harassment Tribunal and related issues. The Tribunal is the entity charged with hearing and determining complaints of sexual harassment in the workplace and other institutions, and to adjudicate complaints by workers of employer failure to act on their complaints. Grange added that, thus far, the Bureau of Gender Affairs has helped 200 organizations draft Sexual Harassment Workplace Policies. In 2021, Jamaica’s government passed the Sexual Harassment (Protection and Prevention) Act, which is designed to stop sexual harassment in the country.
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STUDENT IN ST. VINCENT GRADUATES WITH HONORS FROM HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Gerard Porter, a student from St. Vincent, has graduated from the prestigious Harvard University with first-class honors in Chemistry. Porter is also the recipient of the Sophie Freund Prize, which is awarded to Harvard’s most outstanding seniors each year. Porter is the son of Pastor Gilbert Porter and Educator Samantha Porter. He was among the top CXC-CSEC performers, having 12 grade-one passes in 2016. The grade-one passes were achieved in Pure Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Communications Studies, and Caribbean Studies. Porter was named the most outstanding national scholar in 2018. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the most prestigious academic honor society in the United States.