Who should replace Roger Clarke as member of Parliament for Central Westmoreland?

A date for a by-election to fill the Central Westmoreland seat left vacant with the passing of the People’s National Party’s Member of Parliament Roger Clarke is yet to be announced, but already a number of persons are eyeing the seat. The Jamaica Observer West’s Alan Lewin sought reaction on Tuesday when he visited the constituency and asked: Who do you think is most suitable to represent the constituency of Central Westmoreland?

Yolando Cazely, store manager:

We want Michael Erskine because he can sit on my court case, so we have a lawyer to represent us as our MP. We don’t want the other one them that we hear about.

Lennox Mackie, unemployed:

We don’t want Karl Blythe or Michael Erskine. Only a person from the JLP can replace Roger Clarke.

Talisha Bedward-Scarlett, sales representative:

I think Karl Blythe should get the edge. He is a kind person and he always look out for the poor people.

Shantel Wright, unemployed:

I think it should be Dr Karl Blythe. From what I heard, he is a good man and look out for the poor people as Michael Manley did. That is what I have heard from my parents.

Tasha Walker, unemployed:

Well, anyone the PNP choose is fine with me. But of the two names that are rumoured, I think Karl Blythe should get the nod.

Bernard Vanriel, PNP councillor:

I believe that the party should look outside for a replacement because the constituency calls for a lot of money. It takes a lot of money to run a by-election in a parish council division much less to run a by-election in a constituency. The persons from the parish who I hear want to run now, are bruk pocket.

But whoever the party selects to run, I will support them

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Who should replace Roger Clarke as member of Parliament for Central Westmoreland?

Clarke rift will not sway McGinley

Victorious Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley says his strained relationship with Darren Clarke will not influence his opinion on who should succeed him.

McGinley is part of a five-man committee that will choose the European captain for 2016.

Clarke initially backed McGinley’s bid to be the 2014 captain, only to put himself forward and then move on to supporting Colin Montgomerie.

“I’m going to be very professional in my input,” said McGinley.

Former Open champion Clarke wrote to McGinley in 2011, offering his support to the Irishman’s bid to lead at Gleneagles.

Clarke and McGinley won the Ryder Cup as European team-mates in 2004

But, in December 2012, Clarke told the BBC that he was in the running to become captain, before appearing to back Montgomerie – who had led in 2010 – after the United States appointed Tom Watson.

“We do have an (unwritten) rule where we don’t ask anybody to do it again, but we might have to look at that,” said Clarke.

Ultimately, McGinley was named captain in 2013 and took Europe to a 16½-11½ success to earn praise from players Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia.

McGinley recently admitted that his conversations with Clarke were now “short and sweet”, but, when asked if his relationship with Clarke would be a problem for the Northern Irishman’s captaincy bid, McGinley said: “Absolutely no problem whatsoever.

“I’m going to get opinions from a lot of players and a lot of people before I put my opinion forward as to what it will be. Just like I was very much pushed over the line by the players, I want to get the opinion of the players.

“We’re very fortunate in Europe, a little bit like the Liverpool soccer team and the boot room. A lot of us have benefited hugely from being vice-captains. Darren has been a vice-captain along with many other guys.

“We will see where that all evolves and I’ll make a professional decision based on the views of people that I respect.”

McGinley invited Sir Alex Ferguson to address the European team in the run-up to the Ryder Cup

McGinley will choose the new captain along with previous two skippers Montgomerie and Jose Maria Olazabal, the European Tour chief executive and a representative from the tournament committee.

But the 47-year-old, who won the trophy three times as a player, says his Ryder Cup career is now over and that he has no desire to be captain or vice-captain again.

“I don’t think I’d be vice-captain to anybody going forward to be honest,” said McGinley, who was a vice-captain in 2010 and 2012.

“I’m very happy to help in an unofficial capacity but I don’t think I have the personality to go back in as vice-captain.

“That’s six I have been involved in and six wins. Like a heavyweight fighter, I will retire undefeated.”

“Paul McGinley’s detail and preparation was fantastic. Rory McIlroy delivered in a fashion that great players can do – that’s why he’s the best player in the world. The fans played a fantastic part because they created that atmosphere where the players didn’t want to let them down. That’s the great beauty of fans like that – it creates an expectation they want to live up to.”

McGinley said he would be happy take on an advisory role, like the one former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson held at Gleneagles.

“I would certainly like to play a role, if required, a little bit like Alex Ferguson did this week for me,” he added.

“I bounced ideas off him. He didn’t preach to me. He didn’t tell me what to do, but what he did was he solidified my ideas and he gave me confidence that, yeah, my hunches were right.

“I certainly won’t be pushing myself forward, but whoever the next captain may be, if he has any questions, I’ll help in any single way I can.”

Ryder Cup final day in three minutes

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Clarke rift will not sway McGinley

Roger Clarke hailed as regional giant

Roger Clarke

Christopher Serju, Star Writer

The Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) has paid tribute to late agriculture minister, Roger Clarke, citing his efforts especially to promote regional agriculture as a major platform for developing Caribbean economies.

Clarke who died on August 28 will be laid to rest today in a family plot in Westmoreland, following an official funeral at the St George’s Anglican Church, Savanna-la-mar.

In a release yesterday, Dr Arlington Chesney, executive director of CARDI recalled that Clarke, who was member of parliament for Central Westmoreland at the time of his death, had a vision for agriculture that extended well beyond the shores of Jamaica.

vibrant economy

“He recognised that a sustainable agricultural sector was critical to the region having a vibrant economy and further, that the region’s agriculture could best be served if each nation were to support and/or harmonise with each other’s actions,” Dr. Chesney recounted.

He further said, “It is that belief in the importance of regional unity that made him by far the minister that has contributed the most to governance of the sector in the region and its major activities. He recognised the need to fill the void when the Standing Committee of Ministers of Agriculture was disbanded. He moved to support the creation of the Forum of Ministers.”

The CARDI executive director said Clarke gave many years of unflinching and dedicated support to CARDI, both as member and chairman of the Institute’s Board of Governors.

“As we celebrate the life of this ultimate friend of regional agriculture, on behalf of the directors, management and staff of CARDI and on my own behalf, I convey our deepest condolences to the widow, children, relatives and numerous friends of our beloved Minister Roger Clarke,” Dr Chesney said.

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Roger Clarke hailed as regional giant

Simon Clarke to lead education consultations

BY GARFIELD MYERS Edititor-at-Large, South/Central Bureau myersg@jamaicaobserver.com

MANDEVILLE, Manchester — Chairman of the National Council on Education, Dr Simon Clarke, is to oversee consultations with “stakeholder groups” and the public regarding the proposed review of the education regulations of 1980, Education Minister Ronnie Thwaites has announced.Clarke, a retired educator, is a former UNESCO Caribbean director and education advisor for the region.Describing the review as the “core of many of the intended improvements in the education system”, Thwaites told a Manchester Chamber of Commerce forum last Thursday that the consultations will “begin this month and we hope to complete them by early next year”.Thwaites said the timetable was to have the amended regulations approved by Parliament during the legislative year.According to Thwaites, the regulations that require review “have to do with the governance of schools, responsibilities and procedures of school boards. It also has to do with rewarding and disciplining of students.Thwaites that social dynamics had rendered the disciplinining of students in schools more complex than had been the case in the past and there was need to provide guidance for teachers.“The fact is that the social fabric in many parts of Jamaica in many schools is not what it was in many parts of Jamaica a generation or two ago and many teachers and school principals are completely at a disadvantage now because what they can do in relation to student behaviour and student conduct is completely inadequate given the social inadequacies of many students,” the minister said.In apparent reference to the Ministry of Education’s ban on corporal punishment, the minister said: “We will not go back to the brutality of a previous era but we must find creative and constructive ways in order to insist that our students recognise that school is not any romping shop; that teachers cannot spend 15 minutes of the class creating order before you can begin to teach the lesson and that this is a pearl of too great price for us to waste on deviant behaviour.”Regarding revision of regulations affecting school boards, Thwaites told the Observer that the “regulations and procedures that govern them are in my view unhelpfully complicated and it is that aspect that will have to be revised.”The minister said he expects that amended regulations will make it easier for school boards and principals “to do their jobs and place more authority in their hands.”The revised regulations would also require greater accountability from educators, he told the Chamber of Commerce.“Our teachers for whom we have the greatest respect need to be accountable in new ways for their conduct and performance,” he said. “This is not to be seen as onerous but there is no job in the world where strong standards of accountability are absent, and therefore the regulations need to be looked at with a new vigour,” said Thwaites.Thwaites said that a companion measure to revising the education regulations “will be the eneactment of the Jamaica Teaching Council Bill which will over see the professionalisation of teachers and their functioning”.He told Manchester business leaders that the “piece of legislation” had been inherited in draft form from the previous Jamaica Labour Party Administration and will be carried to completion after one year and more of consultations with teachers’ representatives, parents and churches who were the “sponsoring agencies of many schools”.CLARKE… served as director of UNESCO Caribbean and education advisor for the region

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Simon Clarke to lead education consultations

Clarke sets 2015 target for self-sufficiency in onion production

News

Friday, August 23, 2013

THE Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries is aiming to achieve self-sufficiency in onion production by 2015.Speaking on Wednesday at a graduation ceremony for farmers and extension officers on the lawns at his Hope Gardens offices in Kingston, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Roger Clarke stated that “our objective is to produce all the onions we now consume”.In 2012, the minister said Jamaica consumed some 10,298 tonnes of onions, of which only 1,088 tonnes was produced locally with the bulk of 9,210 tonnes being imported.Congratulating the 22 lead farmers from South St Elizabeth and seven extension officers from the Rural Agricultural Development Agency (RADA) on their graduation from the Farmer Field School Training towards Strengthening a National Beet Armyworm Management Programme, Minister Clarke said Jamaica could produce enough onions locally to satisfy national demand.“In spite of the Beet Armyworm,” he said, “we can grow far more onions in Jamaica and so break the vicious cycle of dependence on imported foods.”It was for that reason, he added, that the cultivation of onions in the agro-parks was one of the main strategic objectives and once all the parks are fully operational, the 717 acres earmarked for onion cultivation should eventually yield some 10,605 tonnes.The 22 lead farmers from St Elizabeth and seven RADA facilitators who graduated on Wednesday have been certified as Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Farmer Field School Facilitators and are equipped to share knowledge with a wider circle of 150 farmers to identify, manage and control the Beet Armyworm which emerged as a major onion and scallion pest in recent times.The training programme was jointly organised and funded by the ministry in collaboration with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, RADA, and the United States Agency for International Development under the Jamaica Rural Economy and Ecosystem Adapting to Climate Change project being implemented by the Agricultural Cooperative Development International and Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance more commonly known as ACDI/VOCA.— JISOnly 1,088 tonnes of the 10,298 tonnes of onions Jamaicans consumed in 2012 was produced locally.

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Clarke sets 2015 target for self-sufficiency in onion production