Rainforest Seafoods Limited shipped off their first orders of 2,000 live lobsters to China via air this week.

The shipment is bound for Shenzhen.

“Consumers in mainland China will pay top dollar for their lobsters alive. Therefore, it is critical to ensure the best quality and the strongest animals are exported,” said Rainforest Business Development Manager Max Jardim as the lobsters were being crated for travel.

“Naturally, the best-quality lobster is supplied by our Jamaican fisherfolk who go to sea in the morning and return in the evening,” he said.

Rainforest Seafoods is the first Jamaican company to export this type of seafood to that region of China. The company is hoping to export one ton of live lobsters per week.

Jardim said there were some regulatory issues that Rainforest was working through with the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture & Fisheries (MICAF), to further unlock the earning potential of seafood.

MICAF has been accommodating throughout the discussions and willing to facilitate the company, once food-safety standards were kept at paramount concern, he said.

Exporting live lobsters is a complex process, Jardim explained, requiring close collaboration

with suppliers, as well as training programmes and the supply of equipment to improve the handling of the lobsters.

Rainforest has also been working with Waterwheel Estate in Hong Kong for the past two years to get the specifications right.

“To further prepare and strengthen the animals for export, we must stabilise them in our state-of- the-art saltwater tanks prior to export. The lobsters are held at very specific cold temperatures and place under a strict monitoring programme before shipping out to ensure only the best quality is exported,” said Jardim.

“There’s a science, and our team in charge of this aspect is the best on island,” he added.

The lobsters departed from Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay on Monday, and were transferred via Toronto’s WestJet airlines.

Rainforest is working with other airlines in the meantime “to find better routes,” Jardim said.

The shipment was witnessed by MICAF Minister Audley Shaw, who described it as the beginning of a transitioning of the blue economy, while urging others to capitalise on deep-sea fishing.

Story published by the Gleaner on August 29, 2018

KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) — Approximately 250 students from early childhood to tertiary institutions islandwide have received educational grants from Food for the Poor.

The students received cheques in varying sums during a presentation ceremony at the entity’s head office in Spanish Town, St Catherine, on Friday.

Executive Director, David Mair, told the youngsters’ parents that the provision was a “gift to your children, ensure that they work hard” in school.

Food for the Poor’s Social Outreach Officer, Myrtle Brown, said the organisation’s educational programme, established 15 years, serves students with needs.

“It was out of needs that we looked at your situation, and decided to help,” she stated.

Emphasising the importance of the students dedicating themselves to their studies, Brown said being diligent to reading and grasping what is taught in the classroom, will result in improved families and Jamaica becoming a better place.

Meanwhile, parent of one of the beneficiaries, Silvia Brown, who thanked the organization for its support to education, said parents should continue to do “whatever is possible to keep your children’s dreams alive” have ambition; and work towards it.”

For her part, grant recipient, Shenoya Brown, said the gesture has pushed her to take academics “very seriously”.

She said she wants to make the people who give her support, as well as her mother, proud of her achievements, while urging her colleagues to do their best as by “doing your best, you create opportunities for yourself”.

See original story posted in the Sunday Observer on August 26, 2018.

Former national player Ricardo Fuller will be a Digicel ambassador for the Manning Cup, the new title sponsors announced amongst a raft of innovative ideas for the upcoming schoolboy football season.

Fuller, who played for Camperdown High in the 1990s will be mentoring a number of Manning Cup players, and at the end of the season he will select a Digicel All Star XI.

Justin Morin, CEO of Digicel Jamaica, made the announcement at the launch of the schoolboy season on Wednesday at Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel in St Andrew.

“I am very pleased to announce another new addition to the 2018 competition. Digicel will partner with ISSA and their #ISSArealGOAL campaign to provide professional mentorship to select teams through our newly appointed programme ambassador, former national and English Premier League player Ricardo Fuller,” said Morin.

“A product of the Manning Cup and an inspirational figure, Ricardo will guide our young, aspiring ‘ballers on how to make it into the professional leagues after they’ve transitioned from the schoolboy football programme,” he added.

Morin, who played football for St George’s College, said Fuller’s impressive record, which included a total of 120 goals while playing for overseas clubs, is a great example for the young players to learn important life lessons by being part of his mentorship and leadership clinics throughout the season.

At the end of the season, the Digicel All-Star XI will receive special recognition for their outstanding performance from the sponsors.

The 38-year-old Fuller played 77 times for Jamaica and scored 10 goals. But the wily striker had a more profitable club career, netting approximately 120 goals. Fuller played for Tivoli Gardens FC in the Jamaica’s national premier league before moving overseas to play professionally. He represented Crystal Palace Hearts, Preston North End, Portsmouth Southampton and Stoke City, Charlton Athletic, Blackpool and Millwall before ending his playing career at Oldham Athletic in October 2015.

Meanwhile, this year marks the unveiling of a newly designed trophy for the Digicel Manning Cup competition, and to give everyone an opportunity to see it, Digicel will be launching a trophy tour — making stops at Digicel stores and pep rallies at corporate area schools.

“This will certainly add motivation to the teams and remind everyone of the glory of being crowned Manning Cup champion,” Morin pointed out.

“We are aware of the significance of schoolboy football to many Jamaicans and the emotions it evokes within everyone who becomes a part of it. And because we know you won’t want to miss a minute of the ballgame — whether you’re a player on the field, coach on the side lines or die-hearted supporter from near or afar — you can be assured that Digicel will be there to bring you all the excitement to your fingertips.

“For the very first time every Digicel customer will be able to watch the matches live on the SportsMax channel via our PlayGo streaming app and get match stats and updates from other providers like http://www.schoolboyfootball.com, LOOP and Digicel’s social media pages.

“We’ll be launching simple, affordable packages so that everyone will be able to watch a televised game while on the go,” said Morin.

Digicel promises to bring a new level of energy, fun and excitement to entertainment at the matches to include ‘Fan View’ videos for social media involving spectators, and also lots of on-the-spot surprises for the fans.

Photo: Daily Mail

See original story published in the Daily Observer on Friday, August 24, 2018

A new type one health centre opened in Moravia, Clarendon, on Friday, replacing the clinic that operated from the home of a community member.

The centre was constructed by Food For the Poor (FFP) with funds donated by Chicago resident, Denise Di Biase, and on land donated by the Moravian Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Assistance also came from Custos of Clarendon William Shagoury.

Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton, who spoke at the opening, said, “How we live, what we consume or the lack of physical activity and knowing our health status will determine how we eventually come to an end.”

“So, focus more on prevention. Your health starts with you, not with the doctor, nurse or hospital bed,” he told the gathering.

The minister noted that seven out of every 10 Jamaicans die as a result of non-communicable diseases.

“If we start with the basic philosophy around public health and wellness, we would have a much healthier society, because many of the ailments that we encounter can be controlled if we accept some basic principles of public health,” he emphasised.

He listed two elements of public health that must be factored as part of the overall strategy and solution.

“The element of prevention, which is to take the necessary precautions to minimise the risk of being affected by any form of ailment, and the curative element, which means having been afflicted or affected, we must ensure that infrastructure is there to solve the problems we encounter,” he added.

Dr Tufton said in reality, the preventative side of health care is often overlooked and most times it is more important than the curative side, because prevention is cheaper than cure.

“Prevention does not bring pain and suffering. It avoids the need to be hospitalised, or take medication or stop from work, to watch loved ones suffer and costs you money,” he said.

Thanking all the stakeholders who made the clinic a reality, Dr Tufton said it is an example of partnership and a demonstration of the vision shared by many.

“This vision of public health and wellness, community development, sharing and caring, love for each other and being our brother’s keeper has come through a network of collaboration and cooperation from Chicago to Florida,” the minister said.

Meanwhile, director of Distribution Services, FFP Jamaica, Craig Moss-Solomon, encouraged prospective users to take care of the facility. He said that as the healthcare needs of Jamaicans increased, FFP would remain committed to providing whatever support it could.

“As we witness this vibrant and historic opening, FFP hopes this building will boost the service offerings at the centre, while continuing to provide child health, family planning, antenatal and curative services,” Moss-Solomon said.

Meanwhile, donor of the funds which built the clinic, Denise Di Biase, said her late husband Stephen, who was a scientist, knew the importance of medical care for all.

“God is good. He brought us all together — me from Chicago and all you wonderful people from Moravia and surrounding areas. We thank you for letting us be part of this wonderful project and we wish you all good things as you experience the love, compassion and healing of Jesus Christ,” she said.

On August 16, Di Biase also participated in the ground-breaking ceremony for another clinic at Rock River in Clarendon, for which she will also be donating funds.

Original story published in the Daily Observer on Tuesday, August 21, 2018

 

Failure to keep up-to-date with technology, coupled with poor maintenance of Jamaica’s health facilities, were among the main contributing factors to the problems being faced in the country’s health sector, noted Dr Christopher Tufton.

Speaking at the presentation ceremony for a solarised energy system to the Bustamante Hospital for Children yesterday, the health minister also stressed the importance of health facilities to being innovative in driving the energy needs of the sector.

“The idea of giving a technology-driven gift is also worth noting and is something in the public health system that we appreciate. Our public health infrastructure, frankly speaking, is lacking in keeping up with modern technology in order to benefit an advanced and more efficient approach to providing services,” he said, while expressing gratitude to the Guardsman Group for the donation.

“The history of that is clear, and that is largely because we have not had the resources, but sometimes also we have not applied the innovation and the creativity to benefiting from some of the technology driven devices that are necessary. I would like to see all our hospitals and indeed our health centres utilise the solar power technology that exists in order to drive the energy needs of those institutions.”

Explore Alternatives

He said while they were trying to advance their technological output, he urged hospitals islandwide to feel free to explore alternative avenues to drive energy needs.

The minister also bemoaned the fact that more must be done to maintain Jamaica’s health facilities.

“The other critical area is maintenance. We have demonstrated, frankly speaking, that we have done a poor job at maintaining our infrastructure. A lot of the challenges that we face today, Cornwall (Regional Hospital) being the most topical one, is as a direct result of poor maintenance of the infrastructure that we have,” said Tufton.

Vice-president of operations at Future Energy Solutions, Kwame Hall, said the donation to the children’s hospital is expected to result in savings of $28 million over the next 20 years.

See original story published in the Gleaner | Tuesday, August 21, 2018

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Colin Munro and Denesh Ramdin powered the Trinbago Knight Riders to a record-breaking total before Dwayne Bravo and spin twins Sunil Narine and Fawad Ahmed sealed a thumping 100-run victory over the St Lucia Stars and a winning start to the defence of their Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) title.

Munro, who started last season with an unbeaten 66 against the same opponents, this time smashed 68 from 48 balls in what was for much of the innings something of a lone hand for the Knight Riders. The champions had slipped to 89/4 before Ramdin (50* off 27) joined the New Zealander in a 50 partnership that helped the Knight Riders post a record-breaking Hero CPL total at the Queen’s Park Oval of 195/6. It was one that proved well beyond the Stars as soon as the spinners got to work.

The Stars failed to win a single match in the 2017 Hero CPL and any hope that they might pull off a record chase here were ended within the first eight overs of their reply amid a collapse from 35/0 to 53/6.

A fast start was crucial for the Stars, and initially, they got it as back-to-back sixes for Andre Fletcher off Shannon Gabriel propelled them to 32/0 after the first two overs. But when Fletcher was undone by an Ali Khan knuckle-ball on 19, the Stars’ chase soon fizzled out.

Australia superstar David Warner was bowled by Javon Searles for 9 before Rahkeem Cornwall picked out Brendon McCullum at mid-wicket off Dwayne Bravo. Then the spinners took over.

Fawad Ahmed’s first Hero CPL over brought two wickets, a googly completely deceiving Lendl Simmons to bowl him through the gate before Mark Chapman slapped a low catch to Sunil Narine at cover.

Narine himself then got in on the act, pinning Darren Sammy plumb in front to leave the Stars reeling at 53/6. Fawad removed Qais Ahmad for 14 to finish his match-sealing four-over spell with 3/16.

There weren’t any fireworks from new Stars captain Kieron Pollard, who slapped a full-toss from opposite number Dwayne Bravo to Searles at long-off to be the eighth man out for just 12 with the score on 81.

Bravo added the wicket of Mitchell McClenaghan with a delicious slower ball before Gabriel took the final wicket, hauling his figures back to 3.3-0-34-1 having conceded 26 runs from his first over. While the batting collapse was certainly dramatic, the seeds of the Stars’ defeat were sown in a sloppy fielding display.

The 2018 Hero CPL got off to a rollicking start with two dropped catches, a six and a wicket in the first seven balls of the season.

New Zealander McClenaghan bowled the first over of the season after the Stars won the toss and elected to field, and almost immediately had Trinbago Knight Riders new boy Chris Lynn dropped at slip by Sammy from the second ball. Lynn blasted the very next ball over the ropes at square-leg but fell two balls later when he could only fend a clever slower ball to Qais at cover.

Moments later, Kesrick Williams dropped Narine at midwicket from Mohammad Sami’s first delivery. Narine gave the Knight Riders early impetus with a huge six down the ground but was bowled by Williams, who made amends for his early drop with remarkable figures of 2/4 from an initial two-over spell in which he also removed Darren Bravo for a duck.

With Brendon McCullum also failing to get going before being bowled by Stars captain Pollard on 13, it was left to Munro to keep the Knight Riders on track.

He was watchful at first, before kickstarting his own innings and the team’s when taking 18 runs in four balls from the Stars’ teenaged legspinner Qais. Three successive cut shots for four were followed by a huge slog-sweep for six as Munro moved from 23 off 24 balls to 41 from 28.

Munro duly went through to a 33-ball half century including eight fours and that huge six. By now he had been joined by Ramdin, who initially looked to put the Stars fielders under pressure with hard running before starting to clear the boundary himself.

When Munro fell in the 16^th over, Ramdin took over in a devastating final four overs that brought the Knight Riders 54 runs.

He hit four sixes in all, the first an astonishing pick-up over square-leg off the expensive Mohammad Sami and the last a carve over cover-point to take him within a single of 50 from the penultimate ball of the innings.

He duly got the run he needed to reach a classy 27-ball half-century that had put the game well beyond the Stars, who must now aim to end a 12-match winless run in the Hero CPL on Saturday afternoon in Guyana, while Trinbago Knight Riders are back in action on Friday against Jamaica Tallawahs.

Upcoming Fixtures: 

• Thursday 9 August – Guyana Amazon Warriors v St Kitts & Nevis Patriots (6pm), Providence Stadium.
• Friday 10 August – Trinbago Knight Riders v Jamaica Tallawahs (8pm), Queen’s Park Oval.

Featured Image: CPL/Getty Images