THIS DAY IN OUR PAST
The following events took place on May 26 in the years identified:
1987:Trade
between Guyana and Jamaica currently being discussed by a visiting Guyanese trade mission with the Government and private sector is to be primarily on a commercial basis, Winston Murray, minister of trade and Tourism and head of the delegation, says. He tells the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce, and other private-sector interests with whom the mission has talks, that counter trade will be a second option. The Guyanese trade mission, which is here to strengthen trade links with Jamaica, will leave for home on May 27. Explaining how trade between the two CARICOM countries will work, Murray says that it will be on a commercial basis in that Guyana and Jamaica will price each other in United States dollars. However, no foreign exchange will be transferred between the two countries. Guyanese exports will be paid for in Jamaican currency and credited to the Bank of Jamaica on their account. Those dollars will be used to buy Jamaican goods Jamaican transactions in Guyana would be vice versa, Murray says. 1992:Prime
Minister P.J. Patterson calls for restraint on workers’ wage claims, and the passing on of benefits of the dollar’s recovery to the consumer. The call by Patterson, in a nationwide radio and television broadcast, comes as he urges a social contract between workers, employers and the Government. The wage-restraint call is against the background of notable wage increases in the last three weeks, particularly in the bauxite/alumina sector and in banking. A similar wage-restraint call is made by the governor of the Bank of Jamaica. Patterson says there has been “steady increase in prices” over the last year, as the dollar lost value. “Undoubtedly, these price increases have had an adverse impact on our standard of living. In times like these, a natural response of the workers is to demand more wages. This is understandable, but it is not a real solution to the problem.”
– The Gleaner Archives
Today’s Gem
“All the breaks you need in life wait within your imagination; Imagination is the workshop of your mind, capable of turning mind energy into accomplishment and wealth.” – Napoleon Hill