THIS DAY IN OUR PAST

The following events took place on February 16 in the years identified:

1978:

Jamaica and Norway sign a bilateral agreement for a geophysical survey to be carried out on the Pedro Bank and i nshore areas of western Jamaica. Included in the agreement is a grant of US$1.6 million from Norway to finance the project which involves the acquisition, processing and interpretation of data for oil exploration. The signing is undertaken by Mining Minister Horace Clarke and Jakob Storaas of the Nor wegian Agency for International Development.

1995:

A solution which is safe, cheap and environmentally friendly – that is how a farmer describes his “discovery” to eradicate the whitefly disease that has taken its toll on several crops in nine parishes. “All it takes is an ounce of corn oil, an ounce of liquid soap and a gallon of water,” says Richard Khouri, proprietor of Rose Hill Farm i n Manchester. He says he has been experimenting with this solution for a year now. He says his farm, where herbs and roses for export are mostly cultivated, had suffered terribly under the influx of whiteflies. “I used several expensive pesticides before and they did not get rid of the problem,” continued Khouri. He decided to mix this concoction, thus inventing his own pesticide. At the end of two weeks, after intense spraying, he began to see results. The number of whiteflies eventually decreased as the insects died out.

1997:

The Jamaica Confe– deration of Trade Unions, the umbrella grouping of the labour movement, ends a threeday retreat with a declaration to undertake fundamental reforms. Some 30 trade union leaders issue a statement of intent to reorganise the movement to promote produc tivit y, among other objectives. The idea is to create an environment which will facilitate the achievement of a social partnership.

– GLEANER ARCHIVES