THIS DAY IN OUR PAST

The following events took place on April 7 in the years identified:

1980: Jamaican politicians have become far too partisan and exclusive in their attitude to people, and the society has become too segmented based upon the likes and dislikes of its leaders, the secretary of the Moravian Church in Jamaica, R.G. Foster, says. Preaching the sermon at the opening of the 49th annual synod of the Moravian Church in Bethlehem, St Elizabeth, Foster says that it is time the nation demand some virtuous qualifications of those who seek to lead. Those who seek to serve people must possess the basic and yet crowning virtue of genuine, sincere love. Politicians must learn to serve a nation and not only a constituency or pockets of party supporters. They must have love for all the people, he says.

1995: A proposal by gun clubs to introduce an official duck-hunting season, February and March, is being opposed by ornithologists and environmentalists. They argue that Jamaica’s rare Whistling Duck, and two other vulnerable endemic species, nest and fly with migratory ducks and could rapidly become extinct if duck shooting is to be sanctioned. At a meeting at the Ministry of the Environment and Housing in Kingston, ornithologist Ann Sutton says that if endemic ducks are hunted out, Jamaica would have lost “a precious resource that can never be replaced”. Gun clubs argue that ducks are being shot illegally from November through March, anyway, and designating a special limited season could help to control this.

1997: While the Government’s initiatives to curb the reintroduction and spread of infectious diseases are crucial, Barry Wint, chief medical officer, says the role of the individual’s responsibility cannot be underplayed. ‘’Every one of us can make the intervention to make our health better... with a simple intervention such as hand washing.