THIS DAY IN OUR PAST

The following events took place on June 6 in the years identified:

1966: The Bernard van Leer Foundation

of Lucerne, Switzerland, after consultation with the Ministry of Education, sets aside US$400,000 to be available during the period January 1, 1966 to August 31, 1969 for a project in early-childhood education in Jamaica. Oscar van Leer, president and chairman of the parent foundation, makes the announcement at a news conference launching the local foundation at the University of the West Indies.

1974: The Jamaica Gasolene Retailers

Association agree to consider recommendations for a Joint Industrial Council for the petrol trade based on proportionate representation as against the equal representation demanded by the association. Milton Scott, president of the Dockers and Marine Workers Union, one of the unions involved in the dispute over representational rights for gas station attendants, makes the recommendation at a meeting between the parties at the Ministry of Labour and Employment. “We are willing to sit with any union provided a poll shows they have obtained representational rights,” Scott tells the meeting.

1999:Jamaica needs to stop paying lip service to the job of protecting the environment, Wayneford McFarlane of St Paul’s Methodist Church says as he delivers the sermon at a service in recognition of National Environmental Awareness Week. Addressing a packed congregation in Port Royal, one of the island’s landmark communities, McFarlane says ownership, responsibility and accountability are the broad areas in which the population should be channelled towards preserving the environment. ”While we acknowledge God as the real owner of the Earth, we are co-creators with Him,” he says.