THIS DAY IN OUR PAST

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

1977: Prime Minister P.J. Patterson orders that no member of his Cabinet should take part in any event at the Jamaica Grande Hotel in Ocho Rios, St Ann. The Prime Minister’s move follows the failure of the hotel’s management to submit a list of its employees to the Ministry of Labour to enable a representational rights poll to take place.

1991: Prime Minister Michael Manley announces at a meeting at Jamaica House with representatives of all the trade unions and staff associations in the sector that William Isaacs, former People’s National Party Minister of Labour, is to be retained by the Government as special adviser handling negotiations in the public sector.

1992: Jamaica is the first of three countries in Latin America and the Caribbean to benefit from a Debt Relief for Children Initiative being funded by the Netherlands National Committee for UNICEF. At a handover ceremony in the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) boardroom, Owen Jefferson, senior deputy governor of the BOJ, presents UNICEF Jamaica with a cheque of J$8,376,000 of the first payment of US$4m Debt Relief For Children Scheme. The balance will be paid to UNICEF Jamaica over three years.

1998: Prime Minister P.J. Patterson announces a new telecommunications policy, which will allow for greater competition in wireless and value-added services, as well as ensuring fair and non-discriminatory interconnection with Cable and Wireless (Jamaica). Patterson says the policy will also allow for the efficient management and exploitation of the radio spectrum for the national good, redefine universal service and create the implementation network.