THIS DAY IN OUR PAST

The following events took place on June 18 in the years identified:

1968:for All deduction cards 1967and stamp cards for 1967-68 issued to employers and other persons by the Ministry of Labour and National Insurance have now expired and are to be returned forthwith to the ministry or through NIS local offices in the parish. In an urgent appeal issued, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Labour and National Insurance Esme Grant says employers and other parties in possession of such cards are required immediately to return them fully stamped to any National Insurance local office and receive current cards.

1972:mission A history-making trade leaves the island to explore new markets as possible sources of cheaper goods for the Jamaican consumer in China, Russia and other faraway countries. Carlton Alexander, a past president of the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce, leads the mission. Other members include Vin Bennett, a past president of the Jamaica Manufacturers’ Association, and William Bardowell, a leading dry-goods merchant. Lester Woolery, technical officer in the Ministry of Health and Environmental Control, and Lloyd Barnett, counsellor in the Jamaican Embassy, Washington, complete the membership of the mission.

1990: Peter Rousseau, president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association, says Jamaican hoteliers say they are not worried about the anticipated competition for the tourist dollar from neighbouring Cuba. Cuba had always competed with Jamaica for European and Canadian markets. He says he does not see Cuba as a threat to Jamaica: “We are strong enough to stand on our own.” A front-page story in The Gleaner says Cuba is opening up its economy to capitalist western Europe to help get the ‘Pearl of the Caribbean’ back on the tourist map. Arlene Satchell, public relations manager of Jamaica Jamaica Hotel, Runaway Bay, St Ann, expresses doubt that tourists who normally come to Jamaica will go immediately to Cuba. Cuba has become tattooed over the years as a communist country. As far as I see it, the merging of Europe in 1992 is more of a threat than Cuba as a tourist destination,” she says.