Business:To Bank, or Not to Bank? the island's two mortgage giants go different ways

The two shareholder annual meetings had markedly different tenors. At the Pegasus, the main ballroom had an expectant air, the air of a giant in transition. There, Earl Jarrett, General Manger (more on that later) of the Jamaica National Building Society, comfortably the nation's largest mortgage lender, and a firm rapidly on the move both geographically and service-wise over the last decade, announced that a "no objection" letter had been received from the Central Bank (Bank of Jamaica) to JN's long-standing proposal to establish a commercial bank.

This was a crucial development in the regulatory process, but, as Jarrett pointed , by no means the ultimate step. Pressed for a more specific timeline, he cautioned that the new entity would definitely NOT  be operational before the end of the 1st quarter of 2016. When it does come on stream, he said, it would significantly boost JN's operational capacity, and - ultimately - revenue and profit position. the banking sector has seen some heat in recent months, with insurance/financial giant Sagicor operationalizing its purchase of the former Royal Bank of Canada and with market number two, bank of Nova Scotia undergoing a region-wide rationalization of branches.

No such mood over at the Knutsford Court just days after, where number two mortgage lender Victoria Mutual, which has also expanded its reach into other financial services but has no plans, at leas in the foreseeable future, to return to the banking arena (it had operated, in tandem with insurer Island Life, the groundbreaking Island Victoria Bank in the 90s, before the FINSAC scythe). Chairman Michael McMorris did state to members that the company was looking for opportunities to expand its ATM network, which it has grown on the back of an aggressive "no or low fees" strategy and the more expected home sweepstakes promotion.

Both organizations are well run and known for the kind of prudent yet occasionally aggressive management that spawned deep shareholder (member) loyalty and goodwill, with one notable JN member seeking to put a motion to the meeting that Jarrett's title be "upgraded" to President, rather than GM, to reflect the scope of the portfolio

Business: Bank on Your Phone coming from Grace, First Global

At a time when multinational banks (read "Canadian") have exited or are reducing their presence in Jamaica, the exec team at Grace believe their banking subsidiary, First global, now liberated of its investment service sibling (offloaded for some J$3bn) can reap the benefits of their local knowledge.

That was the word from Grace Kennedy CEO, Don Wehby and his bank cohort, First Global CEO Courtney Campbell, at the venerable giant's most recent AGM, held at its downtown Kingston headquarters.

The GK team believe that their superior customer experience enhanced by ongoing consumer tech, such as "Mobile Banking" (which the bank CEO himself later demonstrated for this writer) will give them a leg-up on their overseas-based competitors.

Consumers can expect to have the last word by end of June, when the Banking by Phone service is rolled out to take its place alongside the exiting Internet banking platform

A selection from Harbour Wines, the rebranded Grace subsidiary

And by the way, GK Group revenues for the year? J$77bn, a 15% increase over 2013, but profits dipped on acquisition costs associated with the purchase of US regional food line La Fe, as Grace continues its push for market presence in North America, Europe and Africa.



localjoe.myorganogold.com

Poetry: A Voice Across the Sea, Pam Mordecai records her body of work in Canada

On a recent trip to Newfoundland, Jamaican-Canadian writer Pamela Mordecai recorded 25 years worth of her poetry in a pilot project created by Memorial University English professor Stephanie McKenzie. The project took five days to record with Mordecai in the studio between four to five hours each day.

McKenzie is interested in Caribbean poetry and has taught Mordecai’s work in her classes. Mordecai first visited Corner Brook, Newfoundland in 2012 to lecture at Memorial’s Grenfell Campus and returned this year to read at the March Hare festival, for which McKenzie is the artistic director. It was during the most recent trip that Mordecai recorded her work in St. John’s.

Mordecai spoke to Q&Q about the importance of hearing poetry aloud and the connections between Newfoundland and Jamaica.

Why was it important for you to record your work? Recording my poetry keeps it alive in my voice – indeed an aliveness that will be available beyond my life. There are other aesthetic reasons, and some practical ones. From the point of view of aesthetics, there is a historical value to having a poet read his or her own work. Hearing someone else reading T.S. Eliot or Dylan Thomas or Derek Walcott or Kamau Brathwaite is quite different from hearing those poets read their own work, and presently, there is no record of me reading my poetry in any other archive in the world.

How does the experience of listening to poetry differ from reading it? There are many possible answers to that question, the easiest one being that the experience speaks for itself. Another answer is that the layers of meaning in poetry, indeed in any written language, become plainer when poetry is spoken. In the case of Jamaican or Caribbean poetry, where creole languages ghost the English line, those layers are multiplied. An example: I have a poem about Vincent Van Gogh called “Sunflowers” in which the last line is, “Madness has always been my guess.” That’s a pretty plain line with an obvious meaning – except that in Jamaican creole guess and guest are homonyms. That meaning best emerges when the poem is spoken, to an audience aware of the homonyms. And then, there is the singular appeal of a voice, “the word in audible motion,” as Trinidadian scholar Gordon Rohlehr calls it, with rhyme and rhythm and metre being explored as only that human instrument can. There is also, in a performance, a lively communion between speaker and hearer, a union of two presences that words on the page have difficulty achieving. I think most people would allow that the heard word is memorable in a way that words read on the page are not.

What is your connection to Newfoundland? There are historical connections between Jamaica, where I was born and have spent most of my life, and Newfoundland. Newfoundland ships brought codfish to the island, and barrels of Jamaican rum were taken to Newfoundland on the return journey. Until the moratorium in 1992, the cod in Jamaica’s national dish, ackee and codfish, came from Newfoundland. There’s now a family connection as well: I have a niece-by-marriage whose family is from Newfoundland, and a grandniece who is half-a-Newfoundlander.

- from Quill and Quire magazine

Literary Arts: The Poetic Icon, by the Poet Laureate

PROFESSOR Mervyn Morris, Jamaica's Poet Laureate, launched his latest book, Miss Lou: Louise Bennett and Jamaican Culture, at Lecture Theatre 3, University of the West Indies, on Tuesday.

It is a mini-biography on the legendary folklorist Louise 'Miss Lou' Bennett-Coverley who died in 2006.

Morris, who was a close friend of Bennett-Coverley, said while Miss Lou's performing skills are evident in the range of her work, he noted there was formidable opposition to her work.

"Although her work was mainly African heritage, Miss Lou always mingled in different streams...she was not excluding people," he explained. "Miss Lou was trying to redress cultural imbalance. She was not trying to reject standard English."

He pointed out that Miss Lou was religious and deeply spiritual. He closed by reading from his book.

Three of Jamaica's outstanding poets -- Mutabaruka, Oku Onuora and Jean 'Binta' Breeze -- performed at the event. Each testified to Morris' influence on their careers.

"I am a dub poet without apology because the process I deal wid is straight dubbing," said Onuora. "Mervyn is influential in that there is a upsurge in dub poetry in Jamaica. Mervyn, you helped to signal a new trend in poetry...dubbing is a process that can't be limited."

Onuora performed from Echo, his collection of poems which was written while he was incarcerated.

Breeze drew laughter with a humorous swipe at Onuora, whose 'set' went overtime.

"Mervyn taught me not to use two words (with the same meaning) in a sentence when one can do. Apparently he didn't tell Oku."

She performed some of her work including The Simple Things In Life, Repatriation and Third World Girl before saluting Morris, whom she said legitimised myself and others in the university".

Mutabaruka recited Call Me No Poet or Nothing Like That, Nursery Rhyme Lament, Haiti and Dis Poem.

- from the Jamaica Observer