Market Opportunities Unlimited (MOU) Blog

Tropical Storm Olga Weakens to a Tropical Depression, No Longer a Threat to Jamaica!

Tropical Storm Olga has weakened and is now a Tropical Depression.

This means that Jamaica will experience wind gusts [of 45 miles/hour (72.4 km/hr) ] and lots of rain, (especially to the North of the island), but nothing like the stormy weather we had expected.

At 4:00 p.m. today, Tropical Depression Olga was located to the North of Jamaica, at Latitude 18.9 degrees North and Longitude 76.9 West.

Maximum sustained winds are at 35 miles/hr (56.3 km/hr).

It is still moving along a Westerly path at  23 miles/hr (37 km/hr), but is not a threat to Jamaica.

It will, however,pass over the Cayman Islands by tomorrow evening.

Olga is expected to bring lots of rain to Jamaica until tomorrow evening.

It is expected to move into the Yucatan Penninsula by Friday of this week.

Gillian

Sources Include:

1) Power 106 FM 5:00 p.m. News

2)Television Jamaica Nightly Weather at 7:53 p.m., December 12,2007

3) 5-Day Forecast Map of Tropical Depression Olga (showing Olga's position at 4:00 p.m. EST), Weather Underground website, December 12, 2007.

Jamaican Elections: The Day After

Yes friends, it's the day after the September 3 general elections in Jamaica and we have an update.

The Electoral Office of Jamaica (the organization responsible for conducting and managing the general elections) is currently recounting all ballots in all constituencies, due to the closeness of the preliminary count done yesterday.

So far the results are:
The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP):  32 seats
The People's National Party (PNP): 28 seats

Short Background

In all, Jamaica is divided into 60 constituencies, for the purpose of electing 60 members of Parliament. Each Parliamentary member occupies a seat in Parliament, hence 60 seats.
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The recounting of the ballots in all constituencies should be finished by Thursday, September 6, 2007.

After which, the results will be passed on to Governor General  Professor Kenneth Hall, who will appoint a Prime Minister, based on the final results.

Unfortunately, we have had a few road blocks and sporadic gun-fire in some constituencies due to some persons' disagreement with the results of the elections.

But the police has everything under its control.

Will continue to keep you updated!

Gillian

Sources Include:

1) RJR Mid-day News, September 4, 2007

2) Power 106 FM, September 4, 2007

Jamaicans Vote Today! - Update #3

Voting should have finished at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST), today, however, there are still a few Polling Stations open to facilitate the voting of those voters who are still in lines at these stations.

In all there are 6,200 Polling Divisions (PDs) in which voting took place today.

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Short Background:

In all, Jamaica is divided into 60 constituencies, for the purpose of electing 60 members of Parliament. Each Parliamentary member occupies a seat in Parliament, hence 60 seats.

The total number of PDs in all 60 constituencies is 6,200.

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The results are just coming in for a few. These are as follows:-

1) Eastern St. Thomas, 5 of 122 boxes have been counted:

JLP's Omer Thomas = 31%

PNP's Fenton Ferguson = 69%

2) St. Andrew South East, 8 of 88 boxes have been counted:

JLP's Joan Gordon-Webley = 52%

PNP's Maxine Henry-Wilson = 48%

3) Clarendon Central,  2 of 96 boxes have been counted:

JLP's Mike Henry 52%

PNP's Neil McGill 48%

Please stay tuned for our next update at 8:20 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST), when we will have more island-wide results in.

Sources Include:

1) Television Jamaica's Decision 07 Coverage, September 3,2007

Gillian

Eye of Hurricane Dean Moves Slightly South!

Jamaica is still on a hurricane warning.

Dean is still a category 4 hurricane and further strengthening is expected, as it moves across the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea.

According to The National Meteorological Service of Jamaica (National Met Service) and The Weather Channel:

"As of 7am (Eastern time), the centre of Hurricane Dean was located near 16.8 degrees North, 74.3 degrees West, which is about 225 km (140 miles) East-Southeast of Kingston, Jamaica.

Maximum sustained winds are near 233 km (145 miles) per hour. Dean is moving to the West-Northwest near 29 km (18 miles) per hour.

The outer periphery of Dean is impacting the southern coast of the island of Hispaniola (the island on which Haiti and the Dominican Republic are located) and Puerto Rico, but Dean will more forcibly impact Jamaica and the Cayman Islands Sunday morning into Monday. Dean could be the strongest hurricane to strike Jamaica since 1950's."

Dean is due to hit Jamaica at about  2:00 p.m. this afternoon. It will follow a path close to the south of the island.

Dean spans about 329 km (205 miles) wide. (This means that Jamaica will be affected by strong gale-force winds, even though the eye of Dean is projected to move slightly south of the island.)

We are currently being affected by the outer bands of Dean,and we've been having moderate rain and slight breezes since 8:00 p.m. last night.

Please click The Weather Channel link, here, to get an up-to-the-hour projected track for Hurricane Dean. (You have to refresh your browser for this to happen, though.)

You can also check the Bulletins at the National Met Service, online, here - the next one will be posted at 11:00 a.m. EST (Eastern Standard Time).

Jamaicans are still praying that we will be spared from the worst.  But we have also prepared to meet Dean.

Electricity which was supposed to have been shut down at 10:00 a.m this morning will be shut down later and the water supply will be shut down, soon after that. (This is to spare the equipment from damage.)

Also, in the case of Jamaica Public Service (JPS): electricity, is also being shut down to prevent electricity from being in lines that will  be downed by the hurricane - that could cause injury and loss of life.

Twenty-one (21) emergency shelters are up and running across the island, for those who need to be evacuated.

For those with an emergency in Jamaica, the Office of Disaster Preparedness (ODPEM), can be contacted at phone nos. 876-928-51111-4.

Sources Include:

1) Projected Path of Hurricane Dean,The Weather Channel

2) Bulletin No. 14, August 19, National Meteorological Service of Jamaica

3) Power 106 News Bulletin at 8:45 a.m.

4) Television Jamaica (TVJ)

Gillian

Hurricane Dean - Go Away!

It's that time of year again...

When hurricanes that form on the West coast of Africa, move across the Atlantic and head straight for the Caribbean and the USA.

Now it's Hurricane Dean's turn...but this guy is nasty...he has developed from a topical depression into category 4 hurricane in under 3 days!

After ravaging St. Lucia, Dominica, Martinique, St.Kitts and Guadeloupe in the Lesser Antilles, Hurricane Dean is heading straight for Jamaica.

He should either hit Jamaica, or move very close to the island, within 30 hours (by Sunday morning.)

Dean is currently packing winds of up to 215 km (133 miles) per hour and is moving westwards, in the Caribbean Sea, at a rate of 35 km (21 miles) per hour.

The latest figures put Dean at latitude 14.9 N and longitude 65.1W  or 1,290km (800 miles) East South East (ESE) of Jamaica.

Dean spans about 235 km (146 miles) wide. (This means that Jamaica will be affected by strong gale-force winds, even if Dean moves to the north or south of the island.)

Please click The Weather Channel link, here, to get an up-to-the-hour projected track for Hurricane Dean. (You have to refresh your browser for this to happen, though.)

All weather models forecast that Jamaica is directly in Dean's path.

All political campaigning has been halted, on the island, until after the hurricane has passed.

But depending on the level of devastation that Dean leaves in its wake, we will not know, until next week, whether or not the general elections for August 27, will be postponed.

Jamaicans are praying that we will be spared from the worst.  But we are also preparing to meet Dean.

Battening down will start in earnest tomorrow, and supermarkets were packed, today with shoppers getting last-minute food items and necessities (e.g. matches, lanterns, flashlights) to prepare for the hurricane.

Business places will be battened up tomorrow, too...

Some business closed at 2:00 p.m. this afternoon, to allow their workers to secure their houses.

The security forces are currently being organized to prepare for and stop any looting that may take place.

But we are just praying that hurricane Dean will go away and do the famous Jamaica hop (where hurricanes hop over or under Jamaica as a result of prayer)!

Sources Include:

1) Projected Path of Hurricane Dean,The Weather Channel

2) Television Jamaica (TVJ)'s 7:00 p.m. Nightly News, August 17, 2007

3) CVM TV News Watch 8:00 p.m., August 17,2007

Gillian