With their eclectic designs, versatile styling and hot fashion pieces, Rep JA has landed a exclusive collaboration deal with mainstream beverage brand Heineken.

In 2009 RepJA T- shirt, VI TIL I DIE was exclusively designed for the Virgin Islands. The trendy fashion stores located in ST. Croix and ST. Thomas, Urban Threadz became the distribution arm for RepJA new signature island tee. This gave the brand maximum exposure in the VI. The tee single handedly became the biggest selling item on the island. Moreover, VI International Artists Planet VI (formally Rock City), Verse Simmonds, Benny Demus (Akon’s Official DJ) and Buttah Man (BET Networks) were constantly seen sporting the VI Til I Die tees, cultivating its impact within music culture.

With growing popularity, the tee’s easily garnered the attention of major importer and wholesaler of premium, category-leading brands in beverage Bellows Intl. Bellows reached out to RepJA to help brand Heineken’s new “longer neck bottle design” and the rest is history. Impressed with the impact of the VI Til I Die concept, Bellows wanted something just as impactful for their new Heineken bottle design. RepJA created the VI Splash which is the collaboration between both parties. Heineken ordered 2000 pieces to give away to their loyal customers. Now Bellows Intl. is in the process of submitting the Heineken Splash design for the Local ADVI (Advertising Club of the Virgin Islands) Awards. This brand is definitely here to stay!

The company was responding to a statement issued by LIME on Saturday in which it accused former Prime Minister Andrew Holness of betraying Jamaican consumers when he reversed a requirement that Digicel maintain two networks as a condition of its proposed merger with Claro.

LIME had also urged the Government to immediately implement an emergency overhaul of the regulations governing the telecoms industry in order to protect consumers and other service providers.

Digicel, in a statement yesterday, said the deal was in the interest of consumers and that the former prime minister followed the letter of the law in his approval of the deal and lifting of the prior conditions.

Said Digicel: “The Telecoms Act in Jamaica does not permit the minister with responsibility for Telecoms (in this case former Prime Minister Andrew Holness) to impose any conditions on the approval of the deal. Indeed, any imposing of conditions would in fact be unlawful. Once Digicel had received the initial approval of the deal from the Government (under former Prime Minister Bruce Golding), it followed the required process step by step and took the opportunity to go back to the Office of the Prime Minister (as was its right as part of the approval process) to make clear that the stipulation to run two networks concurrently was both uneconomic and unworkable. Digicel also consulted with the then Opposition spokesperson on telecommunications, Philip Paulwell, who similarly understood that the operation of two networks was not viable and supported the decision to lift that restriction.”

Digicel said, too, that its acquisition of Claro Jamaica would benefit consumers across Jamaica by proactively and voluntarily offering to reduce its cross-network rates for both prepaid and postpaid customers by $3.50 per minute peak rate reduction and a $2 per minute off-peak rate reduction on calls to the other network. This, it said, represents an up to a 20 per cent reduction on the previous rates.

Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Digicel-hits-back_10571350#ixzz1jcWwKFdB

“We are asking the Government to take this action – with extreme alacrity – in the interest of Jamaican consumers as well as all current and any future telecoms service providers,” the company said in a release yesterday.

LIME’s statement comes against the background of Digicel’s announcement to shut down Claro in just over a month as part of the complete takeover of that company. This was made possible by the removal of conditions that kept the two companies operating separately despite being merged.

“We believe that Mr Holness’ removal of this critical condition, without the passing of the emergency legislation to safeguard the industry, has grave implications for the future of Jamaica’s telecommunications industry. This move grants Digicel a free ride considering that virtually the same token and wholly inadequate rate change already condemned as ‘unimpressive’ was subsequently accepted by Mr Holness and, in our opinion, this is tantamount to a betrayal of the Jamaican consumers who are desperately seeking relief in this harsh economic climate,” the release read.

JamaicaGleaner

Facing a wave of criticism from business leaders, President Hugo Chavez is defending his order for government officials to seize control of residential complexes.

Chavez promised Sunday to crack down on construction and real estate companies that he accused of unjustly boosting prices, which he labeled “housing fraud”.

The president, a self-proclaimed revolutionary who idolises Cuba’s Fidel Castro and is currently on a visit to Havana, called his decision last week to order the expropriation of six residential complexes and “the temporary occupation” of eight gated communities in Caracas and other cities “an act of justice”.

Venezuela’s consumer protection agency and state prosecutors are investigating complaints that construction companies and real-estate firms are illegally charging buyers high interest on unfinished apartments, even though the buyers settled on a price years ago and made downpayments.

“We have decided to put an end to this type of organised crime,” Chavez wrote in his weekly newspaper column.

Companies accused of violating consumer-protection regulations deny any wrongdoing.

Apartment owners affected by the measures have had mixed reactions.

Some don’t like having soldiers posted near their homes, or fear the measure could encourage pro-Chavez squatters to invade buildings still under construction. Others applaud the measure, saying it has protected them from unscrupulous business practices.

Security measures

In some mostly middle-class residential complexes, groups of neighbours have implemented security measures aimed at keeping squatters out, such as organising around-the-clock surveillance teams and putting a siren at entrances to be sounded in case of emergency.

Apartment owners from one of the expropriated complexes – El Encantado Humboldt – issued a statement over the weekend, criticising the state takeover and throwing their support behind the company responsible for building the gated community, saying it never stopped construction as government inspectors have alleged.

“We strongly reject the expropriation measure,” the statement said. “We are content with the construction company’s development of the project.”

Critics of the expropriations and temporary state takeovers, including Chavez’s political opponents and Venezuela’s largest business chamber, warn the government’s measures will scare off investors and aggravate the country’s housing deficit.

More than one million of Venezuela’s estimated 28 million inhabitants do not have adequate housing while millions more live in dangerous, labyrinth-like slums ringing the South American nation’s cities.

The government plans to invest US$1.5 billion next year to build homes for poor and middle-class families, Chavez announced Sunday.

Opposition politician Julio Borges accused Chavez on Sunday of trampling private-property rights and steering Venezuela toward Cuban-style communism.

Borges told a news conference that Venezuelans don’t want to live in “a country of slaves, where the government is the owner of everything and the people aren’t owners of anything.”

“We want a country of property owners,” he said.

In a telephone interview with state television from Havana on Sunday, Chavez alleged that some construction and real-estate firms are funding opposition groups. He did not provide details.

Source:www.jamaica-gleaner.com

A panel of media and industry practitioners concluded in London that the worst is over for the global economy and that the Caribbean region can look forward to an improved performance next year, despite the impact of the British Air Passenger Duty (APD)

“The global recovery has begun,” John Taker, the purchasing director for Virgin Holidays told Caribbean tourism ministers, directors and private- and public-sector officials gathered at the London offices of the Daily Telegraph for the Caribbean Tourism Organisation European Marketing Forum.

This annual event is held as a precursor to the tourism trade show, World Travel Market (WTM).

Clear opportunity to grow

Taker said that there was a clear opportunity to grow the family travel market for the Caribbean, pointing out that price was a more important consideration for consumers booking a Caribbean holiday than it was for holidays to destinations like the United States.

While admitting that the APD “is a punishment that the Caribbean will have to live with for a very long time”, Graham Boynton, the Daily Telegraph’s travel editor, said there was hope for the region.

“While ultra long-haul is still suffering from the effects of the recession, medium long-haul is seeing recovery (and) the Caribbean is doing relatively well when compared to (other regions). The Caribbean is doing better than Australia … it is doing better than South Africa,” Boynton told delegates.

However, he advised, there was a need for Caribbean destinations, individually and collectively, to communicate the realities of the region in a more dynamic manner.

Daniel Pearce, editor of the travel-trade magazine, TTG, unveiled exclusive research which painted a confident picture from British travel agents.

The research revealed that two out three agents felt the reputation of the Caribbean had increased in the past year, and half the travel agents surveyed said they expected sales to the Caribbean to increase in 2011.

Source:www.jamaica-gleaner.com

“Come, talk to me. I want to know what you’re thinking,” the man with the friendly face says to a younger man sitting in the chair just metres away from him.

The younger man, 30-year-old Omar Wilson, appears apprehensive. Fresh bandages cover the stub that was once his right arm, crushed in a freak accident at work just barely a month before.

He has come to the Sir John Golding Rehabilitation Centre, St Andrew, to fit a prosthetic arm, but is not sure he is quite ready for it, the workplace accident still fresh in his mind. Additionally, he says the prosthesis does not fit well.

Affordability key

Alwyn Johnson, the older man, smiles, having handled cases similar to Owen’s before. He reassures him that everything will be fine and promises to bring him a better-fitting prosthesis.

An engineer by training, 35-year-old Johnson is the chief technology officer and principal investigator of PhysioNetics, a United States firm in Colorado which designs affordable, upper-limb prostheses.

A former student of Campion College and the University of Technology, Johnson heads the team responsible for creating the low-cost upper-extremity prosthetic interface also called a “socket”, which is significantly cheaper than other available prosthetic sockets.

The device, which costs US$350 (J$30,100) in comparison to similar mechanisms which can run as high as US$5,000 (J$430,000), makes possible the production of new, affordable prostheses for several hundred thousand upper-extremity amputees worldwide living in poor regions or lacking the financial means.

“We have two guys here using them. One is in Lionel Town and the other in Old Harbour,” said Johnson.

He said the prostheses, which are available in three sizes, also come with a kit, which allows wearers to make adjustments to suit their comfort level according to the tasks they are performing.

Adjustability

“One of the things we saw with the guys here in Jamaica is when they are lifting heavy things, they adjusted it so it was tight on their arm. But if they’re just using it to have a drink, they have it loose,” said Johnson.

He says this feature, which is not available in traditional prosthetic limbs, has captured the attention of prosthetists and doctors overseas, many of whom were surprised that wearers were able to do their own adjustments.

A holder of two master’s degrees in engineering, who could easily have had a lucrative career making medical devices, Johnson says he was inspired by the fact that few persons had successfully done something to assist those who were economically disadvantaged.

Johnson said the decision to name the upper-extremity prosthesis the international transradial adjustable limb, or ITAL for short, was deliberate, as he purposely sought to put “the Jamaican stamp” on the device so others would “catch the vibes”.

Strenuous activity

Evaluations of the ITAL by amputees in Jamaica, Colombia, and Colorado have demonstrated the units’ ability to endure strenuous activities, such as those associated with farming, ranching, and other occupations requiring physical strength and dexterity.

Thirty-three-year-old Steve Beckford, a mason from Manchester who lost his right arm three years ago when a building on which he was working collapsed, is eagerly looking forward to one of the new prosthetic limbs.

“Sometimes when I’m home, I feel as if the building coming down on me same way,” said Beckford, who has not worked since the accident. “Right now, I can’t get any job just through the one arm.”

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