Girl With a Purpose (GWAP)

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.

Tropical Storm Olga Weakens, Expected to Pass North of Jamaica Later This Afternoon

Tropical Storm Olga, is expected to pass north of Jamaica,later this afternoon. This is a strange phenomenon,seeing that the Hurricane Season officially ended on November 30, 2007.

But what seemed "strange" a few years ago, will become the norm, due to the effects of global warming.

At 1:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST), the centre of Olga was located to the west of Hispaniola, at latitude 19 degrees North and longitude 76 degrees West.

At 12:00 p.m. EST, Olga's centre was located  102.5 miles (165 km) NorthEast of Port Antonio.

Olga will continue along a westerly track.

Although her movement has weakened to 23 miles/hour (37 km/hour), Olga will bring strong gusty winds and torrential rains to the island.

The island will be experiencing heavy rainfall up until Friday of this week.

But Jamaicans are praying that Olga's effect on the island will be minimal.

The US National Weather Centre, Miami, has stated that "Olga lacks the convection required of a tropical cyclone...and based on visible satellite imagery probably also lacks a closed surface circulation.  however...we will hang on to Olga for a few more hours just in case deep convection returns or west winds become evident."

Please click here for their full report and forecast re this storm.

[Girl With a Purpose (GWAP) Blog will keep you informed of the progress of Olga and her efffect on the island, as long as we're able to :)]

Gillian

Sources Include:

1) Nationwide Radio,8:00 a.m. News, December 12, 2007

2) Radio Jamaica 12:00 p.m. News, December 12, 2007

3) National Metereological Service website, December 12,2007

4) Report, "Tropical Storm Olga Expected to Weaken-Subtropical Storm Olga Expected to Affect Caribbean Cruises", Cruise Critic (Cruise News & Reviews) Website, December 12, 2007

5) Picture of Olga's 3-day Forecasted Track (Tropical Storm OLGA Public Advisory Number 7a), US National Weather Centre,Miami website,10:00 a.m, Wednesday, December 12, 2007

6) Picture of Olga's 5-day Forecasted Track, Weather Underground Website, 1:00 p.m., Wednesday, December 12, 2007

7) Weather Underground Alert: Tropical Storm Olga(Picture of Olga's Current Position), Weather Underground Website, 1:00 p.m. EST,  December 12,2007

8) Tropical Storm Olga Forecast Discussion, US National Weather Centre, Miami, website,10:00 a.m., Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Jamaica's Local Government Elections: Final Results Are In!

Friends, please accept my apologies for the delay in bringing you these results...

The final results of Jamaica's Local Government Elections, held on December 5,2007, are in!

Of the 14 Parishes, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) has won 9 parishes to the People' National Party's (PNP's) 4 parishes, with a tie of eight (8) seats each, in the Parish of St. Ann.

Girl With a Purpose(GWAP) Blog wishes our heart-felt congratulations to the JLP!

(Please see this link  to our previous post on December 5, 2007, for a short background on Jamaica's Local Government Elections.)

Please see the following table for the JLP and PNP Seat Count and percentage wins, by Parish:

JLP & PNP SEAT COUNT AND
PERCENTAGE WINS, BY PARISH
PARISHES	JLP Seats	PNP Seats	JLP Seat %age	PNP Seat %age
Kingston and St. Andrew	23	17	58%	43%
St. Ann	8	8	50%	50%
St. Thomas	8	2	80%	20%
Portland	7	2	78%	22%
St. Mary	10	3	77%	23%
Trelawny	7	2	78%	22%
St. James	13	4	76%	24%
Hanover	2	5	29%	71%
Westmoreland	0	14	0%	100%
St. Elizabeth	8	7	53%	47%
Manchester	6	9	40%	60%
Clarendon	17	5	77%	23%
St. Catherine	23	17	58%	43%

Please click on this link to view the winning Councillors by Pollling Division and Parish, and the percentages, they've won by.  (There are 227 Polling Divisions spread across the 14 Parishes in Jamaica.)

When you have opened the link, just go to the section entitled, "View Results by Parish",found to the middle left hand-side of the page. Then choose the Parish you're interested in and then click on the "View Parish Results" button, to get these results.

Gillian

Sources Include:

1) Jamaica Gleaner's Local Government Elections website

Jamaica's Local Government Elections: Final Results Due Tomorrow!

The Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) has promised that the final results of the Local Government Elections will be disclosed tomorrow.

The official recounting process began today and should be finished tomorrow.

As soon as these results become available,Girl With a Purpose (GWAP) Blog will make them known to you.

(Please see the post below, for more information on the preliminary results of the Local Government Elections.)

Gillian

Sources Include

1) Mr.Danville Walker, Director of Elections, in an interview with Emily Crooks on "This Morning", Nationwide Radio, December 6, 2007

Jamaica's Local Government Elections: The Preliminary Results Are In!

The Jamaica Labour Party(JLP) has won the Local Government Elections, here in Jamaica.

The Local Goverment Elections are supposed to be held every two (2) years and seeks to elect Councillors and Mayors who will govern the affairs of the country, at the local level.

These are the people who are responsible for public health and sanitation, poor relief,water supply, minor roads, markets and fire services on our island.

Of the votes cast in the 227 Polling Divisions, the JLP got 62.7% of the votes, versus the People's National Party's (PNP's) 47.3%.

This is in stark contrast to the overwhelming 93% that the JLP got in 2003.

The Breakdown by Parish, for all 14 Parishes, is as follows:

1. Kingston: JLP won


2. St. Andrew:  JLP won


3. St.Catherine: JLP won


4. St.Thomas: JLP won


5. St. Mary: JLP won


6. Portland: JLP won


7. Clarendon: JLP won


8. Trelawny: JLP won


9. St. Elizabeth: JLP won


10. St. James: JLP won


11. St. Ann: JLP & PNP: tie, 8 seats each


12. Hanover: PNP won


13. Manchester: PNP won


14. Westmoreland: PNP won

The exact seat count will be announced tomorrow.

(We apologize for the delay..but the Electoral Office of Jamaica(EOJ)'s realtime results were not reported by the major media houses. The exception being Nationwide Radio, who paid for the rights to access these results,realtime.)

The Electoral Office of Jamaica is the body responsible for administering elections in Jamaica and for ensuring that elections are free and fair,to all Jamaicans.

Gillian

Sources Include

1) Television Jamaica News at 10:00 p.m., December 5, 2007

2) Nationwide Radio, Jamaica, December 5,2007

3) Article,"Jamaica: Local government", Encyclopedia of the Nations::Americas::Jamaica

4) Electoral Office of Jamaica, December 5, 2007

Jamaica's Reggae Boyz Move Up By Five (5) Places in FIFA World Rankings!

Following Jamaica's FIFA(Fédération Internationale de Football) Friendly International Football Match against Guatemala on Wednesday evening (November 21,2007), we heard yesterday, that Jamaica has moved up by five (5) places in the FIFA World Rankings.

(FIFA is the world's governing football association.)

(The match was played at Jamaica's National Stadium "The Office", a former bastion, where we were never beaten. Jamaica beat Guatemala 2-0 in this match.)

This match follows the other Friendly International Match that Jamaica played against El Salvador (also at "The Office"), on Sunday, November 18, 2007,where we beat El Savador, 3-0.

This means that Jamaica has moved up from no. 103 in October 2007, to no. 98 in November 2007, in the FIFA World Rankings.

I feel so proud of the Reggae Boyz (Jamaica's Football Team)...it's good to see members of the "old guard" back:guys like Ian Goodison, Ricardo Gardner, Ricardo Fuller, Tyrone Marshall (these guys represented Jamaica in the France World Cup of 1998) and to see them playing like lions.

Guys who are playing professional football in Europe and the US, who want to give back to Jamaica, because of what our football, at the International level, has given to them.

(As a result of the quality football, that the then Reggae Boyz played during their qualifying matches for the France 1998 World Cup and the resulting exposure that the Reggae Boyz got from qualifying, these guys were scouted by coaches from Europe and USA.)

It's also good to see Theodore "Tappa" Whitmore,former Jamaican midfielder and captain, as interim coach, supported by his assistant coach and former national women's coach, Bradley Stewart...they coached Jamaica,in both these matches.

"Tappa" has done what Bora Milutinovic (former coach and Technical Director of Jamaica's Football Programme), couldn't do...that is to excite and motivate these guys to play their hearts out.

Yes, it's true that most of the team now consists of Jamaican players who are playing professional football, abroad...but if that's what it takes to show our current, home-based players, that they have to aim higher and change their attitude about discipline and winning, to be included on the team, then that's what it will have to take.

As far as I'm concerned, Bora Milutinovic got US $400,000 (the amount of money, the Jamaica Football Federation had to pay him to terminate his contract) under false pretenses...

He kept saying that he didn't care about winning...well now we see what people who really care about the future of Jamaican football and who really care about winning, have done for Jamaica's Football Programme.

I want to congratulate Captain Horace Burrell, current President of the Jamaica Football Federation(JFF), for having the guts to fire Velibor "Bora" Milutinovic and for bringing back the level of professionalism that we're used to seeing, in Jamaica's Football Programme.

It is my wish that the sponsors will continue to believe in Captain Burrell's leadership and continue to support Jamaican football, at all levels.

(Rene Simoes, the Brazilian coach who got Jamaica to the World Cup in 1998, will be replacing Bora Milutinovic, as Jamaica's permanent coach/(Technical Director).)

I only hope that:

1. Captain Burrell and the JFF learn from this experience and ensure that there are at least two (2) Jamaican coaches who will be seriously understudying Rene Simoes...it is now time for Jamaican coaches to be able to take a Jamaican football team to the World Cup and get us to at least the third round of competition.


2. The JFF acquires the services of an astute and experienced sports lawyer, who will construct Renee Simoes' contract, so that he will be paid, based on results and that he won't be able to hold us at ransom, in the way in which Bora Mulutinovic, was able to.

I've included  the YouTube.com video from, ItsMisterPawToU, above. (I apologize for the low quality of the video...but's it's the only one available via Youtube.com)

It shows the two goals that were scored in the Jamaica-Guatemala match on Wednesday (the first by Ricardo Fuller and the second, by Omar Daley). I want to thank ItsMisterPawToU for the kind use of his video. (You can find his other video on the goals scored in the Jamaica-El Salvaldor match on Sunday, here.)

Sources Include:

1) Article, "Milutinovic sacked by Jamaica", Associated Football Press, November 9, 2007.

2) Article, "'Tappa' to coach Boyz for friendlies", by Robert Bailey (Freelance Writer), Jamaica Gleaner, November 11, 2007

3) Jamaica's FIFA World Rankings, FIFA.com

4) The Reggae Boyz Forum:Post Game Reports/Analysis Jamaica vs Guatemala, November 22,2007
 

Gillian