Lead Stories

Sheena Gayle, Gleaner Writer

Western Bureau: Constant negative reports from the media have irritated Danville Walker, director of customs, who believes it is not helping Jamaicans feel positive about themselves and the country in which they live.

"We need to turn off some of the negativity. Turn it off or turn it down. You need to feel good about Jamaica and you need to feel positive about Jamaica," Walker asserted as he addressed a group of Jamaica Co-operative Credit Union League (JCCUL) professionals at the Hilton's Rose Hall Resort and Spa recently.

He further added that citizens' unquenchable appetite for bad news had allowed the nation to become almost immune to crime and violence, as the media had been giving into that appetite for too long.

take control

Walker stressed that "you need to take control of the information that flows into your own world. It is in our hands the kind of Jamaica we hand over to our children and most of us want the same thing. We want a Jamaica our children can enjoy, the way we have enjoyed it."

The head of customs also added his voice to the issue of crime and violence.

"We have to begin to implement solutions, we cannot keep looking at the dropout rates of young men from school and thinking it is a problem beyond us. Crime is not beyond us. We can fix it!" the customs director asserted.

The JCCUL held its annual dinner and awards ceremony under the theme 'Managing the Challenges ... Grasping the Opportunities' where credit unions receive recognition from their peers for exemplary service to their members during 2009.

The Credit Union of the Year awards went to Petroleum Employees Credit Union which received the John Peter Sullivan Award for credit unions with assets of $300 million and less. NCB Employees Credit Union won in the category of credit union with assets of $300 million to $1 billion, and AAMM Credit Union copped the top award in the category of credit union with assets greater than $2 billion.