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The arrowroot plant is native to the West Indies and Central America; it belongs to the same family as ginger. It was used by the original inhabitants of the area and it served as food but seems to have first been used for religious and medicinal purposes. The Indians used it in wounds inflicted by poison arrows-hence its name. Jamaica was once a producer and exporter of arrowroot. Nowadays it is used in face powers, glues, confectionery, ice-cream cones and paper and textiles. |
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Jamaica is an independent country, completely self-governed since 1962 when the island ceased to be a British colony. After Independence, Jamaica chose to be a part of the British Commonwealth, and to keep the Queen of the United Kingdom as the constitutional monarch, the titular head of the country. The Government of Jamaica was patterned on the Westminster model of government, and is composed of the Queen as head of state, and a bicameral Parliament. In Jamaica, the Governor General, who is appointed by Her Majesty upon the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Jamaica, represents the Queen.
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The Parliament, or the central government, is charged with the responsibility of running the nation’s business, specifically in the creation of laws, the maintenance of law and order as well as the allocation of finances to run the various social services provided for the citizens. The Houses of Parliament consist of a lower house, called the House of Representatives, and an upper house called the Senate. The Senate consists of 21 Senators, appointed by the Governor General upon the recommendation of the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. The Senate President, a Senator elected by his/her peers, chairs the debates and sessions of the upper house.
There are 60 Members of Parliament in the lower house, elected every five years under universal adult suffrage by the people of Jamaica. Universal adult suffrage, adopted in 1944, means that all Jamaicans over the age of 18 years are eligible to participate in the democratic system of governance by voting for a candidate of their choice. Successful candidates then represent one of the 60 constituencies across the island as a Member of Parliament within the House of Representatives. The head of the House of Representatives is the Speaker of the House, who is selected by the Members of Parliament.
Within the Parliament, the Cabinet, an executive body, which includes the Prime Minister and a select group of Members of Parliament, holds the responsibility for the bulk of government policy making and policy execution through the various ministries that make up the Civil Service. The twelve Cabinet members each hold a Ministerial portfolio, and the Governor General, on the recommendation of the Prime Minister appoints each Minister.
The central government depends heavily on the Civil Service to execute the nation’s policies, but each parish, with financial grants from the central government, handles matters of local interest. Every three years, the people of Jamaica elect Parish Councils, (with the exception of Kingston and St. Andrew, which is administered by the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation). These Parish Councils serve to oversee issues such as public space maintenance, sanitation, public health, and parochial road maintenance. A mayor leads each parish council, and the number of electoral divisions that make up the 60 constituencies island-wide determines the number of Councillors per parish.
The Houses of Parliament are headquartered at George William Gordon House, a statuesque building on Duke Street in Kingston, the capital city. Gordon House is named for one of Jamaica’s National Heroes, a Member of the Assembly in the nineteenth century who sought to change the inequities of governance in the then colony -- a fitting tribute to one who fought for some of the democratic privileges enjoyed by the people of Jamaica today. |
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