Small aircraft operator at the Ian Fleming International Airport in Boscobel, St Mary, Joe Issa, has given the thumbs up to the start of expansion works at the facility, stating it will improve traffic capacity.
“I applaud the authorities for their vision. The renovation is necessary for adding capacity to the airport. This will make it more attractive to aircraft operators, both regarding an increase in normal traffic and as a hub for the wider Caribbean.
“Its location is pivotal in boosting high-end visitor arrivals to the north coast to utilise existing tourism plants, as well as investors seeking to build hotels and homes in the area.
“And with Jamaica being the leading country in the region regarding airport terminal facilities, the renovations will better position it as a hub for aircraft that are scouting the Caribbean for pleasure and business but need a strong and reliable base from which to operate,” said Issa.
As executive chairman of Cool Group, Issa uses small aircraft to ferry business executives from airports in Kingston, Montego Bay and Negril, as well as the Ian Fleming International Airport which serves the Ocho Rios area where the corporation is headquartered.
Minister of National Security and Member of Parliament for St Mary Western Robert Montague, who reportedly made the announcement, said the expansion works would help in making the airport a regional hub, informing that two airlines were awaiting the completion of the project to make the airport their base. He says the government has already received the applications, according to a Gleaner report.
Joe Issa, of the St Ann Chamber of Commerce Past Presidents Advisory Committee, has hailed the latest investment of $12 billion in agriculture, stating it could enhance the process of industrialisation in Jamaica, as more advantage is taken of the synergy which exists between agriculture and manufacturing.
Speaking in an interview, Issa cited United States research in HE.net, stating that “the solution to the puzzle of how industrialisation can occur in a predominantly agricultural economy recognises the possibility of synergy between agriculture and manufacturing.”
“I believe there is synergy between sectors of the economy such as agriculture and manufacturing. If we understand it and use it, we can create something bigger than their combined contributions, like industrialisation.
“It’s like taking two different drugs which when interact increase their effectiveness in curing an ailment; in this case, the new drug created by their interaction is greater than their total contributions.
Malcolm X
Martin Luther King Jr.
“The same has been said of the civil rights movement created by the synergy between Dr Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X, and how the movement is bigger than their combined contributions,” Issa explained further.
About business, he adds: “Similarly, if agricultural and manufacturing businesses work together this can achieve synergy, which others have described as increased effectiveness, resulting from working together.”
Issa, a former student of the London School of Economics, also noted research which defines effectiveness as an outcome and that it’s about “doing the right thing”, unlike efficiency, which is about “doing the thing right”.
On the issue of which one – efficiency or effectiveness – is more critical Issa, who has previously referred to them as the “hallmark of any operation” said they both have their place although, like research shows, he is concerned about firms that spend much time and resources trying to produce a product more efficiently even before they have produced anything.
Issa said in such circumstances he supports those who believe that “sometimes it is better to just dive in and do something the slow but proven way rather than to try to make it more effective at the get-go.”
Science enthusiast Joe Issa, who has commented on cosmic events before, has been left amazed by recent reports of a star which appears to have cheated death not once, but twice.
“You only see these things in a James Bond movie. I have read about stars dying and stars being born, but I have never heard of a star rising from its grave; not even once, let alone twice.
Joseph ‘Joey’ Issa Founder Cool Group of Companies
“According to the literature, a typical supernova explodes once and then fades to dust soon after and you will never see a second explosion, which would mean the star did not die in the first place.
“This latest discovery will serve to enhance our knowledge, even if only to find out that what we thought we knew about a dying star or supernova is not so after all. So there’s a need to continue this piece of research to see it through to dust,” said Issa, who is head of Cool Corporation.
Issa was commenting on a recent Associated Press article titled, “Stellar encore: Dying star keeps coming back big time”, in which astronomers reported that a massive star 500 million light-years away exploded in 1954 and apparently again in 2014.
The research is said to have confounded scientists who thought they knew how dying stars ticked.
“The oft-erupting star is 500 million light-years away — one light-year is equal to 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion kilometres) — in the direction of the Big Bear constellation. It was discovered in 2014 and, at the time, resembled your basic supernova that was getting fainter.
“But a few months later, astronomers at the California-based Las Cumbres Observatory saw it getting brighter they have seen it grow faint, then bright, then faint five times again. They have even found past evidence of an explosion 60 years earlier at the same spot,” the report said.
Supernovas are said to typically fade over 100 days, but this latest one is still going strong after 1,000 days, although it is gradually disappearing.
The finding which was published in the well-respected journal Nature has been described as “very surprising and very exciting” by astrophysicist Iair Arcavi of the University of California at Santa Barbara who led the study.
“We thought we had seen everything there is to see in supernovae after seeing so many of them, but you always get surprised by the universe. This one just really blew away everything we thought we understood about them.”
This illustration made available by the European Southern Observatory in 2014 shows dust surrounding a supernova explosion.
The supernova is said to be officially known as iPTF14hls. It is believed to have once been a star up to 100 times more massive than our sun. It could well be the most significant stellar explosion ever observed, which might explain its death-defying peculiarity, the article said.
“It could be multiple explosions occurring so frequently that they run into one another or perhaps a single blast that repeatedly gets brighter and fainter, though scientists do not know precisely how this happens.
“One possibility is that this star was so massive, and its core so hot, that an explosion blew away the outer layers and left the centre intact enough to repeat the entire process. However, this pulsating star theory still doesn’t explain everything about this supernova,” Arcavi reportedly said.
Harvard University’s astronomy chairman, Avi Loeb, who was not involved in the study, has speculated that “a black hole or magnetar – a neutron star with a strong magnetic field – might be at the centre of this never-before-seen behaviour,” noting that further monitoring may better explain what’s going on.
As Las Cumbres – a global network of robotic telescopes – continues to keep watch, scientists are said to have no clue whether this particular supernova is unique. They say it appears rare since no others have been detected.
“We could have missed plenty of them because of its kind of masquerades as a normal supernova if you only look at it once,” Arcavi was quoted as saying, adding that “eventually, this star will go out at some point. I mean, energy has to run out eventually.”
Ocho Rios businessman Joe Issa chews on results of a survey which shows that some British motorists are already expressing concern about the value of their gas and diesel cars ahead of the proposed ban in 2040.
“I think it is too far away to put a figure on the anticipated percentage reduction in gas and diesel cars when the ban comes into effect in 2040.
“If it is that UK motorists will not be able to buy a new fuel-driven car from 2040 onwards, nor will they be able to import new or used petrol cars from other countries. then I expect them to either ditch their cars ahead of the ban or keep them for as long as possible, especially if the new electric cars cost much more relative to the patrol cars.
“In any case, used cars will usually be expected to become cheaper for both UK and foreign buyers like Jamaicans, due to the anticipated relative increase in supply as motorists ditch them for new electric cars.
“As to how long before or after the ban UK motorists will sell their used cars, I expect them to give consideration to the local annual rate of depreciation and bank financings requirements, such as the maximum eligible age of a vehicle, which largely determines car imports by dealerships in Jamaica and other countries.
“We can stretch the analysis even further and argue that with the expected increase in the supply of used UK cars, and thus the price, this could reduce the demand for Japanese imports and therefore cost.
“I also expect that about three years after the ban, when all existing used petrol cars in the UK will be too old to be sold abroad as a viable option for, say, Jamaican dealerships, we will see a correction in the price of Japanese used cars. So the window of opportunity is a short-term one,” said Issa, who is a former student of the famous London School of Economics (LSE) in the UK.
Issa was commenting on a survey of over 18,000 British motorists which shows that a fifth of them was concerned that their car would lose value ahead of the government’s proposed ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2040.
According to the AA Cars survey which was reported by PA Motoring, 21 percent of UK motorists fear that their current petrol or diesel car will be worthless because of the forthcoming ban.
The Cars poll also found that diminished car values were a more significant concern than environmental impact, with just nine percent of participants claiming they were worried about the green credentials of their current vehicle.
The article said “on the flipside, though, 17 percent of drivers did suggest they had become more aware of the environmental concerns surrounding vehicles powered by fossil fuels.
“As the 2040 ban is still quite some way off, 67 percent of participants believed that it was unlikely to affect their choice of car for at least the next few years. However, 10 percent claimed to be less inclined to buy a diesel or petrol car as their next vehicle.”
Director of motoring services at AA Cars Simon Benson is quoted as saying: “An ongoing stream of negative press and blanket legislation around diesel and petrol vehicles has made UK drivers somewhat jumpy when it comes to buying new cars.
“This is laid bare in the October SMMT figures, which saw a double-digit drop off in new car registrations – with diesel, in particular, noting a 30 percent decline.
“This research lends some insight into why consumer confidence is dwindling. With inflation creeping northwards and Brexit uncertainty weighing on consumer purse-strings, British drivers are increasingly concerned that buying a new car is not the investment it once was.
“2040 might be a long way in the future, but the ban on sales of petrol and diesel helps add to the picture that the days of emitting vehicles are numbered. More needs to be done to improve the picture of cleaner diesel models – or we risk talking the new car market into deeper trouble.”
The legendary sprinter, Usain Bolt brings the curtain down on his career at the London World Championships, accomplished academic and businessman Joe Issa has congratulated him stating win or lose people like him come into being only once in anybody’s lifetime and that his career is the stuff of legends.
“Whether he wins or loses People like Bolt come only once in a lifetime. We either acknowledge this and treasure him, or endure a lifetime of regret waiting for another like him to emerge,” Issa said, stating, “What Bolt has done is what legendary people do…He is what legends are made of.”
Issa, who is said to have won enough local and international awards to cover an entire wall in his office, has often praised Jamaicans for their global achievements.
In the case of Bolt, Issa has praised him several times the most recent was his liking for the sprinter’s impassioned plea, “Hard Work Pays Off” and his humility and desire for others to follow in his shoes.
“There’s no virtue in bragging about your successes and holding it tightly and discouraging others from coming up to emulate your achievements,” Issa said in a May 2016 blog, adding, “I like Bolt’s plea for athletes to step up and fill the void he will soon leave behind.”
He has urged other athletes to emulate Bolt’s achievements, especially as they did not come easy and took a lot of hard work.
Just earlier Issa – who is believed to be no stranger to achieving firsts in his academic, and professional career – congratulated Bolt on winning his 6th straight IAAF sportsman of the year award. Claiming, “what he has achieved is astonishing, and if he runs next year at the World Championships he could extend his six-time run as male world athlete of the year.”
Soon after, he hailed the new Bolt film as “fit for the archives”, joining Prime Minister Andrew Holness and soccer icon David Beckham, who also thought it was inspirational.
Issa was also one of the many who congratulated Bolt on winning the 2016 RJR Sportsman of the year award, his 7th locally, since skyrocketing ‘to the world’, joining legendary boxer Michael McCallum as the most successful male athlete in the history of the 56-year-old RJR awards.
And ahead of Rio Issa said in a blog,“I back Bolt to successfully defend his 100m, 200m and 4x100m crowns in Brazil, and get the unprecedented ‘triple-triple’ in his last Olympic Games. If he succeeds, he will have achieved the most unlikely feat in the history of sports, surpassing Jamaican-led Leicester City’s recent Premier League win. I believe he will bow out in style.”
Joseph Issa, Jamaica, Sea, Sand and Sun 