About 90 per cent of files destroyed in a 2015 fire that engulfed the Coroner’s and Special Coroner’s Courts have been reconstructed. Chief Justice, Hon. Zaila McCalla, said 67 of the 77 active files, which were destroyed, have been replaced. She informed that six of the remaining 10 files are in the process of being reconstructed. Mrs. McCalla was speaking...

Cabinet has approved an allocation of $2.57 billion for the National Security Ministry over what was initially tabled in the Budget, for consideration by the Finance and Public Service Minister. According to Education, Youth and Information Minister, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, this is to facilitate activities associated with Zones of Special Operations and provide additional resources required by the...

The proposed $4 billion Morant Bay town centre, to be built in St. Thomas, represents a blueprint for urban development, which Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, says the Government is looking to replicate in other parish capitals. The new urban centre will be developed just outside the existing town on the 25-acre property where the old Goodyear factory...

State Minister in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Fayval Williams, has welcomed work by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) to establish a National Strategy for the Development of Statistics (NSDS). This, she says, will facilitate the creation of a systematic and reliable network across Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) for the timely provision of...

The National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) is outfitting its sanitation workers with new, professional uniforms through a $20 million allocation from the Government. The smart navy overalls come with neon-green vests, which reflect light, making the workers more visible to motorists when they work at night. Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Hon. Desmond McKenzie, said the uniforms...

The Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) is providing $3 million in grants for the staging of several summer camps targeting 700 at-risk youth. Under Summer Camp 2017, the JSIF will provide the money for the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) to support five residential summer camps across the 18 communities that fall under its Integrated Community Development Project (ICDP), which is...

For as long as he can remember, Yohan Smith has wanted to join the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) and become a “good soldier” like his father. “I see my father as a successful member of the JDF and I would love to follow in his footsteps and have a successful career myself,” he tells JIS News. The young man from...