The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) is to implement an electronic case-management system to replace the current paper-based one, to support effective offender management. “With the assistance of our international partner, the Organization of American States (OAS), an electronic case-management system was identified in Brazil, which can be replicated in Jamaica with minor adjustments,” State Minister in the Ministry of...

A water shop was opened in Marlie Hill, Manchester, on May 14, by Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Hon. Desmond McKenzie. “There is a need, and we are responding to that need,” the Minister said at the ceremony. Mr. McKenzie explained that the Ministry is utilising water shops as a way to immediately address the chronic water shortage...

Registered Jamaican architects locally and in the diaspora have the opportunity to win up to $7 million in the Houses of Parliament Design Competition. The competition was officially launched on Thursday (May 17), by Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, during a ceremony at the National Heroes Park in downtown Kingston, where the new building is to be located....

A new Confucius Institute, dedicated to promoting the learning of Chinese language (Mandarin) and culture among Jamaicans, is to be built at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, St. Andrew, within the next 12 months. The facility, to be constructed at a cost of US$5 million, will be situated at the former Personnel Office on the Mona campus....

Retired Educator, Patricia Eves-McKenzie, is honoured to be a recipient of the Prime Minister’s Medal of Appreciation for doing something that she loves. Proud of her long and distinguished career in education, moulding students from the primary to the tertiary levels, Mrs. Eves-McKenzie says that things might have turned out differently, as there was a time when she stepped away...

The Culture, Health, Arts, Science and Education (CHASE) Fund has partnered with the Good Samaritan Inn drop-in centre for the homeless, to acquire an X-ray machine for the institution’s dental clinic. The state-of-the-art wall-mounted X-ray unit offers radiographic images with contrast and high definition. Some $350,000 was provided by the CHASE Fund, with other support from sponsors and participants in...

Three thousand young people are to participate in the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development’s Summer Employment Programme. Portfolio Minister, Hon. Desmond McKenzie, provided details of the initiative during his contribution to the 2018/19 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on May 16. In 2017/18, more than 2,300 young people from the 228 divisions were employed to undertake...

Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Hon. Olivia Grange, is encouraging citizens to register their projects for Labour Day, which will be observed on May 23 under the theme ‘Ramp it up… Fix it up’. Minister Grange, who chairs the National Labour Day Planning Committee, made the appeal while addressing a JIS Think Tank on Tuesday (May 15). She...

Over 900 board members representing 489 public educational institutions participated in training sessions conducted by the National Council on Education (NCE). The NCE is a statutory body under the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information (MOEYI) responsible for the training of school board members, in collaboration with the National College for Educational Leadership (NCEL). Executive Director of the NCE, Merris...