Finance and the Public Service Minister, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, says Jamaica opened the 2020/21 fiscal year with cash reserves of approximately $90 billion, or more than four per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). Opening the 2021/22 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives on March 9, Dr. Clarke said this was achieved as a result of the...

The Chairman of the Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA), Mr. LeVaughn Flynn, has announced the appointment of Ms. Faith Graham as acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the CLA. Graham joined the Authority in 2018 as the Director of Enforcement and Monitoring with primary responsibility for ensuring compliance and standards within Jamaica’s medical cannabis industry. She assumed the role of acting...

Healthcare workers in St. James turned out in large numbers to take the first of two jabs of the COVID-19 vaccine, as the Government’s vaccination drive began on Wednesday, March 10. Doctors, nurses, community health aides and even pharmacists were among the 200 public healthcare professionals registered to receive the drug across three separate vaccination centres in the parish. These...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, says sound public policy must be adhered to, as it saved Jamaica from disaster at the onset of the COVID-19 crisis. The Minister, while opening the 2021/2022 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives, on March 9, said that due to the reintegration of public bodies to parent...

The annual Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Festival will be held virtually on Saturday, March 13, beginning at 10:00 a.m. The event, being hosted by the Tourism Linkages Network (TLN), will be streamed live on Facebook and Instagram @jamaicacoffefest from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, will head a list...

The Government has announced changes to the 2021 sitting of the Primary Exit Profile (PEP). Addressing a virtual post-Cabinet press briefing on Wednesday (March 10), Education, Youth and Information Minister, Hon. Fayval Williams, said that the Grade Six Ability Test, which was originally set for February 23 and rescheduled for March 25, has again been postponed. The new date for...

The National Road Operating and Constructing Company (NROCC) is planning to plant more than 30,000 trees in the next three to four years. In an interview with JIS News, Environmental Manager at NROCC, Errol Mortley, explained that this tree-planting initiative is tied to the Montego Bay Perimeter Road Project. He said the project will have a significant impact on trees,...