The Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) is anticipating the provision of $9.5 billion in loans to Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSME) during the new financial year. This is in addition to $6.24 billion in credit guarantees, US$24.4 million in equity financing, and capacity-building support to 440 entities. As contained in the Public Bodies Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for...

The National Family Planning Board (NFPB) is inviting adolescents and young people, ages 16 to 24, to participate in a Safer Sex Week Instagram Live session on Friday, February 18. The event is focused on bringing awareness to the issues surrounding adolescent sexual reproductive health and will seek to dispel myths and provide information about safe spaces. It will also...

Chairman of the Paint and Surface Coatings Technical Committee at the Bureau of Standards Jamaica (BSJ), Johann Antoine, is calling for partnership on research to determine lead exposure levels in Jamaica. He noted that such collaboration is one of the greatest needs in the fight against lead poisoning from paint. Mr. Antoine, who is a research scientist at the International...

Construction of the new Westmoreland police divisional headquarters is slated to commence in the 2022/23 financial year. A sum of $700 million has been allocated in the 2022/23 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives. For the upcoming fiscal year, it is anticipated that 50 per cent of construction activities will be completed. The project, which is being...

Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, is calling for a more collective and inclusive approach among countries globally to overcome the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, particularly in relation to vaccine access. Speaking during a Global Tourism Resilience Forum at EXPO2020 Dubai on Thursday (February 17), Mr. Bartlett said countries have generally “not learned to respond together to global actions” citing the pandemic...

Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries (MOAF) Hon. Pearnel Charles Jr., says the Government is committed to achieving food security on the island. “Our goal is to ensure that we can achieve the ultimate goal of food security, meeting our local production demand and getting to the point where we can be able to support the expanding hotel industry, as well...

Several operators in the public transport sector have been certified by the Transport Operators Development Sustainable Services (TODSS) for best practices in road safety. Transport and Mining Minister, Hon. Audley Shaw, who delivered the keynote address at a recent ceremony held at the University of Technology (UTech) in St. Andrew to hand over the certificates, commended the owners and operators...