Local Government and Community Development Minister, Hon. Desmond McKenzie (right), in conversation with Action Programme Alignment and Capacity Building Officer, Science, Technology and Implementation (STI), at the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), Dr. Richard A. Byron-Cox, when he called on the Minister at the Ministry on Hagley Park Road in Kingston, on July 16.

The House of Representatives on Tuesday (July 16), approved a 90-day extension of the State of Public Emergency (SOE) for the South St. Andrew division. In his address, Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, informed that between January 1 and July 15, 2019, the country recorded 726 murders and 726 shootings across 19 police divisions. “There were reductions in...

Vector Control Officer at the Westmoreland Health Department, Ryan Morris, says more than 6,000 premises were inspected for Aedes aegypti mosquito breeding sites in the first week of July. Mr. Morris told JIS News that this was carried out by the new cohort of Housing, Opportunity, Production and Employment (HOPE) programme workers. He outlined that the programme, which started on...

Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Senator the Hon. Pearnel Charles Jr., says the Government is working to ensure that water supply systems are properly maintained in order to improve service to citizens. The objective, he said, is to eliminate the need to truck water to communities, which has proven to be expensive and...

Hundreds of Jamaican students for the first time will participate in the 2021 sitting of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The programme, which is not curriculum-based, is organised by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) as a method of comparing and examining students’ performance in mathematical, reading and scientific literacy. Addressing a JIS ‘Think Tank’ today...

Justice Minister, Hon. Delroy Chuck, says that audiovisual equipment will be installed in courthouses in the coming weeks. He said the technology will allow for matters to be “recorded and kept for posterity” and address delays in the justice system. “At the moment, the parish court judge takes longhand for everything, but with that [audiovisual] process it won’t be necessary....

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, says the Government remains resolute in facilitating an inclusive education system that caters to the needs of all children, particularly those with special needs. “The Government is very sensitive towards special needs education and towards providing the service. We acknowledge that we are not at the service level that we should be, but...