The Housing Agency of Jamaica (HAJ) is advising young professionals to start planning early for homeownership. Speaking to JIS News recently, Assistant Environmental Planner at the entity, Zanetta Scott, said that having adequate funds for a house deposit continues to be a major deterrent to becoming a homeowner. As such, the entity is encouraging young people to explore financial products...

Finance and the Public Service Minister, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, says the Administration is looking to institute the proposed National Disaster Risk Financing Policy ahead of the expiration of the Precautionary Stand-By Arrangement (PSBA) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in October 2019. The policy, development of which was approved by Cabinet, aims to position the Government and wider...

The National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA) is celebrating its 35th anniversary under the theme ‘It Takes a Village…It Starts with Me’. The agency is committed to lowering risk factors and increasing protective measures for substance use among individuals, families, communities, educational institutions and public- and private-sector entities, through public education campaigns, research, advocacy and interactive evidence-based programmes. In an...

Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister, Senator the Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith, says the Ministry is heavily focused on the critical compensation scheme for the Jamaican Windrush migrants. “We have supported persons who were in Jamaica by making them aware of the call for evidence. This is the method by which persons are able to submit evidence of the impact...

The Ministry of National Security has intensified its efforts to tackle youth involvement in crime with the recent staging of six anti-gang sensitisation sessions. Approximately 255 young people benefited from the sessions, which were held across the island over two weeks from October 25 to November 7. These include youth offenders in juvenile centres, probationers, and unattached young people. Focus...

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has allocated US$625,000 to the youth component of its Partnership for Improved Safety and Security in Schools Programme, in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information (MOEYI). The two-year programme, which began in July 2017 and is slated to end in July 2019, is valued at US$3 million. Project Manager, USAID/MOEYI Partnership...

Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister, Hon. Mike Henry, is calling on motorists to look out for children on the roads. Mr. Henry, who was speaking at the launch of the Jamaica National (JN) Foundation’s ‘X Marks the Spot’ road-safety campaign at the Hazard Primary School in May Pen, Clarendon, on Wednesday (November 7), said that...