Minister of Justice, Hon. Delroy Chuck, says the Drug Treatment Courts across the island are making an impact in transforming the lives of drug-dependent offenders. He cited the 2017 report from the drug court in Manchester, which pointed to “improvement in the participants’ behaviour as the court authorities monitor their treatment”. He said the report further highlighted increased support and...

Economic Programme Oversight Committee (EPOC) Co-Chairman, Keith Duncan, says robust tax revenue growth over the last two years is creating the welcome fiscal space that allows for notable increases in Government capital expenditure and social spending. These increases, he said, are reflected in the first 2018/19 Supplementary Estimates, tabled in the House of Representatives on September 25 by Finance and...

Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, says the Jamaica Centre for Tourism Innovation (JCTI) is to train some 8,000 tourism workers in the next five years, in an effort to boost the island’s tourism product. In addition, the Minister notes that close to 1,000 persons will be certified by the JCTI by the end of the 2018/2019 financial year. Speaking at...

Students of Hazard Primary School in Clarendon will shortly benefit from road improvement, under the Jamaica National (JN) Foundation ‘X Marks the Spot’ Road Safety Campaign. These include a pedestrian crossing, bus lay-by and sidewalks to ensure the safety of children at the school. The campaign was developed based on the findings of a report commissioned by the JN Foundation,...

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, says the Government is fully committed to the development of roads right across the island. Mr. Holness, who was speaking at the handover of 58 detached two-bedroom units at Castlewood, in Granville, Trelawny, on October 17, said it is clear, based on the high level of traffic, that there is an appreciation on...

Economic Programme Oversight Committee (EPOC) Co-Chairman, Keith Duncan, anticipates that the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Executive Board will ratify Jamaica’s fourth review under the IMF’s Precautionary Standby Arrangement (PSBA), when its members meet for deliberations on November 5. Mr. Duncan said this optimism is based on the economic programme’s out-turns through to the end of June 2018, which saw the...

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, says the local municipalities have a vital role to play in ensuring that the various Town and Country regulations relating to planned housing and development are enforced. Speaking at the handover of 58 detached two-bedroom units at Castlewood in Granville, Trelawny, on October 17, the Prime Minister emphasised that this kind of oversight...