The Government has allocated $6.6 million to boost activities under the Rehabilitation and Reintegration of Local Offenders and Deported Persons Programme. As outlined in the 2018/19 Estimates of Expenditure now before the House of Representatives, the programme aims to reduce the rate of reoffending among local offenders and deported persons by enhancing the livelihood opportunities and improving the systems for...

A total of $14 million has been set aside in the 2018/19 Estimates of Expenditure to strengthen the policy, legislative and institutional framework that guides the management and treatment of involuntary return migrants to the island. The programme, which falls under the Ministry of National Security, is slated to end in January 2019 and is being funded by the United...

The Government has allocated $7.912 billion to the Jamaica Social Protection Strategy Programme in the 2018/19 Estimates of Expenditure now before the House of Representatives. The programme aims to support consumption, protect and promote the human capital accumulation of the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH) beneficiaries. The initiative also seeks to strengthen the overall capacity of the...

The Government is to engage a consultant to assess and prepare a preliminary design for the College of Agriculture, Science and Education (CASE) Special Education Diagnostic Centre in Portland during the 2018/2019 fiscal year. Details of the $5-million project are outlined in the 2018/2019 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives. The Government, through the Ministry of Education,...

A sum of $6 million has been allocated to the Integrated Social Protection and Labour Programme in the 2018/19 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives. The project, which got under way in December 2012, aims to support the Government of Jamaica’s efforts to improve human capital and labour market outcomes for the poor by enhancing the efficiency...

Construction of the new offices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, to be located in downtown Kingston, is expected to be completed by early next year. An additional sum of $253.8 million has been set aside in the 2018/19 Estimates of Expenditure to facilitate the project. The relocation of the Ministry to downtown is intended to contribute...

The quiet, farming community of Above Rocks in St Catherine, is home to the St. Mary’s All-Age School, which is celebrating its 175th anniversary this year. The Roman Catholic institution was established by Father Joseph Dupont in 1842. The original structure, part of which is out of use, was erected in 1940, with additional buildings erected in 1988. Currently, the...