The Government will be spending more than $63 million to construct two early childhood schools to increase capacity by 400 places in St. Andrew, and St. Thomas. Under the project, the Tower Hill Infant School, in St. Andrew, and the Morant Estate Infant School, in St. Thomas, will be built, with each accommodating 200 students. Each of the schools will...

The Government has allocated $850 million to a project to strengthen the enabling environment for private sector competitiveness, which will help the country unleash productivity and growth. This will be achieved by enhancing competition in the business environment, facilitating large-scale private investments, supporting small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) capabilities and finance, essential to unleash private sector productivity upgrading and job...

President of the Jamaica Manufacturers’ Association (JMA), Metry Seaga, says the sector has a key role to play in facilitating the country’s plan of achieving five per cent growth in the next four years. He noted that the manufacturing sector contributes 8.5 per cent to gross domestic product (GDP) compared to agriculture, forestry and fisheries which contribute 7.3 per cent;...

A sum of $20 million has been allocated in the 2017-18 budget for a project to enhance the resilience of the agricultural sector and coastal areas. As provided for in the Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives, the project aims to protect livelihood and food security in vulnerable communities by improving land and water management for the...

The Department of Correctional Services has received $202 million to purchase vehicles and improve adult institutions in the next fiscal year. Of the figure, $180 million will go towards renovation and rehabilitation at the Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre in Kingston, while the remainder will be used to purchase vehicles for the Department. This is outlined in the 2017-18 Estimates...

The Government has allocated $17 million for the completion of a project to facilitate increased production and more diversified exports of agricultural and agro-processed products to the European Union market. The allocation to the European Development Fund (EDF) Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) Capacity Building Project is included in the 2017-18 Estimates of Expenditure now before the House of Representatives. For...

The Ministry of Health is to receive $1.059 billion in budgetary support from the National Health Fund (NHF). This is contained in the 2017-18 Estimates of Expenditure now before the House of Representatives for its consideration. The objective is to provide support for improved service delivery in the public health system. To this end, the funds will be used for...