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Maureen’s Place, a 28-bed facility accommodating deportees and ex-offenders under the Jamaica Reducing Re-Offending Action Plan (JRRAP), was opened on Wednesday (February 23). A collaborative effort between the Jamaican and British Governments, the facility, inside the Open Arms Drop-In Centre on the Bellevue Hospital premises in Kingston, will provide food and shelter on a medium term basis for deported persons...

The Government has moved another step closer to improving Jamaica's court system, with the signing of a $399 million contract to begin the construction of Phase One of Justice Square in downtown Kingston. The contract, awarded to MLO construction, will see the project being completed within 13 months, and involve extensive renovation of the old National Commercial Bank (NCB) building...

The Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, the Honourable Olivia Grange, MP has congratulated the Jamaican youth football team which qualified for the FIFA Under 17 World Cup on February 23 (Wednesday) by defeating Honduras in the CONCACAF tournament in Montego Bay, St James. Minister Grange said the achievement of the boys demonstrated that the youth of Jamaica can accomplish...

The talents of students at Maggotty High School, in St. Elizabeth, were on show last week, as the school staged a Jamaica Day celebration. Students rendered musical selections and took part in a fashion parade, with support from neighbouring schools. Principal Director of Culture in the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, Sydney Bartley, said that Jamaica Day is a...

Approximately 561 former sugar workers in Trelawny were presented with grant funding certificates, under the Government of Jamaica/European Union (EU) displaced sugar workers Economic Mitigation Programme on Wednesday February 23. The list included 135 workers recently laid off by existing private sector managers of the production facilities within the parish. The assistance programme is being funded by the EU, through...

KINGSTON — Co-owner of once popular furniture and appliance retailer, Homelectrix, George Hugh, told the FINSAC Commission of Enquiry, Tuesday February 22 that his family suffered mentally and financially from the loss of the company following the 1990s financial meltdown. Mr. Hugh noted that, at the time, Homelectrix was the second largest home appliance retailer in the country, to Courts...

The Bureau of Standards Jamaica (BSJ), through a series of 14 stakeholders’ fora being held across Jamaica, is taking steps to ensure that consumers and food processors, manufacturers and importers/exporters are educated to make informed choices in purchasing items and utilizing services. During the seventh forum, held at the Montego Bay Civic Centre, St. James, on Monday February 21, stakeholders...

KINGSTON — The Canadian Government, through its Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI), has funded a water conservation system for the Hanbury Home for Children in Manchester, to the tune of C$10,000. Speaking at the handing over ceremony on Friday February 18, Canada’s High Commissioner to Jamaica, His Excellency Stephen Hallihan, lauded the staff at the Home. He said they...

Director of Health Promotion and Protection in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Eva Lewis Fuller, says there have been 194 suspected cases of ackee poisoning in Jamaica. Speaking at a press briefing at the Ministry of Health, downtown Kingston, on Tuesday, February 22, Dr. Lewis Fuller stated that all parishes have been affected by the outbreak. However those in the...

Minister of Education, Andrew Holness, praised the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH) for helping to significantly increase enrolment in secondary schools. “We have seen in education a significant increase in enrolment of children particularly at the secondary level,” Minister Holness said. Minister Holness was participating in the monthly call in programme, Jamaica House Live, on February 23....

Provisional figures from the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) show that the tourism industry earned some US$470.4 million from visitor arrivals during the October to December 2010 quarter. Director General of the PIOJ, Professor Gladstone Hutchinson, addressing the quarterly briefing at the Institute's New Kingston offices on Wednesday (February 23), said the earnings reflect increased real value of 5.4 per...

Former Minister of National Security, Dr. Peter Phillips was back in the witness chair, as the Commission of Enquiry into the extradition request for Christopher 'Dudus' Coke continued today (February 22), at the Jamaica Conference Centre, downtown, Kingston. Dr. Phillips continued to be questioned on aspects of the Memoranda of Understanding that he signed in 2004 during his tenure as...