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Preliminary estimates from the City Engineer's Department of the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC) show that infrastructural damage occurring within the Corporate Area, resulting from tropical storm Nicole, amounts to some $1.7 billion. Addressing the KSAC's monthly meeting in downtown Kingston, today (October 12), Mayor of Kingston and KSAC Chairman, Senator Desmond McKenzie, pointed out that Kingston and St....

Water and Housing Minister, Hon. Dr. Horace Chang, says the Ministry is looking at implementing central wastewater treatment systems in major towns islandwide, where householders and businesses currently resort to the on-site disposal process that incorporates septic tanks and pits. These towns include: Falmouth, Trelawny; Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland; May Pen, Clarendon; and Old Harbour and the western end of Spanish Town,...

The Ministry of Water and Housing wishes to allay the concerns of residents of West Albion about the erection of pit latrines on the West Albion relocation site in St. Thomas. In a recent televised report, concerns were expressed that the erection of the pit latrines would have an impact on the water table in the area. However, the Ministry...

Minister of Education, Hon. Andrew Holness, has credited the Safe Schools Programme with the decrease in violence and serious crimes in the institutions. "In terms of the Ministry's perspective (and) surveillance there is a decline in serious crimes in schools," Mr. Holness told educators, parents, Jamaica Constabulary Force personnel and other stakeholders at the Schools' Security and Safety Conference at...

Children's Advocate, Mary Clarke, has called for speedier finalisation of the Evidence Amendment Bill, to allow video-recorded statements from victims, particularly in child sexual abuse cases, to be used as evidence in the courts. She contended that the procedures involved in these cases have to be made easier for child abuse victims, to ensure that they are not re-traumatised in...

Founder and President of the Institute of Caribbean Studies, Washington D.C., Jamaican Dr. Claire Nelson, was Tuesday (October 12) awarded the prestigious Antonio Ortiz Mena Award by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). The award was presented by the President of the Bank, Luis Alberto Moreno, at a brief ceremony at its Washington D.C. head office. It is named after the...

The families of two Jamaican farm workers who died in Canada, recently, have been compensated, in the sum of C$15,000, from the insurance plan operated by the Jamaican Liaison Service, Minister of Labour and Social Security, Hon. Pearnel Charles, told the House of Representatives, Tuesday (October 12). The two men, 37-year-old Paul Roache of Clarendon and 43-year-old Ralston White of...

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Reginald Budhan, says Jamaica needs to move more "aggressively" to implement international standards, if the country is to improve its efficiency and export earning potential. Speaking at the Bureau of Standards Jamaica's annual symposium at the Knutsford Court Hotel, New Kingston, Tuesday (Oct. 12), Mr. Budhan said that standards are...

Minister of Labour and Social Security, Hon Pearnel Charles, has reiterated that the Programme for Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH) does not cater to able-bodied persons in the economically active age group. Mr. Charles told Parliament Tuesday (October 12), that there appears to be some misunderstanding about the categories of persons able to enroll. He stated that the programme...

Members of the press will now be able to cover proceedings of the parliamentary committee reviewing expenditure on projects under the Constituency Development Fund (CDF). This was disclosed by Minister of State for Water and Housing and committee chairman, Hon. Everald Warmington during Tuesday's (Oct.12) sitting of the House of Representatives. Mr. Warmington explained that the committee was in contravention...

The National Immunisation Programme now has better access to some of Jamaica's most remote areas with the acquisition of two new motor vehicles, which promises to strengthen its efforts to achieve 100 per cent immunisation coverage. The vehicles, valued at $5.3 million, were handed over to representatives from the Western Regional Health Authority (WRHA) and the North East Regional Health...

The Survey of Living Conditions for the years 2008 and 2009 are completed and will be tabled in the Houses of Parliament next month. Prime Minister, the Hon. Bruce Golding, responding to questions posed by Opposition Spokesperson on Finance, Dr. Omar Davies, during Tuesday's (Oct. 12) sitting of the House of Representatives, said that Cabinet has already examined the 2008...