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In a bid to further improve its disaster management capabilities, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) has embarked on a project focussing on the management of natural hazards in coastal towns and cities. According to Director General of ODPEM, Ronald Jackson, the three major areas being targeted are: Savanna-La-Mar, Westmoreland; Black River, St. Elizabeth, and Ocho Rios,...

Minister of Energy and Mining, Hon. James Robertson, has assured the country that the supply of petroleum products will not be affected by Monday's accident at the Petrojam Refinery. "There is no shortage of fuel; there is no crisis," Mr. Robertson told journalists attending a media briefing at Petrojam's Marcus Garvey Drive plant, Kingston, on Wednesday (June 3). The Minister...

The Transport Authority has pledged to clean-up the public transport system in St. James, with a recent survey showing that more than 50 per cent of public passenger vehicles (PPV) were operating in the parish without the required licence. Speaking at public consultation held at the Montego Bay Civic Centre in St. James on June 2, Managing Director of the...

Jamaicans will have to consume more locally produced food in order to minimise imports and cushion the effects of the global financial crisis. This was the word from Agriculture and Fisheries Minister, Hon. Dr. Christopher Tufton, as he delivered the keynote address at the Atlanta Jamaica Association's building and scholarship banquet held on May 30 at Angora Hill, Georgia, U.S.A....

The country's stockpile of antiviral for the treatment of the Influenza A (H1N1) virus has been bolstered with the donation of more than $1 million worth of drugs by the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO). The Ministry of Health received 36 cartons holding 35,000 treatment courses for up to 10 days of Oseltamivir (Tamiflu) antiviral medicine on Tuesday (June 2)...

The Portland branch of the Jamaica Business Information Centre (JBIC) was launched at a function at the Royal Mall, Port Antonio, last Thursday. The centre is the tenth such facility to be established across the country by the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC), under its JBIC project. It has been set up in an effort to improve the competitiveness of...

Jamaica is the 53rd country to report the Influenza A (H1N1) virus, following the two confirmations on May 29. Minister of Health, Hon. Rudyard Spencer, told journalists at a media briefing at Jamaica House on Monday (June 1) that both persons who were confirmed had recently travelled to the United States, which has reported 7,927 cases with 11 deaths, as...

The crime fighting capabilities of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) have been boosted, through the acquisition of computers to generate facial composites of likely suspects. This was revealed by officer in the Video Identification Unit at the Central Police Station, downtown Kingston, Constable Verdaine Wright, in an interview with JIS News about the newly acquired Electronic Facial Identification Technique (E-FIT)...

Minister of National Security, Senator the Hon. Dwight Nelson, has said that he is seeking to form partnerships with various segments of the society in order to address the country's crime problem. "It is my intention to forge a new alliance between community and state, a new alliance between community and police and a new alliance between the community and...

The country's stockpile of antiviral drugs for the treatment of the Influenza A (H1N1) virus has been bolstered with the donation of more than $1 million worth of medication from the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO). World Health Organisation (WHO)/PAHO Representative for Jamaica, Cayman Islands and Bermuda, Dr. Ernest Pate, this morning (June 2) handed over approximately 3,500 boxes of...

Jamaica's Consul General to Toronto, Canada, Anne-Marie Bonner, has described author and communications guru, Easton Lee, as "a master storyteller and a great edutainer." She was speaking at the Toronto launch of Mr. Lee's latest book, 'Run Big 'Fraid', which took place at the University of Toronto's William Doo Auditorium, on May 28. The Consul General said Mr. Lee wrote...

Chief Medical Officer (CMO) in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Sheila Campbell-Forrester, says Jamaica's ability to achieve the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015, has been significantly boosted by the Government's decision to abolish user fees in public hospitals and renew the primary health care system. Speaking at the launch of Jamaica's national report on the MDGs at...