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More than 30 persons drawn from several communities in Eastern St. Thomas, attended a two-day beekeeping workshop on March 17 and 18, at the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) parish office, in Morant Bay. The workshop, organised by the Social Development Commission (SDC), in collaboration with RADA, was staged to assist residents who were recently displaced, due to the decline...

About 40 farmers in the Buff Bay Valley area of Portland are to benefit from a $35.6 million agro-tourism project, which is intended to re-energize farming and create sustainable livelihoods for residents of the community and its environs. Under the project, which is being funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, Inter-American Institute for Co-operation on Agriculture (IICA), European Union (EU),...

The extension service provided by the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) has been boosted with the addition of 40 extension officers over the past two weeks. Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Christopher Tufton, speaking at the National Accountability Seminar held at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston on March 16, said that the increase in numbers has "put RADA in a...

Six Jamaican nationals in South Florida will be honored for their positive contributions to Jamaica and the Florida Diaspora, at the Consulate General of Miami's third annual Community Service Awards Ceremony and Tea Party. At the function, which will be held on April 19 at a downtown Miami venue, the honorees will be recognised for outstanding contribution to culture, civic,...

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Hon. Dr. Kenneth Baugh has expressed the view that developing countries needed a stronger voice especially when dealing with the global economic crisis and climate change. Minister Baugh told visiting Secretary-General of the Organization of American States (OAS), HE Jose Miguel Insulza, on Wednesday morning at the Foreign Ministry,...

Minister of Energy, Clive Mullings has organized for a team of international energy experts to serve as consultants to the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) in the examination of the recent application for tariff increase by the Jamaica Public Service (JPS). This team has been in consultation with the Minister for several months and includes persons with substantial experience in...

On March 18, 2009, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services lowered Jamaica's long-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on Jamaica to 'B-' from 'B', one notch down in the rating scale. The short term debt was also lowered one notch down from 'B' to 'C'. However, the recovery rating of '4' and the negative outlook remained unchanged. Simultaneously, the...

Prime Minister Golding has endorsed the establishment of the new Sandals Foundation, which aims at improving the lives of residents of troubled communities through educational and environmental outreach. The Prime Minister described the foundation as "a tremendous initiative" and congratulated Sandals' chairman, Mr. Gordon 'Butch' Stewart, and his son, Adam Stewart, for spearheading the programme. He also urged other companies...

Two Jamaican policemen created history today (March 18) when they became the first two crime-fighters from the region to be accredited by the United States based-International Crime Scene Investigators Association. They are Forensic Crime Scene Investigators, Detective Inspectors Cecil J. Clarke and Lloyd L. Crawford. Executive Director of the International Crime Scene Investigators Association, Hayden Baldwin, in presenting the certificates...

Farmers of St. Mary were sensitised about the viability of agro processing, and the benefits of the sub-sector in increasing the value of farm produce, at a fair held recently at the Claude Stewart Park in Port Maria. Held under the theme: 'Linking Agriculture with Industry', the event was sponsored by the St. Mary Parish Development Committee (PDC) in association...

Chairman of the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF), Godfrey Dyer, has said that Jamaica stands to reap significant benefits from several projects and initiatives, for which funds from the facility have been earmarked. These activities, he informed, include those associated with the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games in China, and a flight arrangement with American Airlines. In an interview with JIS News,...

Business interests within the local tourism and hospitality sector are invited to participate in the 'Opportunities Jamaica 2009' Expo, to be staged by Jamaica Trade and Invest, on March 26, at the Half Moon Conference Centre, in Montego Bay, St. James. Speaking at a JIS 'Think Tank' today (March 18), at the agency's head office on Half-Way-Tree Road, President of...