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Farmers and producers in Portland and St. Mary, were sensitised about the benefits of Geographical Indications (GIs) in certifying the quality of Jamaican produce and to attract and maintain a reliable customer base in a globalised marketplace, at a seminar held recently at the St. Theresa's Church Hall in Annotto Bay, St. Mary. The seminar, organised by the Jamaica Intellectual...

World AIDS Day will be observed on Monday, December 1 under the theme, Youth: Take the Lead. The focus on youth is part of a global campaign, which began last December, to encourage young people ages 15-24 to become advocates and agents of change. Citing the 2008 Knowledge, Attitude, Behaviour and Practice (KABP) Survey, Senior Medical Officer of the National...

Parish Councils will have to earn much more than they are doing now, in order to finance their activities, come Sept 1, 2009, when they will no longer be dependent on Central Government. This was stated by President of the Association of Local Government Authorities (ALGA), Milton Brown, while addressing community leaders at a Local Government Month symposium, held on...

The number of extension officers at the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), will be increased by 400 per cent over the next 18 months, with about 150 officers to be added. Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Christopher Tufton, speaking at a recent JIS 'Think Tank', said that the move is in keeping with the Ministry's restructuring plans. It will also make...

Chief Medical Officer at the Ministry of Health and Environment, Dr. Sheila Campbell Forrester, has said that the National HIV/STI Programme is working assiduously, to create programmes and interventions, to address the risk, vulnerability and resilience of the country's youth. She was speaking at the Ministry's HIV/STI Programme and World AIDS Day briefing, held on Thursday (November 27), at the...

Parents of students who attend the Victoria Town All-age School in Manchester, are to benefit from computer courses, to be offered at the school by the HEART Trust/National Training Agency (NTA). At a recent dedication ceremony for the computer laboratory, Principal of the school, Paul Grant, said that the laboratory forms part of the 2006/2010 school improvement plan. "The vision...

Prime Minister Bruce Golding, has urged Youth Mayors to try and engage other young people more in civic and political affairs. "There is a tendency among young people to say I don't care and we are not talking JLP or PNP because we recognise that in any democracy the political affairs are important and it is through programmes like this...

Jamaican, Professor Joseph A. Whittaker, was elected the 73rd President of Sigma Xi, at the Society's 2008 Annual Meeting, held recently in Washington, D.C. in the United States of America. Professor Whittaker, who hails from Falmouth, Trelawny, will serve as President-elect, beginning July 1, 2009. A Sigma Xi member since 1988, he is Dean and Professor of biology in the...

Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister, with responsibility for Local Government Reform, Robert Montague, has said that the reform process is well on track, and that in early 2009, an aggressive public education campaign would be undertaken, to involve communities across the island. "We are about to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), with the Social...

The Social Development Commission (SDC) in Manchester, has honoured 23 community volunteers, who have done outstanding work across the parish. At a function held on Wednesday (Nov. 26) at the Ridgemount United Church in Mandeville, the honourees were presented with plaques in recognition of their service to various communities. SDC Parish Manager, Rose Griffiths, in her remarks, said the function...

More than $2 million flowed into the coffers of the Department of Local Government's Indigent Housing Fund on Thursday (Nov. 27), as private interests made good on their promise to contribute to the fund. The heftiest contributions came from the East Jamaica Conference of Seventh Day Adventists, which gave $1 million; Digicel Jamaica Limited with $500,000; while Vehicles and Supplies...

Minister of State in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Andrew Gallimore, has called for a paradigm shift in the way society treats persons with disabilities. "When we talk about a change in the paradigm, we talk about the opening of every aspect of our society to allow persons with disabilities to participate fully, to be able to live...