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A five-member delegation from the Ministry of Health & Environment, headed by Senator Aundre Franklin, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry, is currently in Cuba participating in the fifth session of the Jamaica/Cuba Intergovernmental Joint Commission meeting. The group which departed the island on June 8, 2008 will over its two-day sojourn in Havana participate in health cooperation talks initiated by...

Seventy per cent or approximately 8,000 teachers who will be administering the Literacy 1-2-3 programme in primary schools islandwide, have been trained to deliver the programme. The disclosure was made by Jean Hastings, Project Manager of the Primary Education Support Project (PESP), during an interview with JIS News. The training, which was facilitated through the PESP, will enable teachers at...

Like some other countries in the world, Jamaica will soon be switching from the use of plastic bags to more environmentally-friendly biodegradable bags. Bangladesh, China, and Ireland have reduced plastic bag consumption by 90 per cent, while Israel, Canada, Western India, Botswana, Kenya, South Africa, Taiwan, and Singapore have banned or are moving towards banning the plastic bag. Executive Director...

Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett has said that crime is having an adverse effect on the nation's tourist industry. "Crime, in my mind is the single most debilitating factor, the one area that is worrying to me beyond anything else, and I must tell you that the fuel crisis is not as worrying to me as crime. The turmoil in...

Some 117 local law enforcement border control personnel graduated from a special two-week training course at the Police Academy in Twickenham Park, St. Catherine on June 6. The course was aimed at strengthening the capabilities of the officers to stem the illegal trafficking in guns, gun parts, ammunition and explosives. Minister of State in the Ministry of National Security, Senator...

A computer laboratory was opened at Harmons All-age School in Manchester on June 5. Construction of the building and donation of the computers were sponsored by the One By One organization, a Christian mission operating out of Pennsylvania in the United States. Addressing the opening ceremony, Principal of the school, Georgia Waugh-Richards said the gesture by the organization was a...

A committee, aimed at strengthening community security, was officially launched on June 8 in Bamboo River, St. Thomas. This is part of the Jamaica Constabulary Force's (JCF) effort to promote community policing and enhance greater community safety. The newly formed 'Committee For Community Safety and Security' will allow citizens of particular communities to take an active part in preserving and...

Thirty-five stalwarts will receive the Prime Minister's Medal of Appreciation for their service to education, at a ceremony to be held at the National Arena on June 11, beginning at 7:00 p.m. Governor-General, the Most Hon. Professor Sir Kenneth Hall and Lady Hall will head the list of dignitaries, who will include Prime Minister Bruce Golding and Mrs. Golding. The...

Government is committed to consolidating all the various tax deductions coming from both the employees and the employers with a portion dedicated to supporting the delivery of proper health services. This should come into effect by April of next year, Prime Minister Bruce Golding has disclosed. The Prime Minister was addressing the annual awards banquet of the Medical Association of...

Prime Minister Bruce Golding is to head an impressive line-up of speakers with the keynote address at the 2008 Third Biennial Jamaican Diaspora Conference, to be held at the Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown Kingston from June 16-17. Among the other speakers are: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Dr. Ken Baugh; Leader of the...

Commissioner of Police, Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin has highlighted four main areas of crime fighting that should reduce crime, build citizen confidence in the Police, and strengthen the human capacity in the Force. These include the dismantling of criminal networks, where persons involved in criminal activities are caught and punished; increased policing, which involves cordons and searches; curfews; and community...

Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Christopher Tufton has said that the current global food crisis has the potential to undermine all the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set by world leaders at the United Nations in 2000, more so the target to halve extreme global poverty and hunger by 2015. "Left unchecked, not only will we see an increase in the number...