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Prime Minister Bruce Golding has said that servicing the island's US$14 billion (J$995 billion) debt has had a crippling effect on the Government's ability to adequately fund critical public services, including health and education. Addressing Jamaicans in Manchester on May 22, he said the island had to spend more than US$200 million each year servicing the debt. "Every single day...

Minister of Labour and Social Security, Pearnel Charles, has said that the Ministry's Market Information System will be strengthened during the current financial year, to facilitate advertisement of job vacancies to more expeditiously address the needs of the country's investors. The Minister, who made the announcement in the House of Representatives on Wednesday (May 21), said that $5 million has...

The National Youth Service (NYS) will train 4, 200 young persons this fiscal year from a budget allocation of $707,368,000. This is a reduction from the 5,879 young persons, who were trained during the 2007/08 fiscal year. A total of 5,312 participants were engaged in 2006/07. As contained in a Ministry Paper tabled in the House of Representatives on May...

A new basic school is to be constructed in Bellas Gate, St. Catherine, on a piece of land, worth over $1 million, donated by playwright, Trevor Rhone, a former resident of the community. The land will be leased to the community for 49 years at $10 per year, with an option to renew. A contract signing ceremony for the donation...

Land adjacent to Holland Bamboo Avenue in St. Elizabeth has been earmarked for the establishment of the Holland Production Centre, which will, among other things, package and process local fruits and vegetables and assist farmers to market their crops and animals. The centre will be managed by the Holland Development Foundation, which has applied to lease 100 acres of land...

Education Minister, Andrew Holness spearheaded the planting of several fruit trees at the Seaward Primary and Junior High School in West Central St. Andrew, as part of activities marking Labour Day, today (May 23). The institution is one of several schools in the constituency where seedlings and vegetable seeds were planted, in keeping with the theme for Labour Day this...

Mayor of Kingston and St. Andrew, Senator Desmond McKenzie, this morning (May 23) participated in the establishment of a food and vegetable garden at the Maxfield Park Children's Home, which will provide a source of food for the children housed at the facility. Among the produce planted were carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, banana, pepper, plantains, pumpkins, and yam. The project, which...

The St. Catherine Infirmary in Spanish Town is to benefit from the proceeds of an agricultural plot that was established behind the Guys Hill market, today (May 23), in keeping with the Labour Day theme: 'Eat what we grow.Grow what we eat'. Chairman of the Joint Civic Functions Committee of the St. Catherine Parish Council, Robert Allen, told JIS News...

Residents of St. James, Hanover, and Westmoreland turned out early this morning to participate in work being carried out in the parishes for Labour Day 2008. There were 227 registered projects in the three parishes with 132 for St. James, 65 in Hanover, and 30 in Westmoreland. Additionally, there was evidence of a number of unregistered projects taking place across...

Scores of students and teachers of St. Thomas Technical High School in Golden Grove, turned out today (May 23), to assist in establishing an agricultural plot, which was the parish project for National Labour Day 2008. Activities began very early with students from Grades one to 10, led by their teacher and Head of the Agricultural Science Department, Patrick Walker,...

The Gregory Park Primary School in Portmore, St. Catherine got a much needed facelift this morning (May 23), as residents of the municipality came out in their numbers to put work into Labour Day. Mayor of Portmore, Keith Hinds, participated in the project, which included the painting of the school building and the pedestrian crossing at the front of the...

Prime Minister Bruce Golding says the government has embarked on a major food production drive using improved technology, as the country will have to grow more food in order to feed itself. He said increased production can be achieved through new agricultural projects and self effort, and that the country should plant more in order to become self-sufficient. Mr. Golding's...