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The Ministry of Health and Environment is asking workers at its 2-4 King Street offices not to turn up for work on Monday February 18, 2008. Dr. Grace Allen Young, Permanent Secretary said that a fire which started and was contained in the generator room has left the building without electricity. She said that the wiring and cabling of the...

Three entities in St. Thomas and Portland, which were involved in banana production and have since diversified their operations, are to benefit from $28.9 million in grants from the European Union (EU). Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Christopher Tufton and Head of the EU Delegation in Jamaica, Ambassador Marco Mazzocchi Alemani, signed the agreement for the grants recently in Morant Bay,...

The National Advisory Committee on Local Government Reform has been given an additional four months to complete its work, said State Minister with responsibility for Local Government Reform in the Office of the Prime Minister, Robert Montague. Speaking at a meeting of the Committee at the Medallion Hall Hotel in Kingston on Thursday (Feb. 14), Mr. Montague said that the...

The St. James Health Department has embarked on a special vector control programme to contain the mosquito and rodent population in Granville and surrounding areas. Chief Public Health Inspector for the parish, Herbert Cooke, while addressing yesterday's (Feb.14) monthly meeting of the St. James Parish Council, said that the programme, which started on Wednesday (Feb. 13), will continue for the...

Six Jamaican films including the iconic 'Harder They Come,' starring reggae legend Jimmy Cliff, will be featured during the Film Jamaica season at the Barbican Centre in London in March. The other Jamaican films to be featured during the festival, which will runs from March 12 to 30 are: 'Smile Orange', 'Rockers', 'One Love', 'Countryman' and 'No Place Like Home'....

The Stephen Lawrence Centre, in memory of the black teenager who was killed in a racially motivated attack at a bus stop in South East London in 1993, was officially opened recently in Deptford. Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone opened the building, which serves as an enduring celebration of Stephen's life. Jamaica's High Commissioner to London, Burchell Whiteman, was a...

The Broadcasting Commission is doing its part to crack down on the problem of payola in the broadcasting industry by putting in place new and revised regulations. These regulations will require broadcast media houses to keep and have ready for inspection, formal music sheets and music logs, and for entities to have in place, a music or programme coordinator. These...

A total of 200 Jamaican children have to date benefited from surgeries under the Jamaica/Cuba Eye Care Programme. "Some children as young as six months have gone to Cuba for surgeries," said Liaison Officer for the programme based in Cuba, Delita McCallum. She said, however, that she would like to see more children receiving surgeries and is encouraging parents, who...

Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Senator Dorothy Lightbourne and Chief Justice, Zaila McCalla toured the new court house being constructed in Port Antonio, on Wednesday, February 11. The facility is being built by the National Commercial Bank (NCB), in exchange for the old Port Antonio court house, which has been leased to that financial institution under a special arrangement...

Children's Advocate, Mary Clarke has lauded members of the Violence Prevention Alliance (VPA) for the effort to foster peace and prosperity through their Peace Month campaign, noting that violence and abuse represented the greatest challenges facing children in Jamaica. Speaking with JIS News, Mrs. Clarke said data indicate that children are victims, perpetrators, and witnesses of abuse and violence, which...

Some 20,000 infant, primary and high school spaces are to be provided by 2009, as the Ministry of Education seeks to ease the shortage of accommodation in schools. This was disclosed by Claude Stewart, Head of the School Facilities and Infrastructure Work Stream of the Education Transformation Team, at a recent JIS 'Think Tank'. "To give us those spaces, there...

A Bill to amend the Income Tax Act, to lift the ceiling at which self-employed persons can contribute to pension benefits, was passed yesterday (Feb.15) in the Senate. Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, Senator Don Wehby, who piloted the Bill, said it seeks to allow for conformity with the Pensions (Superannuation) Fund and...