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A new Mustard Seed facility for children with severe disabilities and HIV/AIDS, and of teen-age mothers, was officially opened and dedicated on January 18 in St. James. The home, 'Blessed Assurance', is located on a five-acre property in the Windsor Lodge area, and will serve communities in north western Jamaica. It currently houses and supports some 32 children, and when...

Faced with increasing dormancy among neighbourhood watch groups across the island, the Police say the National Secretariat will be doubling its effort this year to rebrand and strengthen the programme. Co-ordinator of the programme, Sergeant Barrington Brown of the Police Community Relations Department, tells JIS News that coming out of its annual National Conference last November, members of the citizen-based...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Audley Shaw, has said that poverty remains a persistent problem in Jamaica, which can only be eliminated through individual and collective efforts at wealth creation. Speaking at Mayberry Investments Limited's first monthly investors' seminar at the Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston on Wednesday (Jan.16), Mr. Shaw said that wealth creation can only be...

Chairperson of the Jamaica National Commission for the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Olivia Grange, will shortly announce the members of the soon to be established National Memory of the World Committee. Establishment of such a committee is mandatory for the 191-member countries of UNESCO, as well as the organization's 58-member executive board. Already, the process towards...

Norman Harris, Director for the Research and Mapping Unit at the Mines and Geology Division, has called on Jamaicans to be prepared for hurricanes as the country is prone to such events. He was addressing the official launch of Earthquake Awareness Week in St. Mary on Tuesday (Jan.15) at the St. Mary Parish Library in Port Maria. Citing the major...

During the 2006/07 fiscal period, the Jamaica Deposit Insurance Corporation (JDIC) continued to maintain a proactive stance, aimed at strengthening its ability to efficiently conduct payout to depositors. "An integral component of this stance is the ability to continuously identify and implement process improvement initiatives which will serve to foster and maintain a heightened state of readiness," the Corporation's annual...

Minister of Health, Rudyard Spencer, says he will be reviewing security provisions for hospitals, as he is not satisfied with the level of security at some of the health facilities across the island. "I am disturbed that our patients and our staff members in some of these institutions are exposed to the things that they are exposed to but yet...

The Jamaica Deposit Insurance Corporation (JDIC) recorded a closing balance of $3.1 billion under its Deposit Insurance Fund for the financial year ending March 2007, representing a 29 per cent increase over that of the previous year's balance. According to the Corporation's annual report for the period, the $700 million accretion to the Fund during the year represents the net...

Residents in several rural communities across Jamaica will benefit from the services of a visiting medical mission from the Northeast USA, from January 18-27. The highly specialized medical practitioners, numbering some 45, include Board Certified Dentists, Ophthalmologists, Paediatricians and Internists. They will visit six parishes. Co-ordinated by the Organization for International Development (OID), the mission is the first of two...

Assistant Commissioner of Police, Carlton Wilson, who heads the Narcotics Division, has said that 2007 was an active year in terms of drug seizures. "In 2007 we had a very active year.32,800 kilograms of marijuana were seized, down from 37,100 kilograms in 2006," he told JIS News. In addition, 98 kilograms of cocaine were seized last year, which represents a...

Prime Minister, Bruce Golding, has said that the Government firmly supports statutory provisions to regulate the financing of political parties and election campaigns. He was responding to questions raised by Member of Parliament for Western St. Andrew, Anthony Hylton in the House of Representatives on Tuesday (Jan.15), regarding Government's support for action to regulate political parties and campaign financing. Mr....

Residents of Woodside in St. Mary celebrated their 12th annual community day recently, where they showcased the cultural traditions of the area, while benefiting from expert presentations designed to enhance community life. Organized by the Woodside Community Development Action Group, the event, held since 1997, is aimed at promoting the community and sensitizing residents about the importance of volunteerism and...