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Minister of Education, Andrew Holness has announced that the Ministry will be establishing a Parent Support Commission which will liaise with substance abuse intervention institutions to provide information and support to parents whose children are victims of substance abuse. Mr. Holness was speaking on Thursday at the National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA) Public Forum on Substance Abuse and Youth...

Some 19 per cent of students between the ages of 13 and 17 who participated in the Global Tobacco Youth Survey (GYTS) in 2006 have indicated their intention to continue smoking. "What this study found was that almost one-third of students who confessed to having parents who smoke indicated that they intend to smoke in the future while 16 per...

The Press Association of Jamaica (PAJ) commences the observance of Journalism Week tomorrow with the staging of the annual Wray and Nephew-sponsored Veterans' Luncheon. This year the association will honour media practitioners -Hartley Neita, Ken Chaplin and Ken Jones for long and faithful service in the field of journalism. On Tuesday morning the PAJ holds its inaugural Media Prayer Breakfast,...

A total of 25 small poultry farmers from the Watermount and Old Works communities in St. Catherine have completed a 38-hour poultry training course, which will empower them with the skills to improve their income generating projects. The group, consisting of 16 females and nine males, were presented with certificates at a graduation ceremony held on Thursday (Nov. 29) at...

The Road Safety Unit is appealing to drivers to cut their speed on the roads. This comes in light of the alarming number of persons killed on the roads since the start of the year, which now stands at 297. Of the number, 27 were children between the ages of 0 to 14; 13 were passengers in public passenger vehicles...

Acting Executive Director of the Bureau of Women's Affairs, Faith Webster, has said that violence against women continues to be a serious problem in Jamaica. Speaking with JIS News, Mrs. Webster noted that recent figures in terms of police reports on gender-based violence are alarming. "In 2005, we had 714 reported cases of which the police were only able to...

The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), as part of its crime prevention strategy, has trained 40 of its members as crime prevention experts, who are available to provide homeowners with advice on how to crime-proof their homes. Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), John McLean, who made the disclosure at a recent JIS Think Tank, said that "crime prevention is a very...

The Jamaican Consulate General in Toronto, Canada, has opened a condolence book in honour of the late Jamaican sports hero, Herb McKenley, who died on November 26 at the age of 85. Jamaicans in Toronto and surrounding areas are being invited to visit the Consulate and sign the book, which will be opened until Friday, December 7, between the hours...

Phase 1 of the new 5-star resort facility, Iberostar Rose Hall Beach hotel was officially opened this afternoon by Prime Minister Hon. Bruce Golding. The second phase of the US225-millon investment is expected to be completed by May of next year and the third phase by November of 2008. When completed, this will add just under 1,000 more hotel rooms...

The Devon House heritage site located on Waterloo Road will be transformed into an 'Empowerment Village' from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on December 1, as Jamaica joins the international community in marking World AIDS Day. The observance, under the theme: 'Leadership for Life', will seek to empower persons and involve national and community leaders in the fight against AIDS....

The Hayes Primary School in Clarendon, which was damaged during Hurricane Dean in August, recently received much needed repairs through the combined efforts of the Jamalco Foundation and Food for the Poor. The project, which was carried out at a cost of $400,000 included the cleaning and painting of walls, replacement of roof and cleaning up of school grounds. Speaking...

The newly appointed Board of the Urban Development Corporation (UDC), in keeping with the mandate given by Prime Minister, Bruce Golding, will be looking at the need for the provision of housing and related social facilities to support the growing tourism sector along the north coast. There has been a boom in hotel construction in the parishes of St. Ann,...