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The community of Cambridge in St. James should have a new police station and courthouse in another eight months, as a $57 million contract was signed yesterday (June 20) for the construction of a complex to house the facilities. The contract, which is being undertaken through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Ministries of Justice and National Security, was...

Minister of Housing, Transport, Water and Works, Robert Pickersgill, on Tuesday (June 19) officially opened the $40 million Banbury Bridge in St. Catherine, which links the bustling commercial town of Linstead with adjoining farming communities. The 43-metre long bridge, constructed of high-grade rust resistant 'Corten' plate steel, which is guaranteed to last at least 100 years with minimal maintenance, facilitates...

Cocoa growers will receive a $200 per box increase in the price paid to them by the Cocoa Industry Board, effective October this year, moving the price from $1,000 to $1,200 per box. This was announced by Minister of Agriculture and Lands, Roger Clarke during his address to cocoa farmers at the 12th Annual General Meeting of the St. Catherine...

The Ministry of Education and Youth has allocated more than $25 million to 23 primary, all-age and high schools under the Inner City Schools Improvement Programme (ISIP), since its inception some four years ago. The programme, which was established in 2003, is targeted at schools located in the inner-city communities of Kingston, Spanish Town and Montego Bay. Speaking in an...

Investors who received an extended deadline and who have pre-qualified to bid on the five state-owned sugar factories, will know their status by June 29 as government moves to wrap up the divestment process. Executive Chairman of the Sugar Industry Authority (SIA), Ambassador Derick Heaven, tells JIS News that the deadline, which was extended from March, was to accommodate late...

Minister of Health, Horace Dalley, has disclosed that since September 2005, some 25,405 persons have been screened for eye conditions under the Jamaica/Cuba Eye Care Programme. Mr. Dalley, who was making his contribution to the 2007/08 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday (June 19), noted that at the end of April this year, some 3,553 persons have...

Having to endure less than desirable service is an experience of the past for most citizens when dealing with many Government departments and agencies. This is as a result of the new dispensation of efficiency, swift processing time and the friendly and professional customer service emanating from the Public Sector Modernisation Programme (PSMP). The culture of many public sector entities...

Newly appointed Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), Dr. William Shija, will arrive in the island tomorrow (June 22) for a three-day visit. Dr. Shija will arrive at the Norman Manley International Airport at 12:25 p.m. and is expected to call on a number of local officials later in the day, including Prime Minister, Portia Simpson-Miller; National Security Minister...

A team from the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) and the Agricultural Support Services Project (ASSP), headed by the Permanent Secretary, were recently in Cuba negotiating a technical cooperation agreement with the Cuban authorities in the areas of protected agriculture, including greenhouse and semi-protected technologies. The objective of the technical cooperation is to bolster the...

More than 200 children at the Polly Ground Primary School in St. Catherine will benefit from the addition of a new $9 million five-classroom block, which was officially handed over to the school on Friday (June 15) by Minister of Education and Youth, Maxine Henry-Wilson. The block was built under the Ministry's Critically Needed School Spaces Programme, which uses pre-fabricated...

Manager of the Inspectorate Division of the Bureau of Standards Jamaica (BSJ), Fay Anderson, has urged industry players to ensure that their products comply with conditions under the Standards Compliance Programme (SCP). "The programme ensures that local and imported goods sold in Jamaica comply with the acceptable standards covering health, safety, the environment and performance," Mrs. Anderson informed at a...

Some 30,000 visits were made to government health facilities during the first two weeks of implementation of the free health care policy for children under age 18. This was disclosed by the Minister of Health, Horace Dalley during his contribution to the 2007/08 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives yesterday (June 19). As at May 28, children under the...