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The House of Representatives has approved a Government guarantee for a loan of $600 million from the Bank of Nova Scotia to the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ), for on-lending to the agricultural and tourism sectors. Minister of Finance and Planning, Dr. Omar Davies, who moved the resolution on January 23, explained that $250 million of the amount would go...

The Jamaica Customs Department will be undertaking a number of activities to celebrate Customs Week from January 21 to 27, under the theme: 'No to Counterfeiting and Piracy'. Speaking at a recent JIS 'Think Tank', Director of Public Relations at the Customs Department, Anneke Rousseau, said that this year's theme, "is quite fitting, as there is an increase in the...

Plans are in high gear for the staging of a major earthquake simulation exercise in St. Ann on Wednesday (Jan. 31), as part of islandwide activities by the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) to encourage greater preparedness for earthquakes. St. Ann Parish Disaster Coordinator, Alvin Clarke, told JIS News that earthquake drills would be carried out all...

Communities interested in entering the Better Environments for Social Transformation (BEST) community competition are being reminded that the deadline for submitting applications is Friday, February 16. Consultant Co-ordinator for Special Programmes and Projects in the Cabinet Office, Jacqueline daCosta, told a recent JIS News Think Tank, that the application process was now open and community representatives could collect application forms...

The Jamaica Customs Department will be undertaking a number of activities to celebrate Customs Week from January 21 to 27, under the theme: 'No to Counterfeiting and Piracy'. Speaking at a recent JIS 'Think Tank', Director of Public Relations at the Customs Department, Anneke Rousseau, said that this year's theme, "is quite fitting, as there is an increase in the...

Plans are in high gear for the staging of a major earthquake simulation exercise in St. Ann on Wednesday (Jan. 31), as part of islandwide activities by the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) to encourage greater preparedness for earthquakes. St. Ann Parish Disaster Coordinator, Alvin Clarke, told JIS News that earthquake drills would be carried out all...

Communities interested in entering the Better Environments for Social Transformation (BEST) community competition are being reminded that the deadline for submitting applications is Friday, February 16. Consultant Co-ordinator for Special Programmes and Projects in the Cabinet Office, Jacqueline daCosta, told a recent JIS News Think Tank, that the application process was now open and community representatives could collect application forms...

Minister of Education and Youth, Hon. Maxine Henry Wilson, has said that the building of a strong foundation for early childhood education and development would help to reduce poverty in Jamaica. "Early childhood education, building a strong foundation, is going to be the basis on which we are going to break that inter-generational poverty where children are given that chance...

Effective Monday (Jan. 29), the national minimum wage will be increased by 14 per cent from $2,800 to $3,200 per 40-hour work week, while the hourly rate will move from $70 to $80. The new rates, which were approved in the House of Representatives yesterday (Jan. 23), will also see minimum wages for industrial security guards increasing by 13.52 per...

Minister of Labour and Social Security, Hon. Derrick Kellier, has said that despite the outcome of a recent court case surrounding attempts to unionize security guards, there was no declaration against the legal classification of security guards as workers. He made the point in the House of Representatives yesterday (Jan. 23), while moving a resolution for increases in the National...

The House of Representatives yesterday (Jan. 23) passed the Proceeds of Crime Act following a suspended debate, which began last year and simultaneously approved the Report of the Joint select Committee, which was set up to consider and report on the Bill. The Act repeals and replaces the Drug Offences Forfeiture of Proceeds and Money Laundering Acts, and will provide...

The project to expand the No. 5 kiln at the Caribbean Cement Company Limited (CCCL) is on schedule and should be completed by mid 2008, Project Manager, Ken Wiltshire has said. He told JIS News that work on the US$133 million project, which is being undertaken over a period of three and a half years, got underway in January of...