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Jamaica's rich social and cultural heritage will be the focus of the Nazareth past students at their annual Emancipation Day celebration in Maidstone, Manchester. Emancipation Day, a national holiday, will be observed on Tuesday, August 1, 2006. At a recent meeting of the North American Chapter of the Nazareth Old Students Association (NOSA), to review last year's celebrations, the membership...

The preservation of the environment is being given added focus by the Jamaica 4-H Movement, as the 65-year old organisation has fully integrated a programme known as the Environmental Challenge into its curriculum of activities for members. According to Public Relations Officer at the Jamaica 4-H Club, Karelle McCormack, the Environmental Challenge began as a pilot programme in 2003 and...

The Companies Office of Jamaica (COJ), formerly known as the Office of the Registrar of Companies (ORC), is urging businesses to file documents to ensure compliance with the Companies Act. Speaking with JIS News, Deputy Chief Executive Officer at the COJ, Shellie Leon said that Company Officers are required by the 2004 Companies Act to file the following with the...

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Hon. K. D. Knight has announced the appointment of Mrs. Anne-Marie Bonner, former Principal Director in the Policy Analysis and Review Unit, of the Cabinet Office, as Jamaica's Consul General to Toronto. Mrs. Bonner succeeds Miss Vivia Betton, who retired on completion of a three-year tour of duty as Consul General on...

Members of Parliament of the ruling People's National Party have unanimously approved Member of Parliament for South West St. Andrew and Minister of Local Government, Community Development and Sport, Portia Simpson Miller to succeed Prime Minister P.J. Patterson. Making the announcement during Tuesday's (Feb.28) sitting of the House of Representatives, Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, who will resign shortly, said Governor...

The history books of Jamaica recorded a significant entry on Saturday, February 25, 2006 when Hon. Portia Simpson Miller, Minister of Local Government, Community Development and Sport emerged the winner of a keenly contested race for the presidency of the ruling People's National Party. She will be the first woman to become President of any of Jamaica's leading political parties...

Chairman of the National Investment Bank of Jamaica (NIBJ) and head of the recently established Spanish Town Redevelopment Company (SPARCOM), Aubyn Hill, has said the group stood ready to take all necessary steps to improve the old capital as soon as Cabinet gave its approval. SPARCOM which is a government/private sector entity, lead by Mr. Hill, plans to refurbish the...

Commonwealth academicians are being invited to apply for up to two Smuts Visiting Fellowships in Commonwealth Studies at the Wolfson College, Cambridge University in the United Kingdom (UK) for the 2007/08 academic year. Applicants should be members of staff of another university or similar institution outside the UK, should hold PhDs or be working at a post-doctoral level. The Fellowships...

As weather forecasters predict an active 2006 hurricane season, which begins on June 1, Director General of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), Dr. Barbara Carby has said that the agency would be re-examining its listing of designated emergency shelters, with a view to expanding the number. This decision is taken against the background of the findings...

The House of Representatives on Tuesday (February 28), gave its approval to a Resolution declaring Croydon Mountain in St. James a Forest Reserve.Agriculture Minister, Roger Clarke who brought the resolution before the House, said the property was the first parcel of privately owned land to be declared a Forest Reserve, and informed that some 3,000 additional acres were lined up...

Pregnant women using the maternity ward at the May Pen hospital in Clarendon can now deliver their babies with less discomfort, with the launch of its epidural service last Tuesday (February 28). In an interview with JIS News, Dr. Cecily Thompson, Consultant Anaesthesiologist at the hospital, explained that the service would greatly reduce the discomfort experienced during labour. "Patients have...

State Minister for Agriculture, Errol Ennis has charged farmers to develop practices that would engender social and economic development instead of continuing with methodologies that were no longer relevant. "If it (farming) is not going to become a serious economic player, then we have no right to be investing in the long-term engagement in that activity," he stated. Mr. Ennis...