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Director General of the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), J. Paul Morgan, has called for the establishing of an "office of the public counsel", which would lobby and advocate on behalf of consumers on matters relating to utilities.He suggested that the Office of the Public Defender could be expanded to undertake this role. Mr. Morgan, who was addressing an OUR-organized...

Minister of Transport and Works, Robert Pickersgill, on Friday (Feb.17) broke ground for phase 2 of the Sangster International Airport expansion programme, which will be carried out at a cost of US$51 million. The project, which got underway in early January, will entail the construction of a new ground transport hall, a new departure security area, redevelopment of the departure...

The Prime Minster's Business Development Forum, slated for February 23, will serve to reposition Kingston as a safe and ideal business location for local, regional and international investors. Minister of Commerce, Science and Technology, Phillip Paulwell, speaking at Friday's (Feb. 17) Government Communications Group-organised panel discussion on 'Going for growth and development through ICT' at Jamaica House, outlined that the...

Residents of Summerfield in Clarendon, yesterday (Feb.17) benefited from an outreach session organized by the Clarendon Health Department, where they were provided with information on how to guard against contracting sexually transmitted infections (STI), including HIV. The session was as part of activities to mark 'Safer Sex Week' from February 12 to 17. Shelton Maxwell, Targeted Interventions Officer at the...

Jamaicans will soon be able to have easier access to government and its services through the use of information communications technology (ICT) as the country moves towards a paperless system, said Phillip Paulwell, Minister of Commerce, Science and Technology. The Minister, who was part of the panel at yesterday's (Feb.17) Government Communications Group-organized discussion on 'Going for growth and development...

The National Works Agency (NWA) has stepped up efforts to improve traffic flow at all congestion-prone areas across the country, particularly in urban centres such as Montego Bay, Spanish Town and Kingston. Last year, the agency effected changes to the movement of traffic in the corporate area and a number of roads were either widened or rehabilitated as part of...

The Health Corporation Limited (HCL) has reported that the 2004/05 fiscal year was a successful one, with the agency having achieved or exceeded 86 per cent of its key performance indicators. As contained in the HCL's annual report for that period, which was tabled in the House of Representatives recently, the Corporation experienced its 10th successive year of profitability, making...

The Child Development Agency (CDA) has developed a Childcare and Protection Service Manual, as part of its measures to ensure quality service delivery to wards of the state. The manual sets out protocols for CDA operations and service delivery and provides standards by which the CDA can be measured. According to Winston Bowen, Director of Programmes at the CDA, the...

In recent weeks, the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), and more specifically the CARICOM Single Market (CSM), which was launched in January 2006, has received considerable public attention. While the single market and economy is not to be seen as a panacea for the region's challenges in the current market arena, the CSME when fully implemented by December 31,...

Some $8.6 million was spent recently to renovate the Glenhope Child Care Facility located on Maxfield Avenue in Kingston. The upgrading of the facility comes as part of the Child Development Agency's (CDA) move to address the physical and infrastructure of places of safety.The rehabilitation of childcare facilities commenced last year with the Homestead Place of Safety in Stony Hill,...

The National Health Fund (NHF) has provided a grant of $10.4 million to the South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA) for the purchase of equipment, which will assist public health inspectors to carry out health inspections. The new equipment, which will assist in the assessment of water quality, food including meat, and carrying out quarantine inspections, were handed over at...

The Caribbean region, including the Dutch, French and Netherland Antilles will present a unified approach for the reduction in the cost of HIV/AIDS treatment to the United Nations, at its General Assembly meeting slated for May/June in New York. The region will also lobby for a new global approach to the pandemic that will include a reduction in stigmatisation and...