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Cabinet has given drafting instructions for amendments to the Labour Relations and Industrial Disputes Act of 1975, in order to facilitate referrals to the Industrial Disputes Tribunal (IDT), disputes involving non-unionized workers, and to strengthen the capacity of the IDT to hear and determine such disputes. Making the announcement at today's post Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House, Minister of...

Cabinet has approved the ratification of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 152 Occupational Safety and Health (for dock workers), 1979. Information Minister, Senator Burchell Whiteman, who made the disclosure at this morning's post Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House, said the Convention had been adhered to in some measure in Jamaica with the existing laws, "and it is appropriate...

Dr. Wesley Hughes, Director General of the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), has said that while the competitive global marketplace posed challenges for Jamaica, there were also real opportunities for economic growth and expansion. These opportunities, he said, did not only extend to the export markets but to domestic production as well.Dr. Hughes, who was speaking at the launch of...

The Government's Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH), has been hailed by an overseas based research entity as the "best targeted social assistance programme that Jamaica has seen when compared with both previous and existing programmes". Project Director of PATH in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Trevor Smith, said the American research entity, Mathematica, praised the...

Chief Technical Director of the HEART Trust/NTA, Donald Foster is encouraging school-aged students and adult working Jamaicans to embrace lifelong learning as a means to be professionally competitive in today's global environment. "For you to be able to retain your competitiveness, you have to be a learner for life, you have to subscribe to lifelong learning," Mr. Foster said, adding...

Commissioner of Police, Lucius Thomas has encouraged residents in Trelawny to develop lines of communication with the Police in the parish and seek to build a harmonious relationship in the fight against crime and violence. "Trelawny has seen some social and economic advancement in recent years but this progress has come at a high price. With it has come the...

The number of Jamaicans and other Caribbean-born nationals in the United Kingdom (UK) has dropped, a new study released by the Institute for Public Policy Report (IPPR) has stated. The BBC and other UK media houses have used the report for a series of features with the theme: 'Born Abroad', which looked at immigrating trends in the UK. This report...

Summer is out and school is back, but not before the Scientific Research Council (SRC) and the Bureau of Standards Jamaica got an opportunity to impress the minds of 40 primary school students with their message of 'Science & Technology in Everyday Life', during their 2005 Summer Camp. Technical Information Officer at the SRC, Kofi-Ann Spence tells JIS News that...

Prime Minister P.J. Patterson will be a guest on NBC's 'Today Show' tomorrow (Wednesday, September 14).The Prime Minister, who departed the island yesterday (September 12) for New York, where he will be addressing the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in his capacity as Chairman of the Group of 77 and China on September 17, will appear on the television newsmagazine...

Schools, service clubs, and community groups across the island are being urged to participate in National Tree Planting Day, which will be observed on Friday, October 7 under the theme, 'People need trees'. Marilyn Headley, Conservator of Forests in the Forestry Department, said that the observance held special importance for Jamaica, in light of the devastation caused by hurricanes and...

Prime Minister P.J. Patterson left the island this afternoon (Sept. 12) for New York, where he will attend the 60th Annual General Assembly of the United Nations. Mr. Patterson will address the general session of the UN Assembly on Saturday, September 17. Mr. Patterson is also scheduled to address the High Level Plenary of the UN and participate in meetings...

Rural communities sometimes lament that development does not occur in these communities as quickly as it does in urban areas but at least one aspect of this concern may soon be silenced in one such community as a result of an $11 million sanitation project. In the parish of St. Thomas, which recently faced the wrath of back-to-back hurricanes, the...