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Parliament will recall that on December 14, 2004, I laid the Report of the Task Force on Educational Reform on the table of the House. The Report provides a blueprint for the transformation of the country's education system.Based on the historic bi-partisan Parliamentary Resolution of October 2003 and subsequent presentations from both sides in the Parliament there is unanimity on:...

In an effort to maintain a clean and healthy environment, a group of residents participated in a clean-up and beautification project in the Silverstone community in Portmore, St. Catherine on Sunday, July 17. The activity was carried out with financial support from the St. Catherine Co-operative Credit Union.President of the Silverstone Citizens' Association, Donald Christie told JIS News that a...

Veteran Jamaican singer, Laurel Aitken, known as the "Godfather of Ska", has died at the age of 78 in the United Kingdom (UK). Mr. Aitken, who was raised in Jamaica before migrating to the UK in 1960, died of a heart attack on July 17 in Leicester. He was at the forefront of the Ska movement, and had the first...

The National Champion Farmer Competition is one of the highlights of the annual Denbigh Agricultural and Industrial Show, which is scheduled to take place from July 30 to August 1 in May Pen, Clarendon. Chairman of the competition, Derrick Vermont told JIS News that judging of the farms was almost complete, with only Kingston and St. Andrew still to be...

A market scene with two women, cut flowers, plants, ground provisions and fruits will be the highlight of the display by the Jamaica Horticultural Society at the 53rd staging of the Denbigh Agricultural and Industrial Show, slated for July 30 to August 1 in May Pen, Clarendon. This year the Jamaica Horticultural Society, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary, will...

Exhibitors have until this Friday (July 22), to apply for booth space in order to showcase their displays at this year's Denbigh Agricultural Show, which will be held from July 30 to August 1. Lawrence Madden, Chief Executive Officer of the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS), told JIS News that the showground would only be accommodating 200 exhibitors, and that to...

The National Security Ministry, through its Citizen Security and Justice Programme (CSJP), is bringing positive changes to the lives of residents in a number of violence-prone inner city communities in Kingston, and giving them hope for a better future. Community Action Programme Coordinator, Orville Simmonds tells JIS News that the programme, which has been in operation since 2001 after its...

The Bishop Gibson High School in Mandeville has received 20 computers worth $1 million, from the Rotary Club of Mandeville. The purchase money was donated by Mayberry Investments Ltd. The presentation ceremony, which was held recently at the Golf View Hotel in Mandeville, closed a day of activities hosted by the Rotary Club for Bishop Gibson High. Guest speaker at...

The Portland Parish Development Committee (PDC) will be aggressively monitoring the recovery effort in Portland following the passing of Hurricanes Dennis and Emily, to ensure that normality is returned to the parish as early as possible. This decision was taken at an emergency meeting of the committee held at the Portland Parish Council on Monday (July 18). Committee members agreed,...

The Jamaican government will pursue discussions at the highest levels in the European Union (EU), to ensure the viability of the sugar industry in the face of the price cuts scheduled to begin in 2006. This is in addition to pursuing ongoing efficiency measures, Prime Minister P.J. Patterson said yesterday (July 19) in Parliament. He was responding to questions submitted...

Prime Minister P.J. Patterson has said that the government, over the last five years had undertaken a number of initiatives to effect necessary changes in the sugar industry. Mr. Patterson who was responding to questions submitted by Opposition Leader Bruce Golding regarding the status of the industry in the House of Representatives yesterday (July 19), mentioned that the government was...

The Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ) has received three applications for licences for oil and gas exploration as at the June 15 deadline for the submission of bids. Group Managing Director at PCJ, Dr. Raymond Wright said the applications were for ten blocks but noted that there was some overlapping in some of the blocks applied for. A block has...