More

Heavy winds and torrential rains associated with Hurricane Dennis battered Portland yesterday (June 7) leaving damage to agriculture, housing and infrastructure in a number of communities. Among the worst hit communities are Mill Bank in the Rio Grande Valley area and St. Margaret's Bay in Western Portland. Reports are that a number of houses in Mill Bank have been badly...

Senior Director of Social Security in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Faith Innerarity said the government was moving to pass legislation governing its Social Safety Net programme by the end of the current legislative year. She was speaking at a press conference held on July 5 at the Grenada Way offices of the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ),...

Dear Prime MinisterThe Government and people of Jamaica were shocked to learn of the horrific series of bomb blasts that have shaken parts of central London and have caused deaths and untold casualties. These attacks have clearly been undertaken as part of a coordinated campaign of terror. The individuals or group(s) responsible must be found and brought to justice. On...

Some 650 persons are now being housed in 19 shelters as the island prepares for the impact of Hurricane Dennis. Director General of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) Dr. Barbara Carby, speaking to journalists at her South Camp Road offices this morning, explained that most of those seeking shelter lived in flood prone areas and the...

Minister of Local Government, Community Development and Sport, Portia Simpson Miller has given the assurance that the government and all its agencies and departments were on full alert for Hurricane Dennis, which is expected to begin affecting the island by midnight. Addressing a press briefing on Hurricane Dennis at Jamaica House this evening, Mrs. Simpson Miller, who has been in...

It is quite common to hear the man in the street lament that, "nuthin' nah gwaan" in Jamaica, but Director of the Economic, Planning and Research Division of the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), Dr. Peter John Gordon points out that there are various signs of growth and improvement in the economy with the opening up of new opportunities through...

The House of Representatives yesterday (July 5) gave approval for government to guarantee a US$335 million loan to Air Jamaica for financial restructuring. The amount comprise US$125 million, which will be borrowed from the RBTT Merchant Bank at an interest rate of under nine per cent with a 10-year tenure; a US$10 million revolving facility from National Commercial Bank (NCB)...

Minister of Information, Senator Burchell Whiteman has called on Government Legal Officers to, "empower citizens by providing them with information, so they can hold their government accountable, at both the national and local levels, and make more informed decisions on matters in which they have an interest or that directly affect their lives". "Accurate information is a vital element in...

Minister of Information, Senator Burchell Whiteman has urged citizens to "avoid adversarial tactics" as they seek to access official documents under the Access to Information (ATI) Act. Addressing an ATI Act retreat of permanent secretaries and information officers at the Jamaica Conference Centre downtown, Kingston today (July 6), Minister Whiteman noted that there have been instances, when members of the...

Member of Parliament for South Eastern St. Elizabeth, Lenworth Blake has recommended that the scope of the National Health Fund (NHF) be widened to include more childhood diseases as well as dental and optical benefits. Mr. Blake said his call for children to be less restricted in their benefits was made in light of the fact that they were one...

Laparkan Shipping Company & Money Transfer, a Caribbean-owned company based in New York City (NYC), has joined forces with the Jamaican-born Una Clarke, former New York City Councilwoman, to launch the Laparkan/Una Clarke Caribbean-American Scholarship Fund (LUCCASF). Administered by Laparkan, the fund will provide scholarships and study grants to Caribbean and Caribbean-American students, who are actively involved or have participated...

All the necessary plans have been put in place as Jamaica braces itself for a possible hit from Tropical Storm Dennis, which is expected to pass over the island on the north eastern section by as early as 5:00 a.m. on Thursday morning (July 7). This was the report from representatives of various ministries and agencies, who met with the...