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With the 2005 hurricane season only three months away, the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC) has prepared a report offering guidelines on the possible actions the city could pursue in the event of a hurricane striking the island. Mayor of Kingston, Councillor Desmond McKenzie said the report was developed with the assistance of representatives from the National Works Agency...

During Financial Year 2005/2006, the National Land Agency (NLA) will undertake a series of activities geared towards improving accessibility and service delivery to its customers. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NLA, Elizabeth Stair, who addressed a recent JIS 'Think Tank', revealed plans to expand the agency's regional network. "We are hoping to expand the Montego Bay office, and once...

Health Link Jamaica, an online prepaid medical service, has become the latest innovation in local healthcare. The first of its kind in Jamaica, the service, operated by Health Plus Associates, a Kingston-based medical centre, allows persons overseas to buy medical packages for their relatives in the island, via the Health Plus website@ www.healthplus.com.jm. To receive care, beneficiaries will have to...

Minister of Health, John Junor said today (March 10), that Jamaica was facing the challenge of transforming and managing health care in an era when the disease burden has shifted to chronic non-communicable conditions. This, he said "begs for innovative ways of maintaining our gains in health care as well as tackling the new challenges of equipping our people with...

Thirteen farmers from the Sligoville and Harkers Hall communities in St. Catherine who participated in a Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) ginger project last year March, have begun reaping the crop. The project is aimed at increasing the production of ginger that is free from the rhizome rot, a root disease affecting ginger plants. Under the programme, which was funded...

As the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC) continues to clamp down on illegal garages in the corporate area, the agency will be zeroing in on the Waltham Park and Hagley Park Road communities, where the largest concentration of illegal operations have been identified. "The roads we have chosen are Gilmore Drive, Margaret Villa Road, Cheltenham Drive, Keesing Avenue, Strafford...

Minister of Local Government, Community Development and Sport, Portia Simpson Miller yesterday (March 9) signed two contracts for the implementation of an Institutional Strengthening Training project in local authorities. The project which will see the provision of training in business writing and planning and conducting meetings, it is a component of the Parish Infrastructure Development Programme (PIDP). The PIDP is...

After viewing a presentation from the operators of Highway 2000, Prime Minister P.J. Patterson has charged a team comprising the National Road Operating and Construction Company (NROCC), TansJamaican Highway Limited and Bouygues to complete a detailed and comprehensive study on a broad range of issues relating to the Portmore leg of Highway 2000. The report will include concerns raised by...

Minister of National Security, Dr. Peter Phillips, has called on Jamaican women to get involved in efforts to save the nation's youth from the scourge of violence. Dr. Phillips, who was speaking at the International Women's Day luncheon at the Pegasus Hotel in Kingston on March 8 said, "an essential element of any recovery is going to depend on the...

Mayor of Kingston, Desmond McKenzie has given the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPSCo), a two-week timeline to meet with the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC) to properly address the issue of the thousands of malfunctioning streetlights within the corporate area. "We are giving the JPS two weeks to meet with the Council," the Mayor said, further noting that, "we...

Mayor of Kingston, Councillor Desmond McKenzie has announced that the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC), would suspend its planned billboard removal activities for eight companies, which owe the KSAC in excess of $38 million in overdue signage fees. The KSAC publicized the names of the eight companies last month. Speaking at the KSAC's monthly briefing yesterday (March 8) at...

The Jamaica Cancer Society (JSC), as part of activities to mark Prostate Cancer Awareness Week, will be hosting a public forum at the Jamaica Conference Centre downtown Kingston on Sunday, March 13. Marva Lee, Administrative Director at the JCS, told JIS News that the event, which gets underway at 10:00 a.m., will see presentations from several "high profile specialists" such...