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The St. Thomas Health Department has embarked on a campaign to prevent an outbreak in mosquitoes, which might occur due to the recent flood rains associated with Hurricane Ivan. Chief Public Health Inspector, Charles Lewis, told JIS News that the department had started to oil and fog natural water bodies in Dalvey and Yallahs to prevent the breeding of the...

The Prime Minister, the Most Hon. P. J. Patterson, has expressed deep sadness at the passing of Professor Gladstone E. Mills, former Professor of Government at the University of the West Indies (UWI) and the first Chairman of the Electoral Advisory Committee. The Prime Minister said that the passing of this distinguished son of Jamaica was a tremendous loss, but...

Only a few weeks ago, our athletes shone on the world stage at the Olympic Games, bringing more recognition, honour and fame to the already powerful, 'Brand Jamaica', a tourism product that remains a major catalyst for economic growth in the country. It is befitting that the World Tourism Organization (WTO) has chosen the theme: 'Sport and Tourism: two living...

The first phase of the national farmer registration drive will get underway in the eastern zone on October 4, beginning in St. Andrew. Co-ordinated by the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), the registration process will continue on October 11 in Portland; St. Thomas on October 19 and in St. Mary on October 25. The parishes of St. Catherine, St. Ann,...

The National Works Agency (NWA) has announced that of the 1,249 reports of blocked roads, over 1,040 have been successfully cleared. "We are in the high nineties in terms of the percentage of clearance," Vando Palmer, Communications and Customer Relations Manager told the media at a post-Hurricane weekly press conference at the offices of the Ministry of Land and Environment...

To observe Sickle Cell Support Week (September 25 to October 2), the St. Ann Sickle Cell Support Club has planned several activities to sensitise members of the public about the disease. "Our aim is to provide social and emotional support to patients and families affected by the sickle cell disease," Donnadeen Rowe-Henry, Health Educator told JIS News. She pointed out...

The HEART Trust/NTA is pursuing a partnership with the Justice Training Institute, to develop and verify standards for courses delivered at the Institute. This was disclosed today (September 27), by Senior Director of Planning and Project Development at the HEART Trust/NTA, Tom McArdle. He was speaking at the launch of the orientation exercise for the Court Reporters' Training Programme, held...

A team of 40 medical practitioners, nurses and other volunteers will arrive in Montego Bay on October 3, to begin a health mission to that city. The delegation will be led by Jamaica's Honorary Consul to Atlanta, Vin Martin and Dr. Yvonne Smith, the mission's Health Director. Mr. Martin told JIS News that the mission would operate from the St....

The assessment team, led by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MLSS), has extended its hurricane damage assessment drive from Sunday, September 26 to Thursday, September 30. "Whilst we were trying to finish on the weekend, the deadline had to be extended based on the number of cases that [the assessment officers] had to visit. and there is still...

September 27 is World Tourism Day and its theme this year - "Sport and Tourism: Two Living Forces for Mutual Understanding, Culture and the Development of Society" - reminds us of the strong bonds that unite tourism with sport worldwide, and especially in Jamaica. Even as our country and its hospitality industry engage in a robust recovery programme after Hurricane...

Health officials are appealing to the public to discourage schizophrenics from smoking marijuana (ganja). This appeal comes against the background of recent deadly attacks on persons by a family member, with a history of mental illness, namely schizophrenia. The illness is defined as any of a group of psychotic disorders, usually characterized by withdrawal from reality, illogical patterns of thinking...

A meeting was held on September 24 between Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Office of National Reconstruction (ONR), Danville Walker and top officials of the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS), at the ONR's offices on Oxford Road. Coming out of that meeting was a decision to use members of the Jamaica 4-H Clubs to help assess the damage throughout the...