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Minister of Finance and Planning, Dr. Omar Davies today (April 22) signed a US$19,274, 840 loan agreement with the Holland-based ING Bank N.V. for the acquisition of three Offshore Surveillance vessels to strengthen Jamaica's border control. The loan agreement represents 65 per cent of the cost of the vessels. The additional down payment of US$10,378,760 will be financed through a...

Minister of Industry and Tourism, Aloun Ndombet-Assamba has reported that arrival figures remained strong for the first quarter of this year, with stopover arrivals showing an increase of 7.5 per cent. She also noted that cruise ship arrivals continued to grow, reflecting a 2.5 per cent increase over the corresponding period last year. Making her Budget presentation in the House...

Following the opening Budget presentation by Finance and Planning Minister, Dr. Omar Davies on Thursday April 15, several sector leaders are upbeat about the prospects for growth in the economy. Commenting on the achievability of the fiscal targets in an interview with JIS News this week, Group Managing Director of National Commercial Bank, Aubyn Hill, noted that positive signs were...

Small and micro businesses are responsible for approximately 33.9 per cent employment in the country, Minister of Industry and Tourism, Aloun Ndombet-Assamba has revealed. She explained that in light of this, the Government would continue to make a special effort to facilitate the development of competitive and dynamic small enterprises that could contribute to wealth generation and job creation. Making...

The Banana Fibre project is to get a boost with a skilled Japanese volunteer coming to the island to assist with the development of the programme, which is being spearheaded by the Jamaica Business Development Centre (JBDC). Minister of Industry and Tourism, Aloun Ndombet-Assamba, announced on Wednesday (April 21) that the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) had made arrangements to...

As of September 2004, Mico Teachers' College will extend its teaching curriculum to include a Bachelor of Science degree in Primary Education and a Bachelor's in Education Leadership. This was announced by Principal of Mico Teachers' College, Dr. Claude Packer, at the 16th annual fund-raising banquet of the South Florida chapter of the Mico Old Students' Association, held in Miami...

More than 20,000 persons have had their allowances suspended because of non-compliance with the requirements of the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH). Senator Floyd Morris, State Minister in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security with special responsibility for the programme, told JIS News that the suspension was due to the beneficiaries' reluctance to ensure that their...

Opposition spokesman on Justice, Delroy Chuck has proposed that hotel construction, which is ongoing in thriving tourist resort towns, should be extended to other towns as every parish had a desirable coastline on which hotels or convention centres could be built. Making his Budget presentation in the House of Representatives on Wednesday (April 21), Mr. Chuck said, "I dream of...

Jamaica's National Dance Theatre Company (NDTC) treated audiences to two stellar performances at the Brooklyn Centre for the Performing Arts last weekend. Dr. Basil K. Bryan, Jamaica's Consul General to New York, lauded the NDTC for presenting the highest quality of Jamaican culture to those at home and overseas. "The performances were very enlightening and fully appreciated by this community,...

The final in a series of Youth Opportunity Fairs being staged by the National Youth Service (NYS), in collaboration with HEART Trust/ NTA, was held on April 21 at The Meeting Place on Howard Cooke Boulevard in Montego Bay. Held under the theme 'Empowering the nation's youth through information', the Montego Bay fair targeted young people between the ages of...

Region Three of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Culture has recently launched its Schools' Agricultural & Environmental Competition and Fair, at the Almond Tree Restaurant in Ocho Rios, St. Ann under the theme: 'Maintaining Food Security, Keeping Jamaican Jobs'. Some 80 schools from St. Mary, St. Ann and Trelawny, as well as other parishes, will participate in the event,...

Kaiser Jamaica Bauxite Company (KJBC) will once again sponsor this year's Jamaica 4-H Clubs environmental programme. Introduced last year as a pilot project in seven parishes across the island, the competition seeks to highlight environmental issues that are topical in the society. The St. Ann 4-H clubs have been added to the list this year, and Kaiser has also agreed...