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Cabinet has approved Jamaica's entry into the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR), which will assist in improving the country's bamboo production. Minister of Information, Senator Burchell Whiteman told journalists at the weekly post-Cabinet press briefing on Monday (March 8) at Jamaica House that the country would derive several benefits from joining this organization. Citing some of the benefits,...

A case has been made for greater resources to be channeled into finding new methods of protecting women from sexually transmitted diseases, particularly HIV/AIDS, as they are more vulnerable to contracting the disease than their male counterpart. Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Jamaica, Gillian Lindsay-Nanton made the appeal while addressing an awards ceremony to commemorate International...

Information Manager of the Barbados-based Caribbean Emergency Response Agency (CDERA), Terry Ally, has said that the Caribbean was moving from a "response and relief" mode towards strengthening partnerships within the region to create a culture of awareness and preparedness in disaster mitigation and management activities in the 21st century. Mr. Ally named policy makers, the media and popular culture as...

Minister of Development, Dr. Paul Robertson has announced that his office has re-established a gender advisory committee, which would, among other things, develop an appropriate strategy for incorporating gender issues in all of government's developmental plans. Dr. Robertson, who has responsibility for Gender Affairs, was speaking at a function to mark International Women's Day Celebrations 2004, at the Jamaica Pegasus...

Cabinet has approved drafting instructions to amend the Broadcasting and Radio Re-Diffusion Act (1995) to provide for more flexibility in the granting of a subscriber television or cable television licence. Minister of Information, Senator Burchell Whiteman said that the amendments were necessary as the licensing period for cable operators expired at the end of the year, and it was imperative...

First form students of Manchester High School got an opportunity last week to participate in a special visit to the historic maroon village of Accompong in St. Elizabeth. The activity was organised by the Mandeville Regional Office of the Jamaica Information Service (JIS), the Accompong Maroon Council and the English Department of the school. Maroon Colonel, Sidney Peddie, who welcomed...

For the last 50 years they have been the eyes of Jamaica's visually impaired and blind. Their motto, "The worst thing is to be born sighted and lack vision" is emblazoned across the building of their headquarters; the first point of contact for passersby of the Jamaica Society for the Blind (JSB), on Old Hope Road in the Corporate Area....

"Building a Commonwealth of Freedom" is the theme under which Commonwealth Day is being celebrated this year. The commemoration of this day focuses our attention on one of the important pillars of the Commonwealth, the commitment to democratic freedoms. These include, freedom of expression, respect for human rights, the rule of law, transparent and responsible government, and the promotion of...

The lives of many of my generation were profoundly changed by a world war fought in the name of freedom. I have often reflected with pride on the huge contribution made by the peoples of the Commonwealth to that cause of liberty in which millions perished. In the years following the war, a succession of countries emerging into independence chose...

Twenty families from Rose Hall Lane in Kingston, whose homes were ravaged by fire in January of last year, recently received personal care packages and cash valued at $200,000 from several donor agencies. In a handing over ceremony coordinated by the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) in an open lot in the community, not far from where...

In an effort to address unemployment, Kaiser Jamaica Bauxite Company will be holding a series of seminars to educate persons within its operational areas, about how to create income generating projects. The first of these seminars will be held at the Kaiser Sports Club in Discovery Bay, St. Ann, on Thursday, March 11, beginning at 3:00 p.m. In an interview...

Seventy-nine students from New York's Pace University will take time out of their spring break vacation to participate in a service project at the Whitehall Basic School in Negril, Jamaica, on Tuesday, March 16. University students and staff members will spend the day with Jamaican students and teachers. With assistance from local professionals, they will paint the entire exterior of...