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Renown Jamaican Poet, Lorna Goodison is one of the six featured poets in the London Underground's 'Poems on the Underground' project for 2004. The Poet's 'I am Becoming My Mother' is among the new set of poems in the project, which London Underground says is aimed at lifting "winter gloom", and has been on display in 2,000 Tube carriages from...

Director General for Tax Administration, Clive Nicholas has said that up to December 2003, revenue collection for the current financial year was 26 per cent more than the amount for the corresponding period in 2002. The Director General pointed out however that although this was a significant achievement the Tax Department was behind the projection of $132 billion for the...

Property taxes totalling $75 million have been collected in Clarendon over the period April 2003 - January 2004. This represents $10 million or a 15 per cent increase above the $65 million projected to be collected for the entire fiscal year. James Samuels, Acting Director of Finance at the Clarendon Parish Council told JIS News that the $75 million was...

Information Minister, Senator Burchell Whiteman, has expressed the view that patriotism and personal responsibility were key values that should be encouraged in Jamaicans in order to create a better Jamaica. Minister Whiteman, who was speaking on Tuesday (Feb. 17), Access to Information/Values and Attitudes forum at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, said that Jamaicans needed to stop...

Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) Governor, Derick Latibeaudiere, has said that while efforts to achieve single digit inflation for the next fiscal year would be challenging, the Government was committed to putting the necessary measures in place to attain that goal. "The Government's ability to deliver single digit inflation is going to be challenging but we will give it our best...

Director General of the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), Dr. Wesley Hughes is projecting a 2.6 per cent growth in the Jamaican economy for the January to March quarter of 2004. According to the Director General, the PIOJ is also projecting a 3.4 and 2.1 per cent growth for the goods producing and service sectors respectively, in the first quarter...

The Regional Data Security Summit scheduled for March 17 is gearing up to be a critical forum for key players in the information technology sector. Three main regional suppliers of computer security products and services have joined forces to co-present the event, which is being staged by the Central Information Technology Office (CITO). At a press briefing on Tuesday (Feb....

The Government and the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions (JCTU) which represents public sector employees, on Monday (Feb. 16) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to among other things, facilitate wage, employment and expenditure restraints in the public sector over the next two years, as well as provide a structured framework for future dialogue between the Government and the Unions. In...

Minister of Finance and Planning, Dr. Omar Davies has described the historic Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between Trade Unions representing public sector workers and the Government as a significant occasion. The agreement involves a wage restraint of three per cent for the period April 1, 2004 to March 31, 2006. "This signing of the Memorandum of Understanding by itself...

Jamaica's debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will decline from 143.4 per cent to 126.7 per cent at the end of this fiscal year, and the fiscal deficit will drop from 7.3 per cent to 6.9 per cent. This was disclosed today (February 17) by Minister of Finance and Planning, Dr. Omar Davies, at a special meeting in Parliament to...

The Ministries of Commerce, Science and Technology and, Education, Youth and Culture have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Microsoft Corporation, which will serve as a platform to offer resources for skills training in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Jamaica. Under the MOU, resources will be provided over the next five years through the Partners in Learning project,...

Agriculture Minister, Roger Clarke has called for stronger participation and support on the part of local stakeholders to help with the successful management and monitoring of the island's forests. The Minister, who was delivering the keynote address today at the launch of the Manual of Dendrology by the Forestry Department of the Agriculture Ministry at the Hilton Hotel in Kingston,...