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Jamaican-born, Andrew Lawrence was re-installed as President of the West Indian Social Club (WISC) of Hartford, at a meeting at the organization's headquarters in Connecticut, recently. Mr. Lawrence, a police officer with the city of Hartford and a graduate of Alpha Primary School and Kingston College, voiced his intention to build on the worthy precedent set by the institution's founders....

Mayor of Toronto, David Miller will today (February 5), become the sixth Toronto Mayor in 14 years to officially proclaim February 6 as Bob Marley Day in that Canadian city. Mr. Miller, who succeeded Mel Lastman as Mayor in November 2003, will read the Proclamation at a Bob Marley Day event being hosted by Roots Canada at their flagship clothing...

Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) personnel currently attached to the Alligator Pond Police Station in South Manchester are now working in a more comfortable environment since Alumina Partners of Jamaica (Alpart) recently upgraded the facility. Public Relations Manager at Alpart, Lance Neita, told JIS News that his company was quite happy to have done something tangible for the police. "The project...

The country's farmers are being encouraged to get into the small ruminant sector based on the vast potential for the marketing of goat and sheep meat locally and internationally. Agricultural Economist, Dr. Charles Douglas, while addressing a recent workshop on the economic viability of the small ruminant sub-sector in Jamaica, said that based on a recent study he conducted, he...

The Inter-American Development Bank in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) yesterday (Feb. 3) presented a civil society group report of Jamaica's progress in the implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action (BPoA) and the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The report was presented at the Jamaica Conference Centre during a civil society national consultation to assess...

Prime Minister P.J. Patterson has named a fourteen-member Task Force to conduct a review and initiate a transformation of the country's education sector. The Task Force which was launched at Jamaica House on Thursday, February 5, will be chaired by Dr. the Hon. Rae Davis, Principal of the University of Technology and includes two student representatives from the National Students'...

Minister of Transport and Works, Robert Pickersgill signed a US$17.75 million five-year Facility Fee Agreement today (Feb. 5) with the Port Authority of Jamaica and Carnival Cruise Lines, which will guarantee cruise passenger traffic of 500,000 visitors to the island annually. The signing took place at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel. The contract also guarantees that 80,000 of that number will...

A sum of $26 million has been spent by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) to repair 11.34 kilometres of rural roads in Clarendon over the last year. The roads include Sinks to Burns, Burns to Jericho, Sodom/Moravia, Morant and Logie Green.Work included resurfacing, surfacing and construction of drainage structures. Operations Manager at the JSIF, Omar Sweeney told JIS News...

Executive Director of the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo.), Michael Muirhead has encouraged more Jamaicans engaged in tourism to benchmark to international standards so as to effectively meet the demands of the global market. Speaking with JIS News while on a recent tour of the South Coast, Mr. Muirhead noted that one way to ensure the product was of international...

The Ministry of Local Government, Community Development and Sport is creating a comprehensive database on the location of drains and gullies so that parish councils across the island will be able to manage and effectively maintain these waterways. Budgeted to cost the Ministry about $3.5 million, the creation of the drain and gully database was borne out of concerns expressed...

Come September 2004, the School of Visual Arts of the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts will for the first time be able to award degrees in the Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in fine and applied art and Art Education (BAE). The programme, which has been approved by the University Council of Jamaica, marks a significant...

Residents of St. Ann, as well as visitors to the parish, are invited to an evening of elegance, on Sunday, March 28, when the Jamaica Military Band will be featured in concert, at the Renaissance Jamaica Grande Hotel, in Ocho Rios. The event will also see local artistes in performance.The concert, under the patronage of the Custos of St. Ann,...