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Prime Minister P.J. Patterson has described the CARICOM/Haiti talks held on the weekend as successful, adding that the meeting had achieved the outcome for which it was intended. Speaking at a press conference held at Jamaica House on Saturday (Jan. 31), Mr. Patterson said CARICOM had proposed an initiative supported by the Organisation of American States (OAS), European Union (EU)...

The Government through a Special Housing Programme will be constructing some 1,000 housing units and carrying out repairs to 10,000 housing structures across 60 constituencies in the island. Minister of Water and Housing, Donald Buchanan made the announcement on Tuesday (Feb. 3) in the House of Representatives. He said that the programme would be implemented in two phases, with phase...

Following closely on the heels of a recent project involving the completion of a new classroom block and computer laboratory at the Sandy Bank Primary School in St. Elizabeth, the Treasure Beach Foundation (BREDS), has embarked on another project to expand the Mountainside Primary School. Chairman of BREDS, Jason Henzell told JIS News that the school had raised more than...

The Barbados Programme of Action (BPoA) for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are not just abstract concepts developed by environmental and social scientists in far away places. This was emphasized yesterday (February 3) by Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Representative, Keith E. Evans, when he addressed a civil society national consultation to assess the implementation...

Deputy Director of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Kevin Rushing has emphasised the need for the preservation of Portland's beauty, heritage and culture in the implementation of development initiatives in the parish. Addressing a seminar on wetland conservation at the new Port Antonio Marina on February 2, Mr. Rushing said the vast potential which existed in the...

Government has no intention of introducing a State of Emergency as a means of quelling crime and violence. Speaking at the opening of the Commonwealth Workshop on Human Rights Defenders for the Caribbean Region this morning (Feb. 4) at the Courtleigh Hotel in Kingston, Carol Palmer, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Justice, said that the Government was firmly of...

A Bill entitled 'An Act to Repeal and Replace the Companies Act' was passed in the House of Representatives on Tuesday (Feb. 3) with 21 amendments. The Bill, piloted during last week's sitting by Minister of Commerce, Science and Technology, Phillip Paulwell, is aimed at modernizing the legislative framework governing company formation, management and administrations. The Bill was widely supported...

Fifteen communities served by the National Water Commission (NWC) Union/Balaclava water supply system in St. Elizabeth will experience disruption in their regular water supply over the next seven days. This has resulted from malfunctioning equipment at the water treatment plant serving the area. Communities to be affected include Balaclava, Phoenix Park, Mount Pleasant, Duck Pond, Roses Valley, Union, Freetown, Content,...

A seminar highlighting the importance of wetland conservation, was held at the new Port Antonio Marina in Portland yesterday (February 2), to observe World Wetlands Day 2004. The seminar was organized by the Ridge to Reef Watershed Project and the Coastal Water Improvement Project, in association with the Rio Grande Wetlands Management Committee, the Port Authority of Jamaica and the...

A symposium was held yesterday (February 2) at the Jose Marti Technical High School in St. Catherine to celebrate the life and music of reggae icon, Hon. Robert 'Bob' Nesta Marley, who was born on February 6, 1945. Students from Jose Marti and neighbouring schools in the parish took part in the event, the first in a series of symposiums...

President and Chief Executive Officer of the largest and fastest growing Jamaican-owned business in the United States, Jamaican-born Lowell Hawthorne has decided to source a large quantity of spices in Jamaica for his business overseas. Even though there are already 69 Golden Krust stores across the United States with 30 being opened last year alone and 14 now under construction,...

The St. Ann Police Division is reporting an eight per cent reduction in major crimes last year, when compared with 2002. Deputy Superintendent, W. R. Gayle, who is in charge of the parish, told JIS News that overall, major crimes reported in 2003 totalled 366, with 192 or 52 per cent cleared up, while for the previous year, 396 major...