A sum of $22.4 million has been allotted to the Office of the Prime Minister in the 2014/15 budget, to complete works under the Basic Needs Trust Fund project (BNTF6). The programme, which ran from June 2009 to December 2013, was implemented by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), with financing from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB). Its overall objectives...

Another 150 school inspections are to be carried out this fiscal year, funded by a budget of $940 million, under the Education System Transformation Programme (ESTP). This follows the 801 inspections undertaken across the island by the National Education Inspectorate (NEI) last year. The NEI inspects, assesses and reviews the quality of education services and standards in public schools. The ESTP...

As it continues to strengthen the multi-sectoral response to HIV/AIDS infection rates in Jamaica, the Government has budgeted $506 million for the Transitional Funding Mechanism programme. As contained in the 2014/15 Estimates of Expenditure currently before the House of Representatives, existing gains consolidated, and activities scaled up to reduce transmission of new HIV infections, while mitigating the impact. The project,...

The Government has allocated $14.36 million to continue the Way Out Project: Jamaican Women’s Economic and Political Empowerment, which is being implemented by the Office of the Prime Minister. The funds have been earmarked in the 2014/15 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives. With funding from United Nations (UN) Women, the programme seeks to increase the economic...

A sum of $262.5 million has been set aside in the 2014/15 Estimates of Expenditure, currently before the House of Representatives, to bolster the Ministry of Health’s capabilities to deliver critical services. The larger share of the sum, $162.5 million, will go towards the Disease Prevention and Control project, with the main objectives being to provide financial assistance through a...

Some 57 kilometres (km) of road network is to be rehabilitated under the Road Rehabilitation Project II. To this end, the Government has allocated $33 million in the 2014/15 Estimates of Expenditure, which will go before the Standing Finance Committee of Parliament tomorrow. The project aims to contribute to the country’s development by improving 57km of road network to support...

An allocation of $30.6 million has been made in the 2014/15 budget, to upgrade several of the island’s abattoirs, under the Diversification of the Caribbean Livestock through the Production of Small Ruminants project. The project’s goal is to contribute to achieving self-sufficiency in regional meat consumption, initially through the development of the small ruminant industry; increase the availability of quality...

A sum of $9.3 million has been set aside by the Government this financial year to make final payments for works carried out on seven sub-projects under the Poverty Reduction Programme (PRP) II. Details of this allocation are outlined in the 2014/15 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives. The initiative, which ran from June 2007 to December...

A total of $156.3 million has been set aside in the 2014/15 Estimates of Expenditure to fund the Rural Electrification Programme. The objective of the project is to expand the reach of electricity supply to rural areas, where the provision of such services would not be economically viable for commercial providers. Other objectives include: enabling householders in rural communities to...