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Minister of Education, Hon. Rev. Ronald Thwaites (right), listens as student of St. Andrew College, Ricardo Martin (left), explains his school’s 4-H Club display which was mounted during the Kingston 4-H Clubs’ Annual Parish Achievement Day at the Duhaney Park Primary School, in Kingston, on February 21. Looking on (from second left) are: Director of the Jamaica 4-H Clubs Board, Clifton Grant; and Executive Director of the Jamaica 4-H Clubs, Ronald Blake.

4-H Clubs Encouraged to Supply Food to Schools

Minister of Education, Hon. Rev. Ronald Thwaites, is encouraging the country’s 4-H clubs to supply some of the food needed for the Government’s school feeding programme, through the different agricultural pursuits. Lamenting that the Ministry is spending $4 billion a...

Commissioner of Police, Owen Ellington speaking with residents of West Kingston after the JCF/JDF incursion in 2010. (FILE)

Governor General Appoints a Commission of Enquiry into the Events in Western Kingston of May 2010

From left: Senior Director Workforce Development and Employment at HEART, Denworth Finnikin; Regional Director in the Ministry of Education Region 3, Maxine Headlam; Custos of St. Ann, Hon. Norma Walters; and Executive Director, HEART Trust/NTA, Dr. Wayne Wesley, look at the plaque and new logo of the HEART College of Hospitality Services. Occasion was the official renaming ceremony of the Runaway Bay HEART Hotel and Training Institute, held on Thursday, February 20, at the facility in St. Ann.

Runaway Bay HEART Hotel Renamed

Minister of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change, Hon. Robert Pickersgill greets Custos of St. Thomas, Hon. Marcia Bennett while Member of Parliament for Western St. Thomas, James Robertson looks on. Minister Pickersgill on Friday, February 21, announced that work is to begin shortly to revise the Forest Act (1996) at the launch of the Spring Dunrobin and Hillside local Forest Management Committees at the Whitehall Baptist Church, St. Thomas.

Forest Act to be Revised

Minister of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change, Hon. Robert Pickersgill, delivers the main address at the launch of the Spring Dunrobin and Hillside Local Forest Management Committees on Friday, February 21, at the White Hall Baptist Church in St. Thomas. Seated at head table (from left) are: Member of Parliament for Western St. Thomas, James Robertson; Custos of St. Thomas, Hon. Marcia Bennett (centre); and Mayor of Morant Bay, Councillor Ludlow Mathison.

Government to License Sawmills, Power Saw Operators

Minister of Justice, Senator Mark Golding speaking during the sitting of the Senate on Friday, February 21, as he gave an update on the Restorative Justice Programme.

12 years ago JusticeParliament

Principals, Guidance Counsellors to be Trained in Restorative Justice

Principals and guidance counsellors from 95 schools across the island are to benefit from training in restorative justice over two days next month. The Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Education are collaborating in the initiative, which is aimed at applying the restorative justice principles in reducing conflict among students. The training will be held from March 4 to...

12 years ago Parliament

Opposition Senator Suggests Using Retired Judges to Clear Backlog

Opposition Senator, Robert Montague, is recommending that the Government utilise the expertise of retired judges and lawyers to clear the backlog of cases in the courts. “They can firstly review some of the case files and close some and move swiftly to trial with the others,” he argued. Senator Montague, who was making his contribution to the State of the...

12 years ago Environment

LAMP to Extend Services to Five Parishes in March

The Land Administration and Management Programme (LAMP II) will roll out its services to five western parishes next month, as the Government continues to make good on its pledge to ensure that more Jamaicans access titles for property they occupy. Project Director, Lisa Campbell, tells JIS News that LAMP II will shortly become available in St. James, St. Ann, Westmoreland,...

12 years ago Finance & Public ServiceNational SecurityVision 2030

Overall Decline in Crimes Last Year

The Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) is reporting an overall 11.1 per cent decline in the number of serious, violent, and acquisitive crimes committed in 2013, relative to 2012. These incidents include: aggravated assault, break-ins, larceny, murder, rape, robbery, and shootings. Programme Director for the PIOJ’s Plan Development Unit, Richard Lumsden, says 352 crimes were committed per 100,000 of the...

12 years ago Finance & Public Service

Government Open To Public/Private Partnerships

Finance and Planning Minister, Dr. the Hon. Peter Phillips, says the Government is open to accommodating stakeholder participation in projects under public/private partnership (PPP) arrangements. Speaking at a PPP conference at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, New Kingston, on Thursday, February 20, Dr. Phillips said the administration is advancing the institutional framework for implementation of these PPPs. He informed that a...

Minister of Tourism and Entertainment, Hon. Dr. Wykeham McNeill (left), accompanied by Minister of State in the Ministry of Transport, Works and Housing, Hon. Richard Azan (centre), on a tour of places of interest and attractions slated for development in the parishes of St. Elizabeth and Westmoreland on February 19.

12 years ago Tourism

Minister says Tourism Product Must Be Improved

Minister of Tourism and Entertainment, Hon. Dr. Wykeham McNeill, has argued that for tourism to be sustainable, the product must be substantially improved. Touring several places of interest and attractions in Westmoreland and St. Elizabeth on February 19, which are slated for improvement, the Minister spoke of the great potential of tourism, and emphasized the need for the training of...

Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Hon. Phillip Paulwell (left); Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Roger Clarke; and Managing Director, Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), Scarlett Gillings, look at broccoli plants during a tour of a greenhouse in Tobolski, St. Ann on Friday (Feb. 21), where the Water Catchment and Greenhouse Cluster Project, being implemented in St. Ann and Manchester, was officially launched. The $192 million project is being undertaken by JSIF and the JBI.

12 years ago Agriculture

JSIF/JBI Launch $192 Million Greenhouse and Water Catchment Project

One hundred and sixty farmers from eight communities in St. Ann and Manchester are set to benefit from a $192 million Water Catchment and Greenhouse Cluster Project, being undertaken by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) and the Jamaica Bauxite Institute (JBI). A total of 20 greenhouses are being constructed in each of the eight targeted communities, with a mined-out...