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Government is to auction two licences for use in the 700 megahertz (MHz) band, with a view to attracting new entrants into the telecommunications market. This was disclosed by the Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Hon. Phillip Paulwell, during Tuesday’s (March 26) sitting of the House of Representatives. The licences will be awarded to the highest bidders, once...

The Ceremonial Opening of Parliament will take place on Thursday, April 4 at 11:00 a.m. at a joint meeting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The opening, which marks the beginning of the legislative year, will feature the traditional delivery of the Throne Speech by Governor-General His Excellency the Most Hon. Sir Patrick Allen. After the ceremony, the...

Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Hon. Phillip Paulwell, says individual behavioural changes are critical in the fight to conserve energy and reduce the country’s energy bill. He is calling on all Jamaicans to assess their consumption and seek to implement conservation measures. “Every Jamaican can start in his or her personal way. Sometimes we don’t stop to think...

Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Hon. Phillip Paulwell, says the Government is far advanced in implementing (telephone) number portability. He noted that all three major telecommunications providers, Digicel, LIME and FLOW are in support of its implementation. Addressing the House of Representatives on March 26, the Minister added that the stakeholders have been actively working with the Ministry...

A Bill to prosecute persons involved in the illegal lottery scam was passed by the House of Representatives on March 26, paving the way for it to be signed into law by the Governor-General. The Lower House approved the 14 amendments to the Law Reform (Fraudulent Transactions) (Special Provisions) Act that were made by the Senate on March 21. In...

Finance and Planning Minister, Dr. the Hon. Peter Phillips, is assuring that there are no plans for tax increases to finance the 2013/14 Budget, scheduled to be tabled in Parliament on April 4. Speaking at the Jamaica House media briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister on Wednesday, March 27, Dr. Phillips said Cabinet, during its retreat earlier this...

A report produced by the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), has revealed that intimate partner and sexual violence against women is widespread in the 12 Latin American and Caribbean countries surveyed. Entitled: ‘Violence Against Women in Latin America and the Caribbean’, the report was officially launched in Jamaica by Minister with responsibility for Information, Senator the Hon. Sandrea...

The Government’s logistics hub initiative will be a global asset of the scale and significance of the world’s other leading hubs in Rotterdam, Singapore, and Dubai. Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Hon. Anthony Hylton, emphasised at a meeting with government communicators at Jamaica House on March 28 that the hub will have far-reaching economic benefits that go far beyond...

Minister with responsibility for Information, Senator the Hon. Sandrea Falconer, has asserted that violence against women has to stop, emphasizing that there is an urgent need for a broader national dialogue and engagement to tackle the issue. “Violence against women happens too often…I am sure everyone has had a friend or an acquaintance who has been a victim of intimate...

he Government is awaiting the outcome of discussions involving the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which will determine funding support that will be provided to complement an IMF’s extended fund facility for Jamaica. This is deemed vital to the administration securing the IMF’s support for the country’s economic reform programme over the next four...

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller has congratulated Jamaican Whycliffe ‘Dave’ Cameron on being elected President of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB). The elections were held on Wednesday, March 27, in Barbados. In a congratulatory message, the Prime Minister said Jamaica and the region expects that under his watch West Indies cricket can chart a new course...

Scores of Jamaicans now have a clearer vision of the future, having benefitted from the services offered by Cuban specialists under the Jamaica/Cuba Eye Care Programme. This intervention has afforded them the opportunity to undergo treatment for eye conditions that would have otherwise been costly, free of charge. Launched in January 2010, the local programme seeks to help reduce preventable...