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The Ministry of Labour and Social Security is to pressure delinquent employers in both the public and private sectors to pay over National Insurance Scheme (NIS) contributions. Portfolio Minister, Hon. Derrick Kellier, said this is to protect the interest of the pensioners of the country and contributors to the National Insurance Fund. The Minister was speaking at a contract signing...

Ten farmers from four parishes across the island have benefited from contracts valued at $3.4 million to supply hot peppers to Grace Agro Processors. They hail from the parishes of Clarendon, St. Mary, St. Elizabeth and St. Catherine and form the most recent batch of farmers to profit from the ongoing initiative by GraceKennedy for the supply of the commodity...

Schools from rural Jamaica dominated the top spots in the Vision 2030 Jamaica National Development Plan Essay Competition, when the winners were announced on Wednesday (January 30) at the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ). The competition, which was staged islandwide in October, saw students in different age group categories expressing how Jamaica can achieve its vision of “being the place...

Students are being cautioned against posting inappropriate comments and pictures online, as these postings could affect their future job prospects. Executive Director of the Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica (BCJ), Cordel Green, issued the warning while speaking to students and teachers of the St. Andrew Technical High School in Kingston on Friday (February 1) in the school’s auditorium. “The photographs, the...

The Ministry of Youth and Culture will be using the celebration of Black History Month in February to sensitize young people about their rich heritage as part of a campaign to achieve a cultural revolution in the country. “We want to instill in our young people a militancy, and an attitude that uplifts them…when you talk to them, it is...

Education Minister, Rev. the Hon. Ronald Thwaites, has commended Jamaica College (JC) on its self- reliance in undertaking a number of development projects. He expressed the hope that this measure of self-support “will in fact be infectious to the rest of the school system in Jamaica.” The Education Minister was speaking on Thursday (Jan. 31), at the opening of an...

The Ministry of Labour and Social Security has intensified plans to establish a Driver Training Institute at the Brown’s Town Community College in St. Ann, to undertake the professional training of trailer drivers and transport mechanics. This initiative is expected to commence by September 2013, and has been boosted by the gift of a trailer/truck valued at CD$45,000.00 (approximately $4.5...

Jamaica’s Ambassador to the United States, Professor Stephen Vasciannie, says Jamaica has a comprehensive refugee policy, which incorporates International Human Rights standards, and provides a good framework for the treatment of asylum seekers in the country. He stated that the policy also provides a model that could be used in other CARICOM states. He was addressing participants in a seminar...

Minister of State in the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Hon. Sharon Ffolkes-Abrahams, has called on young people to turn away from illegal activities and use their skills for production and wealth creation. Speaking at the Granville Crime Prevention Summit, held at the Sunset Beach and Spa in Montego Bay, on January 31, Mrs. Ffolkes-Abrahams said she will be...

There was a 50 per cent reduction in murders in St. James for the last quarter of 2012, Minister of National Security, Hon. Peter Bunting, has announced. He attributed this decrease to the outrage of citizens over the rape of five females in Irwin last year, and vital information given to the police on wrongdoers by the citizens. Delivering the...

The Ministry of Education has endorsed the second staging of the annual Education Support Staff Achievement (ESSA) awards, which seeks to recognise the contributions of non-academic staff at primary schools across the island. An initiative of the Kingston Bookshop (KB), the competition aims to highlight the input of a wide cross section of employees in the school system, including clerks,...

In a matter of months, the Ministry of Labour and Social Security will have its own building at 3 King Street, in Falmouth, Trelawny. A contract valued at some $64 .4 million was signed on January 31, for the renovation and expansion of the facility, which was acquired by the National Insurance Fund (NIF) in 2001. Minister of Labour and...