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To further build institutional capacity in the execution of public sector transformation, $30 million has been allocated in the 2012/13 Estimates of Expenditure, currently before the House of Representatives. The bulk of the funds, $22 million, will go towards facilitating institutional capacity strengthening of the Public Sector Transformation Unit to establish the shared corporate service modality. It will also facilitate...

Minister of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change, Hon. Robert Pickersgill, says there is need for a strong regional mechanism geared towards facilitating co-operation and collaboration among Small Island Developing States (SIDS), especially on issues surrounding climate change. Addressing the National Consultations on the United Nations (UN) Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) at the Wyndham Hotel in Kingston on May...

Commissioner of Police, Owen Ellington, says there is a growing involvement of students in cyber crimes, such as the lotto scam, and is appealing to parents to take greater responsibility for the supervision of their children. He was addressing a forum on national security staged by the Montego Bay business community on May 15, at the Ritz Carlton Golf and...

Youth and Culture Minister, Hon. Lisa Hanna, says the Ministry is seeking to recommit the National Youth Service (NYS) to its core mandate of engendering voluntarism among the nation’s youth, who are involved in the agency’s programmes and activities. “What we are doing is enhancing your (youth) workforce skills, while at the same time, encouraging those characteristics of voluntarism. As...

The Government has earmarked a sum of $2.4 million in the 2012/13 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives, for the Jamaica Partner for Peace, Community of Practice project. The project, which is being funded by the United Nations Development Programme, aims to connect state entities, NGOs, civil society and international donor agencies online to engage in peer...

The Government will continue efforts to protect the island’s ecosystem during the current fiscal year, as just over $55 million has been allocated in the 2012/13 Estimates of Expenditure, to fund mitigation of the threat of invasive alien species (IAS) in the insular Caribbean. Spearheaded by the Ministry of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change, through the National Environment and...

The government of Jamaica’s capacity to reduce the cultivation, production and trafficking of illicit drugs, is being boosted through a $252 million allocation to the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative. This is contained in the 2012-2013 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives. Supported through funding from the United States Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, the...

The National Child Diversion Programme has received a total allocation of $33.36 million in the 2012/13 Estimates of Expenditure, which is now before the House of Representatives. The money will go towards sensitising 240 prescribed professionals on the need to report child sexual abuse cases; solicit Cabinet’s approval and implement the National Child Diversion Policy; establish implementation standards, codes and...

The Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) has received an allocation of $300 million to fund the ‘Jamaica 50’ celebrations in the 2012/13 Estimates of Expenditure, which is now before the House of Representatives. The aim of this project is to establish a legacy that will spur Jamaicans to the kinds of actions that will assure the country of future sustainability...

Some $700 million has been allocated to the Maintenance of Roads and Structures project, being undertaken by the Ministry of Transport, Works and Housing. This is outlined in the 2012/2013 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives. The allocation will address work on National Road Services Improvement Programme (Non-NARSIP) areas and relates to the network of main roads...

The Government has allocated almost $200 million for activities under the flood damage rehabilitation projects, being undertaken by the Ministry of Transport, Works and Housing. This is outlined in the 2012/2013 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives. They are the River Training Project, for which some $61 million has been allocated; and the Cleaning of Gullies Programme,...

Government is projecting to spend $129 million this fiscal year on initiatives under the Justice Undertakings for Social Transformation project in the Ministry of Justice. The amount is provided in the 2012/13 Estimates of Expenditure, which is now before the House of Representatives. The project aims to provide improved service delivery and management capacity of the justice sector institutions; improve...