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The University of Technology (UTech) has set up a principal's office in the town of Falmouth, Trelawny as it awaits government’s approval to begin building its western Jamaica campus in the town. Come July 1, the principal of UTech's western campus will operate from the Baptist manse, located at 9 Trelawny Drive in the parish capital. All the activities of...

The Government plans to spend $50 million this fiscal year on the continuation of the local government reform process. As set out in the Estimates of Expenditure for 2012/2013 tabled in the House of Representatives on May 10, the provision is to go towards developing a viable and vibrant system of local government administration to meet the needs of citizens...

The recently tabled Estimates of Expenditure 2012/13 contain some $63 million for the implementation of the Electronic Government Procurement system in Jamaica. The implementing agency is the Ministry of Finance, Planning and the Public Service. The objective of the project is to strengthen the efficiency and quality of public procurement in Jamaica, through the development of an electronic government system...

Some 83 unattached youths have completed a year-long vocational skills training programme under the Citizen Security and Justice Programme II (CSJPII), in collaboration with the HEART Trust/NTA. The participants, who were trained from February 2011 to February 2012, now have Level Three certification in the areas of food preparation, AC refrigeration, welding and electrical installation/maintenance. A graduation exercise was held...

The government is putting several strategies in place to tackle non-communicable diseases (NCDs), also called lifestyle illnesses. These conditions are responsible for the majority of deaths locally, and are also putting a strain on the public purse, costing the government billions of dollars per year to provide treatment.  According to Health Minister, Hon. Dr. Fenton Ferguson, chronic conditions such as...

A capital provision of $294.6 million has been made to the Fiscal and Administration Modernisation Programme of the Ministry of Finance, Planning and the Public Service for the 2012/13 financial year. According to the Estimates of Expenditure tabled in the House on May 10, the funds originate from an Inter-American Development Bank loan originally programmed for the period December, 2011...

A sum of $132 million has been earmarked to continue implementation of the Community-Based Landslide Risk Management project. This is contained in the 2012/2013 Estimates of Expenditure, which was tabled by Minister of Finance, Planning and Public Service, Hon. Dr. Peter Phillips on May 10, in the House of Representatives. The project is being implemented by the Office of Disaster...

The town of Black River in St. Elizabeth is to be given a major facelift on Labour Day, May 23. Selected as the parish project for the day, members of the St. Elizabeth Parish Council and the general citizenry are expected to turn out in their numbers to bush the roadways leading into the town, clear debris, and carry out...

Minister of Education, Rev. Hon. Ronald Thwaites, says the Ministry is seeking to have the benefits of students under the Programme for Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH) increased, particularly the nutrition component. He said this is critical as students’ ability to learn is often severely impacted by the lack of proper nutrition. “If parents and the entire culture will...

Fifteen volunteer donor managers were recently trained by the National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS), as the organisation looks to boost blood collection to 38,000 units this year from 29,500 units in 2011. In an interview with JIS News, Director at the NBTS, Angela Scott, said the service wants to ensure that it has adequate amounts of safe blood and blood...

Education Minister, Hon. Rev. Ronald Thwaites, says increased focus will be given to early childhood education as the government looks to enhance outcomes at all levels of the system. In an interview with JIS News, the Minister  said emphasis will be placed on the training of early childhood educators starting this summer, and more qualified teachers will be placed in...

With only a few weeks before the start of the 2012 hurricane season, the St. Catherine Parish Council is reporting that preparations are in high gear with regards to drain cleaning and disaster preparedness activities. “We are going to be doing extensive drain cleaning later in the month and early next month. We’ll be working on some of the major...