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Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Dr. Christopher Tufton, has said that his Ministry will co-operate fully with the Office of the Contractor-General (OCG) in investigating procurement practices at the Sugar Company of Jamaica (SCJ). This follows Friday's (September 4) announcement that the OCG had launched a special probe into allegations of fraudulent activities, in the procurement of equipment by...

The Food Storage and Prevention of Infestation Division (FSPID) of the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce, on Tuesday (September 1), destroyed some 25 tonnes of rice which was shipped to Jamaica from Vietnam in late June, but was found to be contaminated with rodent excreta. The FSPID's Senior Food Storage Scientist, Tamara Morrison, told JIS News that the rice,...

Jamaica now has a plan in place to respond comprehensively to a range of disasters that may affect agriculture, and the livelihoods of persons in the sector. This was revealed by Chairman of the National Agricultural Disaster Risk Management Committee, Al Powell, at a JIS Think Tank Tuesday (September 1). Mr. Powell pointed out that, in the past the focus...

Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Dr. Christopher Tufton, was today (Sept. 1) presented with two sponsorship cheques totalling $4, 050,000 (US$ 45,000) towards the staging of two important international conferences on agriculture in Montego Bay St. James next month. The conferences are part of activities to mark the Inter-American Institute for Co-operation on Agriculture (IICA)-organised Week of Agriculture and...

Executive Vice President for Alcoa's Global Primary Products (GPP), Bernt Reitan, has expressed confidence in the way that Jamalco has handled its mining operation in Jamaica. "Global Primary Products has had challenges, we have however fared far better than most, because we have never lost our business fundamentals," Mr. Reitan told stakeholders at the official commissioning of the new Conveyor...

The HEART Trust/NTA will be staging a stakeholder's consultation for displaced workers in the banana industry, at the Tim Bamboo Hotel, Port Antonio Portland on Friday (September 4). The consultation is being conducted by the HEART/NTA, for the purpose of developing a programme for the retraining of ex-banana workers who exited the industry within the last decade, including laid off...

Sub-grant contracts totalling $11.4 million were signed Friday (August 28) for community organisations to undertake small projects, under the European Union's (EU) Banana Support Programme. In March, the EU and the Government signed off on a grant of more than $211 million, under the Rural Economic and Social Infrastructure Support Project for Jamaica's Traditional Banana Growing Parishes (RESISP). The programme...

Significant work in establishing the necessary framework that will mainstream disaster risk reduction and management has already been undertaken in at least two sectors, Mitigation Programme Officer at the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), Ms. Kareema Aitkens-Mitchell, has disclosed. Speaking at a recent workshop on: 'Strengthening Partnerships for Disaster Risk Reduction', at the Planning Institute of Jamaica...

The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, the European Commission (EC) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) signed a Memorandum of Understanding(MoU), on Monday (August 24), committing euro 5.9 million (approximately J$730 million) to a food facility initiative, in keeping with the Government's food security programme. The MoU was signed by Agriculture and Fisheries Minister, Hon. Dr. Christopher Tufton; Head...

About 60 farmers from Maldon, Maroon Town and adjoining communities in South St. James, dislocated as a result of the downturn in the Banana Industry, are receiving specialised training in other skills such as tiling and housekeeping. The training projects are funded under the European Union Banana Resuscitation Programme, and carried out by the HEART/NTA's Granville Vocational Training Centre (VTC)....

The state-owned Sugar Company of Jamaica Holdings Limited (SCJH) has commenced the upgrading of its three remaining sugar factories to meet the 2010 crop, using funds from the US$15 million (J$1.3 billion) pre-shipment financing arrangement with Italian firm, Eridania Suisse. Agriculture and Fisheries Minister, Hon. Dr. Christopher Tufton, confirmed at a press briefing at the Bernard Lodge Sugar Estate, St....

Director General of the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), Dr. Wesley Hughes, says that the near 10 percent increase in agricultural production in the April-June 2009 quarter, was more than mere recovery from recent disasters. "The industry benefitted from the Government's productivity programme, and we saw significant increases in some areas, for example, onion production was up 228 percent, Irish...