The Government is to spend approximately $7.9 million on the Technical Support to Reduce Teenage Pregnancy project, during the 2021/2022 fiscal year. This expenditure is outlined in the 2021/2022 Estimates of Expenditure, which is now before the House of Representatives. The project is being implemented by the National Family Planning Board and funded by the Inter-American Development Bank. Objectives of...

The Government will continue the removal of zinc fences from communities, with a sum of $345 million set aside in the 2020/21 Budget for the undertaking. This was disclosed by Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, during the debate on the First Supplementary Estimates of Expenditure for 2020/21 in the House of Representatives on...

The Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) has targeted loans of $7.39 billion to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) during the 2020/21 fiscal year. As stated in the Public Bodies Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for the year ending March 2021, the sum is approximately $2.71 billion more than the $4.07 billion for 2019/20. The document indicates that the sum...

The HEART/National Service Training Agency (HEART/NSTA) Trust is projecting an increase in the number of students taking part in the institution’s approximately 160 training programmes to 152,735, during the 2020/21 fiscal year. Additionally, the agency expects that some 87,144 trainees will be certified this year, with 32,252 being targeted for job placements over the period. This is according to the...

The Jamaica Urban Transit Company Limited (JUTC) will continue to pursue a number of activities aimed at increasing operational efficiencies that should enhance the service to commuters and contribute to reduction in operating costs. The activities that are being pursued include implementation of an Oil Filtration System in 300 buses geared at improving the efficiency and operational life of the...

The Housing Agency of Jamaica (HAJ) is looking to complete a number of projects to facilitate the delivery of some 1,585 housing solutions during the new financial year. As stated in the 2020/21 Public Bodies Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure, these are approximately 1,465 more than the 120 solutions for 2019/20, and include serviced lots, housing starts and/or completed houses....

The National Health Fund (NHF) is projecting expenditure of more than $6 billion during the 2020/21 fiscal year to provide clients with subsidised drugs for chronic illnesses. These provisions are facilitated under the NHF and Jamaica Drug for the Elderly Programmes (JADEP), which sees beneficiaries being issued with health cards. According to the Jamaica Public Bodies Estimates of Revenue and...

The Senate on Friday (March 27) passed the Appropriation Act 2020, approving the $853.5 billion the Government intends to spend in the 2020/21 Estimates of Expenditure. This Bill provides authority for expenditure (other than statutory expenditure) for the financial year 2020/21 and specifies the manner in which the money is to be allocated to the various services and purposes of the...

The Government has instituted a multi-billion dollar COVID Allocation of Resources for Employees (CARE) programme to assist workers and businesses during the emergency period caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19). Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, who made the disclosure while closing the 2020/2021 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives today (March 24), outlined...