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Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw is scheduled to open the 2018/19 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives on March 8, when he will inform the nation how the Budget for the fiscal year will be funded. The Government intends to spend $773.6 billion for 2018/19, with $560 billion allocated for recurrent (housekeeping) expenses and...

As the Government prepares to outline how it intends to finance the $773.6-billion Budget for 2018/19, it is important for citizens to understand the importance of the discussion and how it will impact their lives. Simply put, the Budget proposes how much money the Government will allocate for the services it has to carry out each financial year and how...

A flood control master plan for the town of Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland, is to be developed in the upcoming fiscal year. A sum of $47.5 million has been allocated in the 2018/19 Estimates of Expenditure to facilitate this and other activities under the ‘Climate Change Adaptation and Risk Reduction Technology and Strategies to Improve Community Resilience” project. The money will also...

The Government has budgeted $27.9 million to strengthen the climate and disaster risk management capacity of the Portmore Municipal Council. Details of the project are outlined in the 2018/19 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives. The money will be used for the development of a disaster risk profile (acquisition of data and community vulnerability analysis) of the...

As part of efforts to minimise the impact of climate change on fishing livelihoods, a campaign will be designed and executed in the upcoming fiscal year. A sum of $22.8 million has been set aside in the 2018/19 Estimates of Expenditure to facilitate this undertaking under the Fisheries Ecosystem Adaptation Strategies and Technologies project. The Estimates were tabled recently in...

Work is slated to continue on the Portmore-Hagen Climate Change Park, following an allocation of $10 million. Details of the project are outlined in the 2018/19 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives. The project aims to raise public awareness about issues surrounding climate change among residents in Portmore, St Catherine, and its environs. The park will comprise...

The Government will be undertaking the reforestation of 60 hectares of land in the Yallahs River and Hope River watersheds of the Blue Mountains in the upcoming fiscal year. A sum of $197.7 million has been set aside in the 2018/19 Estimates of Expenditure to carry out this and other tasks under the Integrated Management of the Yallahs/Hope River Watershed...

Adaptation measures aimed at building the country’s resilience to climate change are to be implemented in the Upper Rio Minho Sub-Watershed in Clarendon during the next fiscal year. These measures include the establishment of an agro-forestry programme, a community reforestation programme, establishment of a grass nursery, designing a crop suitability model and conducting testing of climate-resilient crop varieties, and conducting...

In the upcoming fiscal year, the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) will be undertaking a knowledge, attitudes and practices study with farmers and users of protected wetlands in the Negril Great Morass. With a sum of $40 million, which has been provided in the 2018/19 Estimates of Expenditure, the agency will be engaging the services of a communications specialist...

The Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation will be engaging the services of technical consultants as it works to develop and implement strategies that will enable the country to become more climate change resilient. A sum of $86.6 million has been provided in the 2018/19 Estimates of Expenditure to undertake this activity through the Ministry’s Climate Change Division. The...

The Meteorological Service of Jamaica will be developing a multi-criteria model for bush fire prediction in the upcoming fiscal year as it seeks to better manage this natural hazard. A sum of $15 million has been provided in the 2018/19 Estimates of Expenditure to carry out this and other initiatives under a project to develop a comprehensive bush fire warning...

The Government has allocated $88.84 billion in the 2018/19 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives, for debt repayment this year. Of this sum, the lion’s share of $58.6 billion will go towards repaying Jamaican dollar benchmark investment notes issued under the Jamaica Debt Exchange/National Debt Exchange (JDX/NDX) initiatives. The second largest provision of $17 billion is earmarked...