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Economic Programme Oversight Committee (EPOC) Co-Chair, Keith Duncan, believes Jamaica is and will be in good stead to manage its affairs after the borrowing relationship with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concludes later this year. “We will have sufficient [net international] reserves, our debt levels will be down, tax revenues are buoyant, and we will continue to run primary surpluses,...

The Ministry of National Security will be spending $489.7 million in the new fiscal year to increase the conviction rate for murders in the country. The funds will be used to improve investigative capabilities for violent crimes with the purchasing of a BULLETTRAX Machine, engraving machine and computer server for the Firearm Licensing Authority (FLA). It will also be used...

The Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) will receive an additional $60 million to continue work on the Technical Cooperation Facility VI (TCF VI) in the new fiscal year. This is contained in the 2019/20 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives. The five-year project, which commenced in November 2016, aims to identify and implement relevant, sustainable, visible and...

The Government has budgeted $23 million to support the development of a payment for ecosystems services (PES) scheme, which is expected to improve the provision of critical ecosystem services in the Hope and Yallahs River watersheds. This is outlined in the 2019/20 Estimates of Expenditure, tabled in the House of Representatives recently. The specific objectives of the programme include decreasing...

The National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) will be spending $60.2 million in the new fiscal year on the restoration and enhanced management of the Negril Great Morass. The funds will be used to complete a knowledge, attitude practices, and behaviour survey; conclude hydrological assessment and land use survey; commence an ecological assessment; develop and implement a public education programme;...

A sum of $703.7 million has been budgeted for 2019/2020 to increase Jamaica’s resilience to climate change, through enhancing adaptive capacity across priority sectors. Details of the project are outlined in the 2019/20 Estimates of Expenditure tabled recently in the House of Representatives by Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke. The money will be...

A total of $15.5 million has been allocated in the 2019/20 Estimates of Expenditure to strengthen the capacity of Jamaica’s National Designated Authority (NDA), under the Green Climate Readiness Support Project. The money will go towards the establishment of an NDA Toolkit and completing the country programme strategy and regional scoping study. It will also be used to host a...

Approximately 120 farmers in the Yallahs and Hope River watershed areas of the Blue Mountains will be trained in land husbandry best practices in the upcoming fiscal year. A sum of $119 million has been set aside in the 2019/20 Estimates of Expenditure to carry out this and other tasks under the Integrated Management of the Yallahs/Hope River Watershed Area...

The Rural Water Supply Limited will be undertaking several projects in the new fiscal year under a $795.3-million infrastructure rehabilitation initiative. The funds, provided in the 2019/20 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives, will be used to upgrade water supplies in several parishes. Works include rehabilitation of catchment tanks in Trelawny, St. Ann and Manchester; as well...

Several hospitals and educational institutions are to be retrofitted in the upcoming fiscal year in keeping with the Government’s drive to make public facilities more energy efficient. A sum of $989.78 million has been provided in the 2019/20 Estimates of Expenditure under the Energy Management and Efficiency Programme (EMEP) to provide energy-saving solutions at the Falmouth, Mandeville and Kingston Public...

Implementation of the Government’s development strategy will be further boosted in the new fiscal year with an additional $13.7 million. The sum is set aside in the 2019/20 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives. The six-year Technical Cooperation Facility V, which commenced in November 2014, is designed to identify, formulate and implement activities financed under the European...

An additional $20.5 million is earmarked to continue work in the new fiscal year by the Meteorological Service of Jamaica, to develop a comprehensive Bush Fire Warning Index and Management System. The allocation is contained in the 2019/20 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives. The project, which commenced in April 2017 and is being financed by the...