Governor-General, His Excellency the Most Hon. Sir Patrick Allen, says amendments will be made to the Disaster Risk Management Act to sufficiently meet ever-changing realities. Delivering the Throne Speech at the ceremonial opening of Parliament at Gordon House, on February 18, he said the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and its portfolio agencies and Local Authorities play a...

Governor-General, His Excellency the Most Hon. Sir Patrick Allen, is calling on all sectors of society to join forces to aid in rebuilding and bolstering the economy, in the post-coronavirus (COVID-19) period. “We must not only rebuild what we have lost; every Jamaican, every entrepreneur, every civil servant, every business, and every government agency must build forward…stronger together,” he said,...

Governor General, His Excellency the Most Hon. Sir Patrick Allen says while coronavirus (COVID-19) has clearly been the focus in 2020/2021, the Government continues work on its general health system strengthening initiatives. Delivering the Throne Speech at the Ceremonial Opening of Parliament, on Thursday (February 18), he said these initiatives include: The construction of a five-bed Intensive Care Unit (ICU)...

The House of Representatives, on Tuesday (October 13), approved the Second Supplementary Estimates for the 2020/21 fiscal year. The revised budget proposes an overall additional expenditure of $15.7 billion to generate a total expenditure budget of $853.7 billion. Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, explained that the continued impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic,...

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...