The Government has targeted three major hospitals for service upgrades during the 2019/20 financial year. These are Spanish Town, St. Catherine; May Pen, Clarendon; and St. Ann’s Bay in St. Ann. Governor-General, His Excellency the Most Hon. Sir Patrick Allen, said that the upgrades are in keeping with population expansion and the increased need for specialist medical services. He was...

Additional legislative support to further boost public safety and citizen security will be pursued in earnest by the Government during 2019/20. “Addressing crime and violence is one of the most challenging tasks that require practical initiatives supported by robust legislative and policy frameworks. In furtherance of securing Jamaica, this year, the Government has allocated significant capital expenditure for National Security...

The Government will spend $498 million to increase the fleet and capacity of the Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB) to be able to adequately respond to emergencies. The sum has been set aside in the 2019/20 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives. Under the Acquisition of Fixed Assets Project, which is being implemented by the JFB, an agency...

The Government has allocated $110 million to renovate the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information’s head office at National Heroes Circle and its Caenwood Centre facilities on Arnold Road in Kingston, during the 2019/20 fiscal year. Details are provided in the 2019/20 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives. The project is titled ‘Renovation and Modification of Caenwood...

A sum of $638 million has been set aside in the 2019/20 Estimates of Expenditure for the HIV Prevalence in Most-at-Risk Population Reduced Project. The funds will go towards increasing safer sex practices; strengthening care, counselling and treatment services; and addressing stigma and discrimination among vulnerable and high-risk groups, including men who have sex with men (MSM) and female sex...

The Government has set aside $500,000 to develop a national repository in the Ministry of Transport and Mining. The trifold repository will comprise the Transport Statistics Database, Transport Research Databank, and the Geographic Information System (GIS) database. Funding for the undertaking has been made available in the 2019/2020 Estimates of Expenditure, which was tabled in the House of Representatives on...

The Government is to implement fully electronic payments to some 128,000 Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH) beneficiary families. This was disclosed by Governor-General, His Excellency the Most Hon. Sir Patrick Allen, when he delivered the 2019/2020 Throne Speech at the ceremonial opening of Parliament on Thursday (February 14), under the theme ‘In Partnership towards the new Prosperous...