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The first vessel from the Shipping Line Maersk should arrive in Kingston by the end of March. This was announced on Thursday (Feb. 23) during the business investment forum hosted by Prime Minister P.J. Patterson. Maersk and the Port Authority of Jamaica signed a five year contract in November of 2005 for the provision of Container Terminal Services at the...

Acting Assistant Commissioner of Taxpayer Services, Venice Ricketts, is imploring self-employed and small business operators to utilize the services offered by the Special Taxpayer Service Programme. Speaking with JIS News, Miss Ricketts said the programme is normally conducted from January to March of each year, to coincide with the filing period for income tax final returns. "The series, which started...

Jamaica, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad Tobago, the six CARICOM member states, which adopted the Single Market on January 1, yesterday (January 30), signed the formal declaration signaling the launch of the CARICOM Single Market (CSM), at the University of the West Indies, Mona campus. Member countries of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica,...

Freight forwarders, shipping and airline agents can expect to see a 50 per cent reduction in the processing time of cargo when the Jamaica Customs Department introduces the electronic manifest system, tomorrow (February 1), at APM Terminals (Berth 11). Speaking with JIS News, Nadine Shirley-Moore, Director, Information Management Unit, Jamaica Customs Department, explained that, "the processing time as it relates...

Minister of State for Industry and Tourism, Dr. Wykeham McNeill has said that the annual Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues festival has a tremendous impact on the hospitality industry, as it helps to boost visitor arrivals.He told JIS News, that 22,600 persons attended last year's festival and said he was optimistic that this year's event would be "bigger and better."...

The Customs Department at the Sangster International Airport yesterday (Jan. 26) hosted a 'Customer Appreciation Day' for arriving passengers, as part of activities to mark International Customs Day. The occasion saw passengers being treated to refreshment, while being sensitized about the department. "Customers Appreciation Day is an opportunity for the Customs Department to showcase what we do, how we interact...

The 2004/05 financial year saw significant strides being made in the enhancement of the regulatory framework of the Financial Services Commission (FSC) with the introduction of and amendments to several bits of legislation. Among them were the passing of the Pensions Act (2004) and the amendments to the FSC Act 2001, allowing the Commission to disclose information to a wider...

The Jamaica Mortgage Bank (JMB) is in discussions with the National Housing Trust (NHT) and the Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS), to obtain funding to complete projects in the 2006/07 financial year. Speaking with JIS News recently, Milverton Reynolds, Acting Managing Director of the JMB, informed that the bank was currently projecting total commitments of $3.7 billion for the financing...

Acting Managing Director of the Jamaica Mortgage Bank (JMB), Milverton Reynolds is predicting that the 2006/07 financial year will be a very profitable one for the JMB. "We really expect that 2006/07 is going to be a very good year for the bank in terms of our financing of residential construction. We're actually projecting total commitments of $3.7 billion financing...

The year 2005 was indeed an eventful one, filled with the hopes and expectations of creating a buoyant and dynamic labour force capable of rising to the challenges of regional integration and global competitiveness. The start of this New Year must therefore be used to commit to furthering this process even as we must reflect on past expectations, achievements and...

President of the Jamaica Manufacturer's Association (JMA), Doreen Frankson has said that Caribbean countries must be cognizant of the changes in the international marketplace and that the region's negotiating machinery, which is tougher today than it was a few years ago, must continue to put forward the Caribbean agenda. She was speaking at the seventh annual Regional Manufacturer's Association meeting,...

The Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) is encouraging disabled persons to acquire their specially designed identification cards in order to benefit from the concessionary fare available to them. Disabled persons, school children and the elderly pay a concessionary fare of $15. However Jackie Darwood, Manager of Depot Operations at the JUTC informed JIS News that since not all disabilities were...