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My fellow Jamaicans: I extend warm greetings to you as our nation celebrates forty-nine years of Independence.  It is without question that August 6, 1962 represented a watershed moment in our history.  That historic date was the sum total of the contribution of our forebears to nation-building occasioned by their passionate belief that Jamaicans deserved the freedom to determine their...

My fellow Jamaicans, at home and in the Diaspora, today marks the 49th Anniversary of our Nation’s Independence.  For us, this is a significant milestone for many reasons.  Since our Independence, we have had the privilege, the honour and the responsibility of charting our own path to development in this dynamic global community. Some of us will remember the pride...

WASHINGTON — Their Excellencies Governor-General, the Most Hon. Sir Patrick Allen, and Lady Allen, will head a list of dignitaries joining Jamaicans and friends of Jamaica in Washington, D.C. to mark the nation’s 49th year of Independence, at the annual Service of Thanksgiving on Sunday, August 7. The service will be held at the Dumbarton Chapel, Howard University’s School of...

LONDON — An Evensong was held at Westminster Abbey, in London, on August 1, to mark the island's 49th Anniversary of Independence. Deputy High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Joan Thomas and her husband, Albert, were special guests at the ceremony. The Jamaican flag was flown at the Abbey, and Deputy High Commissioner Thomas read one of the lessons. Evensong...

TORONTO — Jamaicans are being urged to take up the baton of nation building left by the country's forefathers. The charge came from Jamaican-born Senior Pastor of the Victory Sanctuary of Praise in Canada, Rev. Dr. William Lee, who was delivering the sermon at the annual Independence Church Service, held at Faith Sanctuary Pentecostal Church in Toronto on Sunday July...

The Independence Grand Gala at the National Stadium on Saturday will be an exciting celebration of Jamaica's musical culture, as the nation marks 49 years of Independence. The Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, Olivia Grange, who has responsibility for the Independence celebrations, says Grand Gala 2011 will celebrate the “nation’s creativity”. Minister Grange said that all of Jamaica’s musical...

KINGSTON — The National Youth Service (NYS) is pleased with the progress of the Steps- to-Work summer camps now underway in Portland and St. Thomas. “They are going well. Enrollment is almost 100 per cent at all of the camps,” said the organisation's Acting Executive Director, Alan Beckford, in a recent interview with JIS News. Some 1,300 high school dropouts,...

MONTEGO BAY — Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, Hon. Olivia Grange has called on Jamaicans to embrace the principles of unity, self-determination and love, and to decide on the role that each has to play in advancing the welfare of the whole human race. "As we mark the international year for people of African descent and as we celebrate...

Prime Minister Bruce Golding (left) is greeted by passengers on the train travelling to the Denbigh Agricultural and Industrial Show in Clarendon yesterday August 1. Prime Minister Golding, who delivered the main address at the 59th staging of the Agricultural Show, boarded the train at the Spanish Town Railway Station with several Government Ministers. Photographed also are:(right)Minister of Health, Rudyard...

LONDON — Hundreds of United Kingdom (UK) based Jamaicans, their families and friends filled the St. Martin in the Fields Parish Church in Trafalgar Square, London, on July 31, for the annual service of Praise and Thanksgiving to mark the start of activities to celebrate Jamaica's independence. Chaplain to the House of Commons, Jamaican born Reverend Rose Hudson Wilkins, who...

KINGSTON — Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, Hon. Olivia Grange has called on Jamaicans to use the period of Independence to renew their commitment to the country. She was speaking at the Independence Thanksgiving Church Service held today ((July 31) at the Rehoboth Gospel Assembly in Kingston. The service, organised by the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC), was part...

KINGSTON — Thousands of Jamaicans are expected to converge at the National Stadium in Kingston, on Saturday, August 6 for the colour and spectacle of the annual Grand Gala under the theme: 'Jamaica Rocks." The event, which gets underway at 5:00 pm, is one of the major activities for Jamaica Independence Festival 2011, and will feature costumed groups, marching bands,...