More

KINGSTON — Some 20 young people from 11 inner city communities in Kingston, Clarendon, and St. Catherine are to benefit from scholarships to engage in programmes in the visual and performing arts at the University of Technology (UTech). The $1,070,000 Music and Entertainment Outreach Programme, which will begin next month, is a joint initiative of the Jamaica Social Investment Fund...

LONDON — Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, Hon. Olivia Grange, says Jamaica is poised to become the leading training base for sprint athletes from across the globe and is urging major investors in sports to develop initiatives that will lead to improved structures and facilities on the island. She was delivering the keynote address at a fundraising dinner for...

MANDEVILLE — Residents of Manchester converged at the birthplace of the Rt. Excellent Norman Washington Manley in Roxborough on Monday July 4, 2011 for a civic ceremony to commemorate the 118th anniversary of the National Hero’s birth. Organised by the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC), the ceremony featured tributes in song, dance, and poetry from cultural groups and festival of...

MIAMI — Entries are now being accepted for the 11th staging of the Independence essay competition organised by the Jamaica Information Service's (JIS) Miami office.  The annual competition forms part of activities to mark Emancipation and Independence celebrations in Jamaican communities in Florida. It is open to all first and second generation Jamaican children, five to 18 years old, who...

KINGSTON — The Ministries of Labour and Social Security, and Youth, Sports, and Culture are cooperating on the Steps-to-Work Summer Camp, to give some 1,300 high school dropouts, ages 15 to 18 years, an opportunity to develop literacy and job skills to re-enter the school system, or seek employment. The programme, which also involves the National Youth Service (NYS), is...

KINGSTON — Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Robert Montague says the 4-H Movement must continue to provide the foundation, which will engender an appreciation of agriculture as a viable career option, by its members and other young people. “Although the 4-H has (over) 66,000 members celebrating 71 years of existence, I am still going to challenge the Movement to...

KINGSTON — Youth, Sports and Culture Minister, Hon. Olivia Grange, says exposure to armed violence, sexual abuse and exploitation, particularly for commercial purposes, are some of the major challenges facing children. Speaking at the second regional meeting of  the Inter-American Programme for the Prevention and Eradication of Commercial Sexual Exploitation, Illegal Trafficking and Trade in Children and Adolescents, at the...

KINGSTON — Since its inception in 2003, the Culture, Health, Arts, Sports and Education (CHASE) Fund has received over a billion dollars from the industry towards the arts and culture sub-sector. Of that amount, some $114 million has been allocated to the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC), an agency of the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture mandated to unearth,...

KINGSTON — As part of its mandate to develop the 'green sector' in an applied way, the Caribbean Maritime Institute (CMI) has commissioned its Green Energy Project. The project, developed through sponsorship from the Canada Fund for Local Initiative, is designed to provide low cost solutions to fisherfolk on the Pedro Cays, for keeping fish healthy after catch, while creating...

MONTEGO BAY — The Montego Bay Boys' and Girls' Club has received a cheque for $300,000 from Executive Director of Reggae SumFest, Johnny Gourzong, to assist in the procurement of musical instruments for their band. The Jamaica Fire Brigade, Montego Bay, also received a gift from the organizers of Reggae SumFest, of a new computer valued at approximately $100,000. The...

MONTEGO BAY — The organisers of the annual international reggae music festival "Reggae Sumfest" have donated $400,000 in cash and computer equipment to two groups in St. James. The beneficiaries are the Montego Bay Boys’ and Girls' Club, which has received  $300,000 to assist in procuring musical instruments for its band, while a computer, valued at approximately $100,000, was presented...

KINGSTON — Youth, Sports and Culture Minister, Hon. Olivia Grange, has condemned the shooting incident which resulted in the death of 17-year-old student, Khajeel Mais, in Havendale, St. Andrew, on July 1, and has urged the shooter to turn himself in to the police. The Minister made the appeal while opening the Second Regional meeting of the Inter-American Programme for...