Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Hon. Desmond McKenzie, has disclosed that 151 positions will be added to the Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB). “The training of firefighters has been an important feature since 2016, [and] since 2017, the JFB has added over 800 firefighters to its complement. This is an outstanding achievement. Since then, the Brigade has received approval...

A project to support the improvement of access to finance for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSME) has been given a budgetary allocation of $822 million to continue in the upcoming fiscal year. Details of the undertaking are contained in the 2024/25 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives. The project, which is being implemented by the Development...

Director of Elections, Glasspole Brown, has advised that the final counting of ballots from Monday’s (February 26) Local Government Elections is under way. He told JIS News that counting is in progress at 63 counting centres across Jamaica. “We await those results. As soon as they come in, we will be releasing it to the public. Some constituencies will be...

Minister of Labour and Social Security, Hon. Pearnel Charles Jr. (left), engages in conversation with Human Development Programme Leader for Latin America and the Caribbean at the World Bank Group, Emre Özaltın, during a recent courtesy call at the Ministry’s North Street offices in Kingston. The discussions focused on the Social Protection for Increased Resilience and Opportunity (SPIRO) Project, which...

The Government has allocated funds for the construction of revetments in Buff Bay, Portland and Annotto Bay, St. Mary to protect the coastal towns from storm surges. The works will be done under the Enhancing the Resilience of the Agricultural Sector and Coastal Areas project, which has been allocated approximately $441.5 million in the 2024/25 Estimates of Expenditure, now before...

A budgetary allocation of just over $1.5 billion has been made to complete the Southern Plains Agricultural Development Project in the upcoming fiscal year. The sum is contained in the 2024/25 Estimates of Expenditure now before the House of Representatives. The project, which began in 2019, is slated to end in December 2024. It aims to provide access to irrigation...

Minister of State in the Ministry of Education and Youth, Hon. Marsha Smith, addresses the audience during a panel discussion at the Leadership Development Alliance’s inaugural summit on February 22 at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona campus in St. Andrew.