Work is expected to begin in April on the development of a state-of-the-art Closed Harbour Beach Park in Montego Bay, St. James. This follows the allocation of $550 million in the 2019/20 Estimates of Expenditure to undertake the renovation project in the upcoming fiscal year. Over a two-year period, the 16-acre property, also known as ‘Dump-up Beach’, is to be...

The Government will commence the Montego Bay Waterfront Protection Project in the upcoming fiscal year with an allocation of $400 million. Details are given in the 2019/20 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives. Activities under the project, which are expected to begin in April 2019, involve the rehabilitation of the Montego Bay Groynes. This is to reduce...

Jamaica’s global services sector (GSS) is poised for further buildout over the next five years under a special programme being initiated by the Government, with Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) loan funding support totalling US$15 million. Finance and the Public Service Minister, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke; and the IDB’s Chief of Operations, Adriana La Valley, on Thursday (January 24), signed...

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was inked on January 23 between the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) and the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) for the development and delivery of a series of alternative investment certificate courses and workshops for professionals in the capital markets. The courses that are to be offered through the JSE’s eCampus are Beginner’s Guide to Alternative...

Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Hon. Desmond McKenzie, says provisions of the 2018 Building Act will be rigorously enforced. The legislation, which took effect on January 15, seeks to discourage new squatter settlements from being built, promote sustainable development, and establish and enforce internationally accepted building standards and rules for individuals and entities providing construction material and services....

The National Water Commission (NWC) says the broken 18-inch pipeline along Mandela Highway, is expected to be replaced by March. “Work has started. Pipe laying [will] commence in another week or two,” NWC President, Mark Barnett, said during a press conference at the utility company’s corporate office in New Kingston on Friday (Jan. 11). The transmission main, which is part...

Two elderly indigent men in St. Ann are now living in comfort, after two fully furnished houses were officially handed over to them by Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Hon. Desmond McKenzie,  on Friday (January 4). This was done under the Government’s Indigent Housing Programme. The two studio units, which consist of a bedroom, bathroom and a kitchen...