The Government has allotted $200 million to complete activities under the Jamaica Integrated Community Development Project, during the upcoming fiscal year. The project seeks to enhance access to basic urban infrastructure and services, and support increased community safety in selected economically vulnerable and socially volatile inner-city communities of Jamaica. The money has been provided in the 2021/22 Estimates of Expenditure,...

The Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO) says the protection of intellectual property (IP) can enhance the capacity to create wealth for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). Speaking at a recent ‘Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC) Virtual Biz Zone’ session, Assistant Patent Manager, JIPO, Jason Wongsam, said that research and development is key to developing industries as new ideas and...

President of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Dr. William Warren Smith, says the institution has been instrumental in the transformation of the region, with US$2.5 billion disbursed between 2011 and 2019 for various developmental projects. He said that US$1.8 billion of the approved funds went towards financing undertakings in transportation, social infrastructure, environment, sea defences, disaster management, reconstruction, and energy....

Managing Director, Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), Omar Sweeney, says the Port Royal Street Coastal Revetment Project, which commenced in March 2020, is slated to be completed April 2021, within time and budget. Speaking to journalists during a tour of the project along Port Royal Street, downtown Kingston, on September 29, Mr. Sweeney said the project will assist in attracting...

Jamaica received official development assistance (ODA) funding worth US$140.9 million during 2019 from international development partners (IDPs). This was 36.2 per cent lower than the sum received the previous year, according to the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) 2019 Economic and Social Survey. The document indicates that the 2019 provision comprised loans amounting to US$65 million, and grants totalling US$75.9...

Campus Director, The University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona, Western Jamaica Campus (WJC), Dr. Patrick Prendergast, says innovative models and approaches are needed to enhance the process of developing sustainable cities and communities in Jamaica and the rest of the region. This, he said, in order to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 to make cities inclusive, safe, resilient...

The deadline for submission of applications for the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) Enterprise Development Grant has been extended to Friday, September 18, at 4:00 p.m. A grant of up to $400,000 is available to eligible entrepreneurs from the communities of Salt Spring and Anchovy in St. James; Treadlight in Clarendon, and August Town, Greenwich Town and Denham Town in...