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The Parottee water supply system, in St. Elizabeth, is to be upgraded at a cost of over $285 million. This was announced by Minister of Water and Housing, Hon. Dr. Horace Chang, after touring the Parottee replacement well site, on July 24. According to the Minister, the National Water Commission (NWC) has engaged the services of Jamaica Wells and Services...

Minister of Water and Housing, Honourable Dr. Horace Chang, says that in order to meet the needs of the country, the Government is ensuring that housing developments cover different social groups. "In all of our efforts to build larger housing estates, we don't intend to just look at one socio-economic grouping, all Jamaicans are ambitious, and we want to create...

More Jamaicans will be provided with the opportunity to own their own homes, as the Government moves to ensure greater access to housing solutions by National Housing Trust (NHT) contributors in the lower income groups. According to Portfolio Minister, Hon. Dr. Horace Chang, some 60 per cent of NHT contributors are unable to access housing, because their income level at...

Effective August 1, 2009, the Water Resources Authority (WRA) will be implementing a new fee structure for the application and granting of licences or consent (permits) to extract water. The new fee will be $45,000, including $15,000 for the application and $30,000 for the licence or consent (permit). The current cost to the WRA to process the application and permit...

Minister of Water and Housing, Hon. Dr. Horace Chang, has pointed out that financing social housing has been a "perennial problem" for governments worldwide, and is becoming even more challenging as countries grapple with the present global economic crisis. Addressing the 18th Assembly of Ministers and Lead Authorities of Housing and Urban Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (MINURVI),...

Ministers of Housing and Urbanisation and other Government representatives from the region are participating in the 18th General Assembly of Ministers and High Level Authorities on Housing and Urbanisation (MINURVI) in Latin America and the Caribbean which began yesterday (July 16) at the Rose Hall Resort and Country Club, Montego Bay, St. James. Activities are being carried out under the...

State Minister for Water and Housing, Hon. Everald Warmington, is confident that the Government will be able to meet the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of providing all Jamaicans with access to potable water by the year 2015. Mr. Warmington, who was addressing a ceremony to officially hand over the Mother Fleure and Golden Run water supply schemes in Craighead Manchester...

More than 5,000 residents of Golden Run, Carter, Bigwoods and Craighead in North East Manchester are now able to access potable water, as two water systems have been commissioned into service. The Mother Fleure and Golden Run water supply projects were handed over on July 9, at a ceremony at the Garden View Baptist Church in Bigwoods, by the Jamaica...

Government officials throughout the region will share best practices and seek solutions to providing adequate housing, at the 18th General Assembly of Ministers and High Level Authorities on Housing and Urbanisation in Latin America and the Caribbean (MINURVI) in Montego Bay St. James next week. The meeting, scheduled for July 15 to 17 at the Rose Hall Resort and Spa,...

Minister of Water and Housing, Hon. Dr. Horace Chang, has pointed to the need for more successful Jamaicans to become mentors for the country's young people, especially the males. "Mentoring is an important part of growing our young people in Jamaica today, and that is particularly true for our young men," Dr. Chang stated, as he addressed the annual banquet...

The National Water Commission (NWC) is to spend some $1 billion to upgrade its sewerage systems, beginning this fiscal year, Water and Housing Minister, Dr. Horace Chang, has announced. Speaking in the 2009/10 Sectoral Debate in Parliament on Wednesday (July 1), Dr. Chang disclosed that the NWC plans to complete some 19 project this year, that will either expand the...

Jamaica's water is rated as Class one, or among the highest quality in the world, and there is enough to serve the needs of the population, says Managing Director of the Water Resources Authority (WRA), Basil Fernandez. "Our water quality is very good. We don't have some of the water quality problems that we see in North America, primarily because...