Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Floyd Green, has commissioned into service the upgraded $32-million Ebony Park irrigation facility in Southern Clarendon. Speaking at the ceremony, yesterday (February 24), Mr. Green reported that the National Irrigation Commission (NIC) solar retrofitted system will self-generate 75 per cent of the required energy for the pump station, resulting in a 43 per cent...

As part of its thrust to maintain relevance amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the Jamaica 4-H Clubs has revised the way it presents and delivers a number of its training programmes. This has been done while maintaining its mandate as the country’s premier youth leadership and vocational training organisation for young, aspiring farmers and agricultural entrepreneurs. Among its latest endeavours, the...

Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Director, Dr. Carissa Etienne, is encouraging citizens of member states to get vaccinated against the coronavirus (COVID-19), once doses approved for distribution by the World Health Organization (WHO) are delivered to their countries. Approximately two billion doses of vaccines are being procured from manufacturers for initial deployment through WHO’s COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) Facility,...

After an extremely difficult year in which the economies of its 19 Borrowing Member Countries (BMCs) contracted by 12.8% on average due to the onset of Covid-19, the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) is projecting an average gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 3.8% in 2021. However, this projection, made in Part 1 of CDB’s Regional Report: 2020 Review and 2021...

Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Fayval Williams, says that the final batch of tablets procured for students under the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH) has arrived in the island and will be distributed shortly. She noted that of the 40,000 tablets procured, approximately 36,000 have already been disbursed to pupils in grades four, five and...

As part of its 50th Anniversary celebrations, the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) held a 5K Fun Run/Walk dubbed, ‘Welcome to Kingston 5k Fun Run/Walk’, which raised funds to purchase two (2) incubators for the Kingston Public Victoria Jubilee Neonatal Care Unit and the University Hospital of the West Indies Neonatal Unit. This was in response to the great and ongoing...

Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, says that compliance with the provisions under the Disaster Risk Management Act (DRMA) is “absolutely essential” in reducing the transmission of the coronavirus (COVID-19) These include physical distancing, staying at home, avoiding crowded situations, frequently washing and sanitising hands and surfaces, wearing masks, obeying the quarantine rules, among other measures....