Governor-General, His Excellency the Most Hon. Sir Patrick Allen, says the Government is using the slowdown in tourism activities due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic as an opportunity to upgrade the sector’s infrastructure and improve the quality of Jamaica’s product. He said this is being done to enable the country to rebound strongly from the significant impact wrought by COVID-19,...

Governor-General, His Excellency the Most Hon. Sir Patrick Allen, says Jamaica has managed to maintain substantial net international reserves (NIR) and a positive sovereign debt rating, despite being impacted by the worst global economic crisis in 100 years, largely sparked by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. He said the NIR totalled just over US$3 billion, despite the fallout in foreign exchange...

Implementation of the new Island Traffic Authority and the Road Traffic Act regulations are among priority areas for the Ministry of Transport and Mining for 2021/22. Governor General, His Excellency, the Most Hon. Sir Patrick Allen, in delivering the Throne Speech at the Ceremonial Opening of Parliament on Thursday (February 18), said that focus will also be placed on the...

The Government is proposing to spend a total of $830.8 billion for the 2021/22 fiscal year. This is comprised of recurrent programme expenditure of $247.8 billion; compensation of employees, $239.2 billion; capital expenditure of $54.2 billion; debt servicing of $272.2 billion; and loans to public bodies of $17.3 billion. Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel...

Governor-General, His Excellency the Most Hon. Sir Patrick Allen, says that despite the challenges of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, courts have continued to operate effectively, including hearing matters electronically. He noted that operational changes have resulted in an increase in the number of judgements. “By the end of March 2022, there should be no judgement that is outstanding for more...

The 2021/22 session of Parliament got under way this morning (February 18), at Gordon House, highlighted by the delivery of the Throne Speech by Governor-General, His Excellency the Most Hon. Sir Patrick Allen, under the theme ‘Building forward…Stronger Together’. His address outlined the priority programmes and policies to be pursued by the Government in the new fiscal year, which begins...

Governor-General, His Excellency the Most Hon. Sir Patrick Allen, is calling on all sectors of society to join forces to aid in rebuilding and bolstering the economy, in the post-coronavirus (COVID-19) period. “We must not only rebuild what we have lost; every Jamaican, every entrepreneur, every civil servant, every business, and every government agency must build forward…stronger together,” he said,...