The Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA) has put in place protocols to facilitate the import and export of cannabis by licensees, as it awaits promulgation of the Dangerous Drugs (Cannabis Import and Export Licensing) Regulations 2020. State Minister in the Ministry of Industry, Agriculture and Fisheries (MICAF), Hon. Floyd Green, said that the third draft of the regulations has been reviewed...

The Urban Development Corporation (UDC) supports the Government of Jamaica’s thrust towards restarting and ramping up work in the construction sector for economic stimulation and growth during this time. UDC projects are advancing despite challenges posed by the efforts to stop the spread of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Jamaica. The Corporation, in its commitment to continuing these development projects...

Minister of State in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Hon. Zavia Mayne, says the distribution of care packages to residents in quarantined communities in St. Mary is working well. “I am very satisfied that we have the formula. We have the boots on the ground and we have covered this space within a reasonable time, so I am...

Bank of Jamaica has reduced the cash reserve requirements of deposit-taking institutions (DTIs) by two percentage points, effective 15 May 2020. The foreign currency cash reserve requirement has been reduced to thirteen per cent (13%) while the domestic currency cash reserve requirement has been reduced to five per cent (5%). These reserve requirements are the amount of money that DTIs...

Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Jacquiline Bisasor McKenzie, has reported that the majority of persons who contracted the Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Jamaica are asymptomatic. “Our experience with COVID-19, so far, is that very few persons get ill,” Dr. Bisasor McKenzie said, at a virtual press conference in Kingston on May 13. “So far, of the 509 positive cases we have seen,...

The Government has emphasised that reopening of the economy is imperative, even as the country fights the coronavirus (COVID-19). “At some point, we’re going to have to gradually move back to a place where persons can lead normal lives, even with COVID present in the population, and so it [reopening the economy] really is an attempt to start a process,...

As the country turns the spotlight on children for National Children’s Day on Friday (May 15), parents are being encouraged to break from their daily activities or routine and to immerse themselves in engaging in fun and bond-creating activities with their children. Chief Executive Officer of the National Parenting Support Commission (NPSC), Kaysia Kerr, said that the focus must be...