The Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC) is launching a weekly series of webinars called ‘JBDC Virtual Biz Zone’, for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), with the first session scheduled for Tuesday, April 7. Speaking with JIS News, JBDC’s Corporate Communications Manager, Suzette Campbell, said the organisation would be emphasising business continuity as industries grapple with the effect of the...

Persons utilising the Ministry of Justice’s Restorative Justice Unit are still able to access services, as the unit remains open, but it is scaling down operations and cancelling sensitisation sessions. Restorative justice (RJ), an alternative dispute resolution method, can be accessed through referrals from the police and the courts as well as self-referrals by persons involved in conflicts. The scaling...

The St. James Poor Relief Department has put special measures in place to safeguard indigent persons against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Speaking in an interview with JIS News, Inspector of Poor for St. James, Pauline Lecky, said poor-relief officers have been visiting the homes of the parish’s 1,418 registered poor, distributing care packages containing essential food and personal care items...

Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, says the Government is considering publishing the names of persons who arrived in the country between March 18 and 23 and have failed to report to the Ministry. “We are just looking at one aspect of the law to ensure that we are on good grounds to do that. I...

The Government has started tracking 500 persons who are among those who returned to the island between March 18 and 23 and have ignored persistent calls for them to self-identify and self-quarantine for two weeks. After making several appeals for those individuals to identify themselves to the Ministry of Health and Wellness so that their health status can be determined,...

The Early Childhood Commission (ECC) has implemented measures to assist parents and caregivers with the continued development of their children 0-5 years during the period of school closure as a result of COVID-19. Daily activity plans for children and parenting tips have been placed on ECC’s website in the newly created COVID Corner, videos have been recorded of team members...

The Tourism Ministry is to establish a Recovery Task Force, which will be charged with developing a blue print for a post COVID-19 tourism industry. This was disclosed by Portfolio Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, during a digital press briefing, held today (April 2) to provide an update on the sector. “This is very important to us, as we know that...