Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Hon. Olivia Grange (left), and Chairman of the Economic Growth Council (EGC), Michael Lee Chin (right), celebrate with Derrick Morgan (centre), after he was honoured for his contribution to Jamaican music, at the Reggae Gold Awards Ceremony held yesterday (February 27) at the National Indoor Sports Complex in St. Andrew. Some 100 awards...

Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. J.C. Hutchinson, has announced that the first Agro-Economic Zone for the parish of St. Elizabeth is expected to be opened in August this year. He was speaking at the official launch of the Elliot Farmers Community Enterprise Greenhouse Project in Cromwell, St. Mary, on Wednesday (February 27)....

Education, Youth and Information Minister, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, says that the Government is committed to a seven-year programme for the expansion of high-school space across the island. He noted that while a number of institutions have been built and upgraded over the years, more places are needed to meet needs. He was speaking to JIS News following a...

The Registrar General’s Department (RGD) is appealing to persons who have applied and paid for documents, to collect them now. Marketing and Planning Manager at the RGD, Nicole Whyte, told JIS News that there are thousands of uncollected birth, marriage and death certificates in storage at the agency’s offices islandwide. “Over the years, persons have applied for their marriage, birth...

A stern warning is being issued to students across the island to desist from smoking cigarettes, marijuana, hookahs, e-cigarettes and other harmful substances. Consultant Pulmonologist and Senior Medical Officer at the National Chest Hospital in St. Andrew, Dr. Terry Baker, advises that cigarettes, including e-cigarettes, consist of nearly 600 additives, and tobacco smoke contains over 4,000 different compounds. Addressing students...

The Caribbean Maritime University (CMU) is reporting positive results from the trials of the prototype of its ocean-cleaning device dubbed ‘Jambin’. An innovation out of the CMU’s recently established Centre for Blue Economy and Innovation, the device is designed to collect debris from the sea. “It is a reinforced household bin; a floating device, which is attached to a dock...

The Government has initiated steps to tap into nearly $50 billion in dormant bank accounts, which are being sought to provide low-interest financing to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries Minister, Hon. Audley Shaw, says a consultancy group has been contracted and tasked with the responsibility of reviewing and advising the Administration on this engagement....