Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, is assuring that the security forces will maintain a strong presence in St. James, after the State of Public Emergency (SOE) has expired. “We are going to make sure there are numbers on the ground in terms of security forces; we are going to use all the resources available,”...

Cabinet has signed off on the draft Jamaica Teaching Council (JTC) Bill, says Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid. The Bill seeks to establish a governing body for the teaching profession and a licensing and registration regime for all government-paid teachers. The licensing regime is expected to take effect when the Bill is passed. “We...

Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, says the interests of small and medium tourism enterprises (SMTEs) must be safeguarded to ensure the industry’s sustainability. He contended that achieving this requires SMTEs being fully leveraged to build sustainable economies in tourism-dependent nations. “Nowhere do we understand this more than here in Jamaica, as a member of the most tourism-dependent region in the...

The Climate Change Division in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation is targeting public and private sector stakeholders for capacity development in climate action. “We want to place on record, the need for significant capacity-building if we are going to move forward,” said Principal Director of the Climate Change Division, Una May Gordon. She was speaking at the...

It was a somber atmosphere inside the Half Moon Hotel conference centre in Rose Hall, St. James on Saturday (January 26), where scores of persons came out to bid farewell to late Ambassador Donald Frank Pringle. Mr. Pringle, who had a distinguished record of public service, including serving as Jamaica’s Tourism Minister from 1989 to 1992, died on December 10...

Prime Minister Andrew Holness has announced that the Government will intensify its policy of full asset utilization. Speaking at the Official Opening of Spanish Court Hotel in Montego Bay on Sunday, January 27, the Prime Minister underscored that the Government is moving to make it easier for persons to add a greater level of certainty to the economic environment. “In...

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has commended Jamaica on its work to advance activities relating to its climate change agenda. “Jamaica is in a position of leadership. You are way ahead of a lot of countries in this realm,” said Chief of Operations, IDB Jamaica, Adriana La Valley, who was speaking at a Capacity-building Initiative for Transparency (CBIT) workshop, held...