Facilitators of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries’ Frosty Pod Rot sensitisation sessions targeting cocoa farmers in St. Mary say the forums have been well supported by the beneficiaries. Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) Representative in Jamaica, Dr. Elizabeth Johnson, told JIS News that farmers in Bellfield, Brainard, Lewisburgh, Anglican, Marlborough, and Woodside, where sessions were...

A number of justice facilities across the island are to be expanded and rehabilitated in the new fiscal year at a cost of more than $1.3 billion. The Government has provided $954 million in the 2018/19 Estimates of Expenditure to retrofit an existing building to accommodate a family court in Spanish Town, St. Catherine; establish four justice centres islandwide; and...

The Government has included six years of budget information in the 2018/19 Estimates of Expenditure, including projections for the next three fiscal years, representing the first time in the country’s history that this is being done. The Estimates usually provide details about Government expenditure for three fiscal years. The six years of budget information include Provisional (unaudited) Actual Expenditure for...

Parents are to benefit from critical support to improve child-rearing under the Partnership for Improved Safety and Security in Schools project. The project, which aims to reduce violence among students and youth, is being undertaken by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information through US$3 million in grant funding over two years from the United States Agency for International Development...

The Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) will be embarking on the second phase of a pilot programme for climate resilience in the next fiscal year. The project seeks to improve the quality and use of climate-related data and information for effective planning and action at local and national levels. A sum of $139 million has been provided in the 2018/19...

The Government will be strengthening the delivery of skills training and special education needs to poor persons with disabilities during the new fiscal year. This is through a $55.5-million allocation to the Social and Economic Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities Project, which is being implemented by the Ministry of Labour of Social Security. As contained in the 2018/19 Estimates of...

A sum of $81.9 million has been allocated for the Justice Undertakings for Social Transformation (JUST) project, as outlined in the 2018/19 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives. The project seeks to improve service delivery and the management capacity of justice-sector institutions; improve capacity of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to coordinate and streamline the process of...