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Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Karl Samuda (right), is welcomed by Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC), Valerie Veira, when he arrived at the Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel in St. Andrew yesterday (April 12) to attend the ceremony to unveil the JBDC’s 2017 programmes. During the event, the agency launched Phase 2 of its Mobile Business Clinic Initiative (MBCI); and the 10th staging of its annual Small Business Expo.

Selected MSMEs to Benefit from JBDC Initiative

Specifically selected entrepreneurs within the micro, small and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) sector are to benefit from continued development support under Phase 2 of the Jamaica Business Development Corporation’s (JBDC) Mobile Business Clinic Initiative (MBCI). The new phase of the initiative...

Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid (left), addresses the launch of the University of the West Indies’ (UWI) School of Education biennial conference, which will be held from June 20-23 at the Rose Hall Resort &Spa Montego Bay. At right is Pro Vice Chancellor and Principal of the UWI Mona campus, Professor Archibald McDonald. The conference was officially launched on Wednesday (April 12) at the UWI Regional Headquarters on the Mona campus.

UWI to Stage Future Education Conference

Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Hon. Desmond McKenzie (right), is in discussion with Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of United Church Mission Enterprise, Ingrid Chambers. Occasion was the annual appreciation function for funeral directors hosted by Meadowrest Memorial Gardens, at The Knutsford Court Hotel in New Kingston on Tuesday (April 11).

Minister McKenzie Urges Funeral Home Operators to Raise Standards

Education, Youth and Information Minister, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid (centre), along with Jamaica’s Ambassador to the United States, Her Excellency Audrey Marks (2nd right); and Jamaica’s Consul General in New York, Trudy Deans (2nd left), share a light moment with the executive members of the Union of Jamaican Alumni Associations (UJAA), following a breakfast meeting on Sunday (April 9), at the Kimberly Hotel in Manhattan, New York.

Education Minister Urges Diaspora Group to Partner in the Provision of School Buses

Sandra Watson, CEO of the Commission of Strata Corporations (CSC), speaks at last year’s public forum at the Girl Guides Association. At right is Ainsworth Norton, Manager of the CSC Inspectorate

Commission of Strata Corporations to Host Public Forum

Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Hon. Daryl Vaz (centre), displays a signed copy of the Instrument of Ratification of the Paris Agreement on climate change during a seminar at the Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel in St. Andrew today (April 11). Others sharing the moment (from left) are Deputy Resident Representative, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Elsie Laurence Chounoune; and Principal Director, Climate Change Division, Una-May Gordon. The Paris Agreement, which was adopted at the Climate Change Summit in Paris in December 2015, signals the commitment of the international community to combat climate change and its wide-ranging effects.

9 years ago Economic Growth & Infrastructure Development

Jamaicans Urged to Take Steps to Mitigate Climate Change

Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Hon. Daryl Vaz, is urging Jamaicans to take proactive steps to adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change. These include practising proper disposal of garbage, carpooling to reduce the carbon footprint, and conserving and recycling water. Minister Vaz, who was addressing a climate change seminar at...

Executive Director of the Scientific Research Council (SRC), Dr. Cliff Riley (right), listens to a point being made by Senior Lecturer and Science Centre Coordinator at Church Teachers’ College, Tillack Hardeen (left), at the opening of a two-day Caribbean Science Education and Technology Conference, at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in Kingston on April 10. At centre is Project Manager of the Improving Innovation Capacities in the Caribbean (INVOCAB) Project, Tamika Drummond.

9 years ago Science

SRC Head Says More Practical Approaches Needed to Teach the Sciences

Executive Director of the Scientific Research Council (SRC), Dr. Cliff Riley, says more practical approaches are needed in the teaching of the sciences in schools. He noted that the reason some students continue to struggle with those subjects in external examinations like the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC), is due to their “unattractiveness”. “When you look at the passes in...

Members of the Ophthalmology Medical Mission and personnel of the Mandeville Regional Hospital. The team performed 257 cataract surgeries from April 8 to 10. In the front row (from left) are CEO of the Mandeville Regional Hospital, Alwyn Miller; sponsor of the medical mission, Dr Koran Patel, and co-founders of Mind Body and Soul Health Ministry, Hillary and Horace Morgan.

9 years ago Health & Wellness

257 Persons Receive Surgeries to Remove Cataracts

Cataract surgeries were performed on 257 Jamaicans at the Mandeville Regional Hospital between April 8 and 10, by a team from Mind Body and Soul Ophthalmology Mission. This brings to 750 the number of such surgeries performed by the team over a three-year period. Sponsored by Drs. Koran and Pallavi Patel Family Foundation, the mission saw Drs. Nitin Shaw, Nirav...

Finance and the Public Service Minister, Hon. Audley Shaw. (FILE)

9 years ago Finance & Public Service

Reduction in Property Taxes

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw, has announced a reduction in the property tax rates. Speaking in the House of Representatives, today (April 11), Mr. Shaw said the Government has listened to the concerns expressed by some quarters in the society who felt that the additional taxes were too much over a short time. The Government...

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, emphasises a point during a discussion with Jamaica Manufacturers’ Association President, Metry Seaga.

9 years ago Commerce

Private-Sector Leaders Give Views on High Levels of Business and Consumer Confidence

Private-sector leaders have attributed the unprecedented high levels of business and consumer confidence in the economy to several key factors. Notable among these, according to Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC) Immediate Past President, Warren McDonald, is successive Administrations’ commitment, particularly within recent years, to continue policies and programmes initiated by their predecessors that are deemed feasible. Mr. McDonald says persons...

Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Hon. Desmond McKenzie.

9 years ago Local Government

Facilities to be Provided for Persons Abandoned at Hospitals

Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Hon. Desmond McKenzie, says facilities will be built on the grounds of infirmaries to accommodate persons who have been abandoned at hospitals. He noted that the move, which will be undertaken in partnership with the Ministry of Health, will free up the bed-space in hospitals and “make room for those patients who need...

Local Government and Community Development Minister and Member of Parliament for West Kingston, Hon. Desmond McKenzie (2nd right); and Managing Director of the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), Omar Sweeney (left), hand over a mosquito net to Tivoli Gardens resident, Tara Clarke (2nd left), who is holding her newborn. Sharing the moment is Director of the Environmental Health Services in the Ministry of Health, Everton Baker. Several residents of West Kingston were presented with mosquito nets and water container covers during a ceremony held on April 11 at Tivoli Gardens Community Centre in Kingston.

9 years ago Social Security

West Kingston Residents Receive Mosquito Nets and Container Lids

The Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), on Tuesday (April 11), distributed mosquito nets and lids for water storage containers to residents of West Kingston. The intervention, under the agency’s $3-million SUPER 18 Zik-V Project, aims to minimise exposure to the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is responsible for spreading diseases such as the chikungunya and Zika viruses and dengue fever. A...