The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Executive Board is expected to consider a Staff Level Agreement reached with the Government of Jamaica, to lower the primary surplus target by 0.5 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by the 2016/17 fiscal year. Once approved, when the Board meets in December, this would result in an additional $4 billion for 2015/16,...

Justice Minister, Senator the Hon. Mark Golding will receive the Kurt Schmoke (previously the Justice Gerald Le Dain) Award for Achievement in the Field of Law at the International Drug Policy Reform Conference in the D.C. metro area on Friday, November 20. The award recognizes those involved in law who have worked within official institutions when extremist pressures dominate government...

A new block of classrooms was officially opened at the BB Coke High School in St. Elizabeth, on November 12, by Minister of Education, Hon. Rev. Ronald Thwaites. The new classrooms will provide more seats to comfortably accommodate the more than 1,400 students who attend the institution. The school was experiencing challenges finding adequate classroom space for students, after it...

Consumers are being advised to make a report to the relevant authorities, when they are sold food that is not fit for consumption. “If you are sold unfit food or food in damaged packaging, you should make a formal complaint to your health authorities,” said Regional Veterinary Public Health Supervisor, South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA), Veron Denton. He said...

The number of Community Access Points (CAP) established by the Government in Portmore, St. Catherine, has increased to 13. This follows Thursday’s (November 12) official opening of the latest facility, developed at a cost of over $3 million under the Universal Service Fund (USF). Science, Technology, Energy and Mining Minister, Hon. Phillip Paulwell, opened the CAP site, which is located...

In light of the announcement by the Caribbean Public Health Agency on Thursday, November 12, 2015 that the zika virus has been detected in a Caribbean country, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Marion Bullock DuCasse says persons need to be more vigilant and take their responsibility as citizens seriously by cleaning up their environment and destroying mosquito breeding sites. The Chief...

In a bid to better manage the nation’s public finances, Cabinet has given its approval for amendments to be made to the Act which provides the framework to deal with this subject. Cabinet has given instructions to the Chief Parliamentary Counsel for the drafting of amendments to the Public Debt Management Act (PDMA), 2012 and its attendant regulations. Making the...