Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Hon. Desmond McKenzie (left), in discussion with Japan’s Ambassador to Jamaica, His Excellency Yasuhiro Atsumi, during a courtesy call at the Ministry’s Hagley Park Road offices in Kingston, on Tuesday (March 7).

The Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB) conducted thousands of routine building inspections during the 2022 calendar year, to ensure conformity with fire prevention regulations. A total of 7,795 buildings were examined by the Fire Prevention Department, representing a 16 per cent increase over the 6,718 structures inspected the previous year. Additionally, 2,021 buildings were certified last year, which is 447 more...

Jamaica’s constitutional reform process is designed to be deliberately slow, to allow citizens time to think about the kind of changes they want. Minister of Legal and Constitutional Affairs, Hon. Marlene Malahoo Forte, indicated this as she spoke about the procedure for Jamaica to become a republic, during a recent Ministerial briefing with diplomats at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs...

The Government is providing tax relief totalling approximately $153.33 million during fiscal year 2023/24. This will result from the provision of Income Tax Credit, totalling $100 million, on the installation of residential solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, and the removal of General Consumption Tax (GCT) on the importation of live horses, small ruminants and pigs, amounting to $53.33 million. Minister of...

Coffee farmers in Portland, St. Andrew and St. Thomas are being invited to attend a ‘Farmers’ Trade Day’, slated for Tuesday, March 14, at the Alfred Sangster Auditorium, University of Technology (UTech) Jamaica, beginning at 9:00 a.m. The event is being organised by the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) and the Jamaica Agricultural Commodities Regulatory Authority (JACRA), with support from...

Two recipients from the first cohort of Marcus Garvey Public Sector Graduate Scholarship Programme awardees, have graduated from their respective universities and are now the holders of master’s degrees. Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, made the disclosure as he opened the 2023/24 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday (March 7)....

Jamaica’s economy is estimated to have expanded by 3.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2022, signaling the country’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, said data from the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) indicates that by December 2022, Jamaica not only achieved but surpassed pre-COVID levels of...