Jamaica is one step closer to implementing a new identification system, following the passage of the National Identification and Registration Act, 2021 in the House of Representatives on October 13. The National Identification System (NIDS) will provide a comprehensive and secure structure to enable the collection and storage of identity information. This secure voluntary tool can also verify an individual’s...

Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, says Jamaica has welcomed a total of 1,285,368 visitors since the reopening of the country’s borders in June 2020, with estimated earnings of US$1.7 billion. He said that the figures, up to September 2021, comprise approximately 1,276,987 stopover visitors and 8,381 cruise passengers. He noted that the forecast for 2021 is for 1.57 million visitors...

Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, says 60 per cent of the country’s tourism workers are vaccinated. Providing an update in the House of Representatives on October 13, Mr. Bartlett said the vaccination of tourism workers is key to the sector’s full recovery. He noted that the vaccination rate among tourism workers was more than double the national average, adding that...

Vulnerable persons and those adversely affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic are to benefit from a $1-billion national food drive being implemented by the Government. Through the initiative, dubbed the ‘CARE Package Food Drive’, between 200,000 and 250,000 food baskets will be distributed to targeted persons under the Government’s COVID Allocation of Resources for Employees (CARE) Programme, which is being...

The second staging of the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service Wealth Summit is set for Wednesday, October 20, 2021. Digital Financial Inclusion will be the focus of the event. Digital financial inclusion involves the deployment of cost-saving digital means to reach the financially excluded, underserved populations with a range of formal financial services suited to their needs. The...

Several road projects totalling $325 million have been approved and are at various stages of procurement for the Trelawny Northern constituency. They include Rio Bueno to Jackson Town (the Brampton Leg), Salt Marsh to Kent; Deeside to Dromilly, Falmouth to Springvale (the Martha Brae Leg), Falmouth to Springvale (the Wakefield to Deeside Leg), and the Construction of a box culvert...

Jamaica is among four Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) member countries slated to benefit from 1.3 million doses of coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines, recently donated by the United States, Canada, Germany and Spain. Director, Dr. Carissa Etienne, said these will be used to boost vaccination coverage in Argentina, Guyana, Honduras and Jamaica. Additionally, she said PAHO is supporting Jamaica, along with...