Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, says the 14 per cent growth in the services industry for the April to June quarter heightens the prospect of sooner-than-anticipated recovery from the economic fallout caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The Planning Institute of Jamica (PIOJ) reported that the industry’s turnout largely spurred a turnaround in...

Justice Minister, Hon. Delroy Chuck, says that Parliament has approved increases in fees for attorneys-at-law empanelled by the Legal Aid Council (LAC). “Now it will go through the regulations committee, which will examine it around next week. It will be gazetted, hopefully before the end of the month, and by then these fees will come into operation,” said Justice Minister,...

The Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) has put a number of measures in place to ensure the safety of electors and the observance of COVID-19 protocols as the Office embarks on the distribution of the new voter identification (ID) cards. The distribution of new voter ID cards will be done alphabetically by surnames. Persons with surnames from A to E...

Drafting instructions are to be issued to the Chief Parliamentary Counsel for amendments to the Bank of Jamaica Act, to facilitate the issuance of the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) by the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ). The move follows approval by Cabinet. Addressing a virtual post-Cabinet press briefing on Wednesday (October 6), Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Hon. Fayval...

Member countries of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) are being encouraged to leverage PAHO’s new ‘One Health’ Policy to reduce the risk of a new pandemic. The policy, approved by regional ministers of health at PAHO’s recent Directing Council meeting, outlines a blueprint for countries to bring together experts and officials from varying sectors to address some of the...

Outstanding payments to teachers who participated in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information’s National Summer School Programme are to be completed by mid-October. Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Dr. Grace McLean, made the disclosure during a virtual post-Cabinet press briefing, held on Wednesday (October 6). Dr. McLean said of the over 3,500 teachers engaged in the sessions, more than...

The Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO) continues to assist local small business owners to access export markets for their products. JAMPRO President, Diane Edwards, noted that the agency has been successful in sourcing markets in the United States (US) for cosmetics producers. “We took a group of cosmetics manufacturers to Atlanta, found them distributors, and they are rolling out their business...