The Energy Management and Efficiency Programme (EMEP) of the Government has been strengthened  with a loan of US$15 million from the Government of Japan. The primary objective of EMEP is to bolster the government’s efforts in the areas of energy efficiency and conservation through the design and implementation of measures targeting key Government facilities as well as fuel usage within...

Finance and the Public Service Minister, Hon. Audley Shaw, says energy diversification, with increased use of renewable solutions, is a strategic priority of the Government in order to achieve sustainable economic growth. The country’s National Energy Policy of 2009-2030 speaks to Jamaica having a secured, diversified and sufficient supply of energy, which will, in turn, support long-term economic and social...

The Government has renewed Jamaica’s policies with the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility Segregated Portfolio Company (CCRIF SC) in the sum of US$6.1 million for 2017/18. According to the Administration’s 2017/18 Fiscal Policy Paper (FPP) Interim Report, the renewals, inclusive of discount, cover eventualities resulting from tropical cyclones, earthquakes and excess rainfall. The FPP, which was tabled in the House...

The Ministry of Finance and the Public Service is reporting improvements in Tax Administration Jamaica’s (TAJ) voluntary compliance matrix for the first quarter of the 2017/18 fiscal year, between April and June. According to the 2017/18 Fiscal Policy Paper Interim Report, upticks were recorded in taxpayer registration, on-time payment rates, and audits conducted. The document, which was tabled in the...

Finance and the Public Service Minister, Hon. Audley Shaw, says the Government plans to engage the Jamaica Productivity Centre (JPC) in identifying ways to spur increased workforce output. Mr. Shaw, who was responding to questions from Central Kingston Member of Parliament, Rev. Ronald Thwaites, during last week’s sitting of the House of Representatives, said productivity has been in “persistent decline”...

President and Chief Executive Officer of First Global Bank, Mariame McIntosh Robinson, is encouraging small business operators to take advantage of the positive signs in the economy to invest in the expansion of their operations. These indicators include a stable currency, low inflation, lower energy costs, strong net international reserves, heightened business and consumer confidence, and multilateral agency support, together...

The application deadline for the Inaugural Public Sector Corporate Governance Awards has been extended to Friday, October 6. The awards are open to all public bodies governed by the Public Bodies Management and Accountability Act, inclusive of statutory bodies, regulatory bodies, authorities, commissions and government-owned entities. Corporate Governance Trainer/Consultant, Ann-Marie Rhoden, speaking at a JIS ‘Think Tank’, today (September 29),...