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A project to modernise Jamaica's vital statistics and civil registration systems will receive $42 million from the 2010/2011 Budget. 'Transforming the Vital Statistics Data Collection' is designed to improve inter-agency co-ordination and communication, data collection, processing and management and resource strengthening. It seeks to strengthen capacities within the Ministries of Health, National Security (Police Statistic Unit), Justice (Coroner's Courts), the...

A sum of $120.6 million has been allocated in the 2010/11 Estimates of Expenditure for the rehabilitation and maintenance of buildings being utilised by the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service. As outlined in the Estimates, tabled in the House on March 25 by the Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw, $90.6 million has been...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw is to outline to the country how the $503.9 billion budget for 2010/11 will be financed, when he opens the Budget Debate on Thursday, April 8, at Gordon House. When the Minister tabled the Estimates of Expenditure in the House on March 25, the figures showed that $499.38 billion was...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, the Hon Audley Shaw, has announced that Property Taxes will be increased effective Thursday, April 1. Minister of Finance and the Public Service, the Hon Audley Shaw The flat rate which is applicable to unimproved values up to $300,000 will be increased from the current $600 to $1,000. For unimproved values exceeding $300,000,...

Cabinet has concluded preliminary discussions with the Public Sector Transformation Unit (PSTU) on its initial recommendations for the restructuring of Government ministries, departments and agencies. The announcement was made by Minister with responsibility for Information Telecommunications and Special Projects, Hon. Daryl Vaz, during the weekly Post Cabinet media briefing, at Jamaica House on Wednesday (March 31). Mr. Vaz also stated...

Budgetary support, in the sum of $14.5 million, has been provided in the 2010/11 Estimates of Expenditure currently before Parliament, for the development of a National Statistics System by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN). The undertaking, which started in October 2009, aims to support the development of an effective system that will enhance data management in the private and...

Arterial roads will receive some attention in the new fiscal year, through the provision of $106 million to the Ministry of Transport and Works, to improve the road network linking major towns. As set out in the Estimates of Expenditure tabled in the House of Representatives on March 25, the bulk of the money - $97.5 million - will go...

The Government has allocated some $31 million to Mitigate the Threat of Invasive Alien Species (AIS) in the Insular Caribbean, in the 2010/11 Estimates of Expenditures now before the House of Representatives. Invasive alien species are plants, animals, pathogens and other organisms that are non-native to an ecosystem, and which may cause economic or environmental harm or adversely affect human...

The Government will spend $15 million this year on the National Irrigation Development Project, as it seeks to improve crop production and diversity, thereby increasing farm incomes and rural employment in the long term. This is contained in the 2010/11 Estimates of Expenditure, which is now before the House of Representatives. The National Irrigation Development Plan has three pilot projects...

The Government has provided $86.5 million in the 2010/11 Budget to improve fire protection services provided by the Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB). Of the total sum, $35 million will be spent on spare parts to repair five vehicles, while $30.7 million will be used for the procurement of equipment, such as standby generators, gas warning devices, breathing apparatus and protective...

Governor of the Bank of Jamaica, Bryan Wynter, has challenged regional financial regulators and policy makers to seek to resolve problems related to cooperation on a response to issues related to banking enterprises operating in more than one jurisdiction. The Governor, who was addressing the recently concluded 3-day Regional Technical Assistance Conference on Bank Insolvency in the Caribbean: Law and...

The Tax Administration has announced that it will be taking strong action against business persons who had failed to file their income tax returns or pay their taxes to meet the March 15 deadline. This measure is being taken by the tax authority to send a strong message to delinquent taxpayers that they have an obligation to file and pay...