The Senate on Friday (February 22) approved legislation to retake ownership of the 49 per cent shares in Petrojam held by the Venezuelan State-owned oil and natural gas company, Petróleos de Venezuela (PDV) Caribe. The Compulsory Acquisition (Shares in Petrojam Limited) Act, 2019 was piloted by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, and Leader of Government Business in the...

The Government has earmarked approximately $1.75 billion to continue work under the Jamaica Foundations for Competitiveness and Growth Project. The objective of the undertaking is to strengthen Jamaica’s business environment to facilitate private-sector investment by enhancing competition; facilitating strategic private investments; strengthening the capacity of small and medium-sized enterprises; and financing policy and societal sensitisation through project implementation, monitoring and...

The Government will be intensifying measures to address challenges in the agriculture sector and improve the market potential of Jamaica’s fresh produce locally and internationally. This will be facilitated under the Agriculture Competitiveness Programme Bridging Project, which has been allocated some $326 million in the 2019/20 Estimates of Expenditure now before the House of Representatives. Several key strategies will be...

The Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC) will be staging a Food Safety and Sanitation Workshop for food business operators on March 7. The session will be held at the JBDC’s Incubator and Resource Centre, Unit 10A, 76 Marcus Garvey Drive, starting at 9:00 a.m. It is open to all persons in the field of agro-processing, from manufacturers to restaurateurs, and...

The Government has allocated approximately $628 million to the Essex Valley Irrigation Infrastructure Development Programme, which aims to boost the yield of crops in the arable St. Elizabeth region by at least 90 per cent. The money has been set aside in the 2019/20 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives. Being implemented by the Ministry of Industry,...

The Government plans to lobby the support of the international community, particularly the United States, for the Jamaican cannabis industry’s development. Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries Minister, Hon. Audley Shaw, says this partly stems from reluctance by local banks to fund the industry’s growth, due to fear of international de-risking, citing this as a major impediment with serious economic implications...

The Food Storage and Prevention of Infestation Division (FSPID), in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries (MICAF) has confiscated 70 metric tonnes (1575 bags) of White Cinderella rice, valued at approximately $4.6 million, which was imported from Guyana by a local distributor. Upon inspection the rice had signs of mould growth, clumping, discolouration and wetting. As a result,...