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Minister with responsibility for Information, Senator the Hon. Sandrea Falconer, says Jamaica has made significant progress towards the full empowerment of women since independence. “We have elected a female Prime Minister, which means that we have broken the glass ceiling at the highest level of political leadership,” she said, noting that several key positions in the public service, such as...

Minister with responsibility for Information, Senator the Hon. Sandrea Falconer, says the Government is committed to continuing the empowerment of the nation’s women and girls, through increased access to information. “The government fully supports access to information and liberalisation of information flows, particularly critical scientific and technical information. We believe that women stand to benefit more from this open access....

The Universal Service Fund (USF) is reporting collections of more than $9.7 billion as at February 5, 2013. The funds, generated from incoming telephone calls, will be utilised to accelerate the deployment of broadband services islandwide, in keeping with Government’s efforts to enable more Jamaicans to access Information and Communication Technology (ICT). This includes the creation of an ICT platform...

Prime Minister, the Most. Hon. Portia Simpson Miller, on Tuesday, March 5, met with over 100 church leaders across varying denominations to discuss the country’s Economic Reform Programme and to seek their input. The Prime Minister told the leaders, at the meeting held at the Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown Kingston, “throughout our history, in times of crisis, we have...

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has died. An emotional vice-president Nicolas Maduro made the announcement on Tuesday evening. Mr. Chavez had not appeared in public since he returned to Venezuela last month after cancer treatment in Cuba. Under the constitution, the head of Venezuela's Congress, Diosdado Cabello, will assume the interim presidency before an election is held.

Minister with responsibility for Information, Senator the Hon. Sandrea Falconer, says the Government is looking at the option of providing the National Housing Trust (NHT) with lands in exchange for the $44 billion contribution from the Trust to support the national budget. Addressing the weekly Jamaica House press briefing on Wednesday, February 27, Minister Falconer stated that the NHT is...

The media, students, researchers, the general public, and other stakeholders can now visit the Office of the Prime Minister’s new, interactive web portal, which was launched on Wednesday, February 27. The new-look website, www.opm.gov.jm, which was designed by the Jamaica Information Service (JIS), is also maintained by the agency. Making the announcement and introducing the various features of the website,...

More Jamaicans are expected to become title holders, following a 10 year-extension of the Land Administration and Management Programme II (LAMP II). As part of the expansion, Korea Cadastral Survey Corporation (KCSC), has injected an initial US$2 million in the programme, and has an option to invest up to US$26 million over the period. Under the programme, five more parishes,...

A Bill to facilitate the withdrawal of $11.4 billion annually from the National Housing Trust (NHT), to provide budgetary support for the Government over the next four years, was tabled in the House of Representatives, on Tuesday, February 26. The Bill, entitled the National Housing Trust (Special Provisions) Act 2013, was tabled by Minister of Finance and Planning, Dr. the...

Newly appointed Contractor General, Dirk Harrison, is imploring all stakeholders to assist his office in a renewed fight against corruption. “It cannot be business as usual. We cannot keep ‘passing the buck’…waiting for the next generation or the next person to solve or begin to seriously tackle the ills of today. We must be prepared to do whatever it takes,...

The country’s fifth Contractor General, Dirk Harrison, was on Monday, February 25, sworn into office by Governor-General, His Excellency the Most. Hon. Sir Patrick Allen. Addressing the swearing-in ceremony at King’s House, the Governor-General commended Mr. Harrison on accepting the charge to serve his country, in a capacity that is often challenging. The Governor-General noted that much is required of...

Minister with responsibility for Information, Senator the Hon. Sandrea Falconer, says that support for the National Debt Exchange (NDX) has been “extraordinary” and has expressed the Government’s appreciation. “We want to thank all the banks and private individuals, who have expressed an interest in participating in the NDX and who have given their full support. Without the NDX, what we...