Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, says Jamaica stands to benefit significantly from overseas trips made by Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness. In addition to improved economic, bilateral and trade relations, the overseas visits allow for the country to participate in critical investment fora, and to increase engagement with the diaspora. “We are...

Jamaica has been lauded for undertaking a voluntary national review (VNR) to support local implementation of the United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This praise comes from Economic Affairs Officer, UN Department for Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), Anya Thomas, who said Jamaica will be reporting on its progress to the organisation’s High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development...

The National Insurance Scheme (NIS) will be streamlining its services to enable more efficient processing of pensions and benefits. Director of the NIS, Portia Magnus, told JIS News that among the changes is the revision of forms, which will assist in gathering more details of applicants, thereby reducing processing time. “We are in the process of revising our forms. We...

Co-Executive Director of the Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CaPRI), Dr. Damien King, says there is merit in the Government’s proposed relocation of public bodies’ financial resources to the Consolidated Fund. Speaking on the Jamaica Information Service (JIS) television programme, ‘Issues and Answers’, on March 24, Dr. King said it is understandable that within Jamaica’s tight fiscal space, State entities would...

Residents of four informal settlements in St. Catherine and St. Andrew are to benefit from regularisation of their housing developments. The Government will be upgrading these properties at an estimated cost of $12.5 million. This follows Cabinet’s approval of the compulsory acquisition and improvement of the four privately owned parcels of land. Details were provided by Minister of Education, Youth...

The Jamaica Information Service (JIS) on Tuesday (October 11) kicked off its annual Heritage Month school tours with stops at Half-Way Tree and Mona Heights Primary schools in the Corporate Area. The institutions were the first of the more than 20 to be presented with heritage packages comprising books and posters produced by the agency. Expressing gratitude for the publications,...

Several issues affecting public broadcasting in Jamaica will be discussed at Symposium 2016, scheduled to take place from October 18-20 at the Jamaica Conference Centre, downtown Kingston. The event, organised by the Public Broadcasting Corporation of Jamaica (PBCJ) will be held under the theme ‘Public Broadcasting: Agenda for the Future’. Among the topics to be discussed are ‘Defining Public Broadcasting:...

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, is urging citizens to take all necessary precautions in preparation for Hurricane Matthew, which could impact the island as early as Sunday (October 2). Addressing an emergency meeting with heads of agencies at the Office of the Prime Minister, yesterday (September 29), Mr. Holness said the Government is now on high alert as...

Cabinet has approved several multimillion-dollar contracts for expansion of the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector, and for infrastructural work across the island. They include a US$5-million contract to China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), for foundation works for some 63,000 square feet of BPO space in the Montego Bay Free Zone, St. James. Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Senator the...