The National Water Commission (NWC) has commenced operations for the transfer of effluent from the Portmore sewage pumping stations to the Soapberry Wastewater Treatment Plant in St. Catherine. This follows completion of the $2.3-billion Portmore Sewage Project to provide improved sewage-treatment facilities for some 200,000 residents. Under the project, which commenced in 2014, five wastewater treatment plants at Independence City,...

Food For The Poor (FFP) has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of sports gear to the Social Development Commission (SDC) to boost the agency’s community cricket programme. The items include 105 bats, 150 stumps and bails, 17 balls, and six pairs of specialist gloves and pads. Executive Director of FFP, David Mair, handed over the items to Executive...

Rehabilitation of roadways in two parishes is to be completed in the 2017/18 fiscal year, under the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) Basic Needs Trust Fund project. These are the Grierfield road in St. Ann; and Bottom Bonnet road in St. Catherine. A sum of $119 million has been set aside in the 2017/18 Estimates of Expenditure to undertake this...

Three hundred health workers are to receive Disaster Risk Management and Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) training in order to strengthen the capacity of the country’s health sector to respond to natural disasters and emergencies. The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) is undertaking the training under the Caribbean Disaster Risk Management Programme (Health Sector), which is being facilitated...

Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Hon. Desmond McKenzie, is reporting that over $2 million in property taxes have already been collected by the mobile units, which were recently launched in Clarendon and St. Mary. He was addressing a regional sensitisation session with mayors and councillors at the National Police College of Jamaica (NPCJ) in Twickenham Park, St. Catherine...

A sum of $500 million has been allocated for the rehabilitation of 47 kilometres of road structures in Trelawny, Clarendon and Manchester. This will be carried out under the Rural Road Rehabilitation II project being implemented by the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation. As outlined in the 2017-18 Estimates of Expenditures, now before the House of Representatives, the...

The National Water Commission (NWC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the HEART Trust/NTA and Israel-based company, Miya, for the training and capacity building for its management and staff. This is being done under the Kingston and St. Andrew Non-Revenue Water (NRW) Co-Management Project. The training, to include 150 personnel, is to ensure a highly skilled and dedicated...