The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) will be conducting more regular earthquake drills as part of its national strategic response. The simulation exercises will assist persons to be better prepared and help to ease anxiety about earthquakes among the public, Acting Deputy Director General at ODPEM, Michelle Edwards, told JIS News. “Once we can have them and...

Promising young leaders from the 14 Municipal Corporations participated in the Local Government & Community Month 2023 Youth Mayors’ Forum, staged at the Grand Bahia Principe Hotel in Runaway Bay, St. Ann, on November 16. The event served as a platform for Youth Mayors to showcase their respective initiatives, aimed at improving their parishes. Addressing the assembly, Minister of Local...

The Office of Disaster Preparedness & Emergency Management (ODPEM) wishes to advise the public that the Island is now under a Flash Flood Watch. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH means that flash flooding is possible, and residents are advised to take precautionary measures, keep informed by listening to further releases from the Meteorological Service and be ready for quick action if...

A National Risk Information Platform (NRIP) is being developed to support the work of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) and the National Data Spatial Management Branch (NDSMB). The platform’s development is being facilitated under the Disaster Vulnerability Reduction Project (DVRP), being implemented by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) with World Bank financing. Speaking during a...

The Ministry of Local Government and Community Development will be increasing the number of building officers employed to the island’s Municipal Corporations to bolster their capacity to enforce the building approval procedures. Portfolio Minister, Hon. Desmond McKenzie, who made the disclosure, said that the move has become necessary due to the increasing number of construction projects taking place across the...

With the country recording 3,147 suspected, presumed and confirmed dengue cases, as well as nine deaths, there is a call for persons to take action to minimise the spread of the virus. Making the call, Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, said monitoring of water-storage containers for mosquito breeding must be done regularly, keeping surroundings “free...

Ten additional Municipal Corporations are being provided with FortiGate devices, valued approximately $12.3 million, to strengthen their digital framework and boost their technological capabilities. The Ministry of Local Government and Community Development, through collaboration with the National Works Agency (NWA), e-Gov Jamaica Limited and the Universal Service Fund (USF), was able to procure FortiGate Firewalls to improve the Corporations’ information...

The Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB) responded to 9,973 genuine calls over the period January to September this year, says Deputy Commissioner of Fire and Rescue Operations, Kevin Haughton. Speaking to the media following the staging of an Open Day at the Montego Bay Fire Station in St. James recently, Mr. Haughton said this represented a 59 per cent increase compared...

An interministerial body, headed by the Ministry of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport, is advanced in putting measures in place to address the issue of prank calls to emergency service providers. Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Hon. Desmond McKenzie, in making the disclosure in the House of Representatives on Tuesday (Oct. 31), said the work of the interministerial...