The Jamaica Social Investment Fund’s (JSIF) Best Kept School Competition is deemed to be reflective of the values of pride, responsibility and community stewardship. This, according to Minister of Education and Youth, Hon. Faval Williams, who was speaking during the competition’s awards ceremony at JSIF’s office in Kingston on Friday (April 5). Mrs. Williams said the programme, which falls under...

The Jamaica Archives and Records Department (JARD) is observing Records and Information Management (RIM) Month in April, with a focus on increasing awareness about the importance of accurate records management in providing holistic solutions to the impacts of climate change. Under the theme ‘Envisioning the Future: Records and Information Management (RIM) in the Age of Climate Change’, the month, which...

Scores of environmental wardens have been certified and recognised for their involvement in community sanitation, by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) and the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA). The JSIF’s Environmental Wardens Programme was implemented under the second phase of the Government of Jamaica Integrated Community Development Project (ICDP 2) Solid Waste Management cycle four sub-project. The Environmental...

The Registrar General’s Department (RGD) is introducing a smart chatbot to improve customer interaction and ease of doing business. The move is part of the agency’s “digitally bold” transformation initiative, introduced since 2020, to bring more of its products and services online to increase efficiency and reduce transaction costs. These include applications for birth, death and marriage certificates. Director of...

The massive digitisation project being undertaken by the Registrar General’s Department (RGD) will assist with the transition to the National Identification System (NIDS). The RGD recently disclosed at a JIS Think Tank that it will be moving to digitise more than 2.4 million records as part of its modernisation process. These include birth, marriage, death, adoption and stillbirth certificates. Chief...

The Registrar General’s Department (RGD) is reporting that it has improved its operational capacity to address the printing backlog of free birth certificates experienced in 2023. Persons are allowed the first copy of a child’s birth certificate free of cost. However, last year, the RGD experienced challenges with providing the service, due to issues with logistics. Speaking at a JIS...

The Government has developed an accelerated construction apprenticeship programme, in partnership with construction firms, to respond to the need for additional labour. Prime Minister, the Most. Hon. Andrew Holness, in making the announcement in his contribution to the 2024/25 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives, on March 21, that the programme will include a three-month pre-apprenticeship period. The apprenticeship...

The National Housing Trust (NHT) will partner with the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development to construct 14 homeless shelters on government lands across the island. This was disclosed by Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, during his contribution to the Budget Debate in the House of Representatives recently. He said the shelters will vary in size and...

Work is underway on the construction of  a road to serve farmers in Mendez Town in Lowe River, Trelawny. The $120 million project is being undertaken by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) in partnership with the Trelawny Municipal Corporation, with Contracts Enterprise as the contracting entity. Managing Director of JSIF, Omar Sweeney, told JIS News that the project will...