Government is looking at a programme to make lands available for housing development as part of measures to drive down housing costs for Jamaicans. Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, in making the disclosure at the recent opening of Sagicor Group’s New Brunswick Village in Spanish Town, St. Catherine, said the objective is to make construction of houses more...

Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and registered charitable institutions facing financial hardships are being urged to submit applications under the National Housing Trust (NHT) Contribution Amnesty Programme. The initiative aims to facilitate their recovery and offer relief from interest and penalties on outstanding contributions for eligible entities and will run through to March 2025. Eligible organisations include those that...

Jamaica Post (The Post and Telecommunications Department and Postal Corporation of Jamaica) has been awarded the coveted Postal Security Gold Certification from the Universal Postal Union (UPU). This recognition follows a rigorous assessment of Jamaica Post’s security protocols, positioning the nation's postal network among the elite globally for mail safety, and making Jamaica the third country in the region to...

Information Commissioner, Celia Barclay, is reminding data controllers that the organisation is only accepting online registrations through the My OIC portal on its website. “We are trying to move towards the digital economy that Jamaica wants to create, and we aim to make this process as simple and as easy as possible to have our business functions automated and to...

Attendees at the 10th Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference can expedite their essential documentation needs through the tailored express services provided by the Registrar General’s Department (RGD). This means that those who avail themselves of RGD services today (June 17), are guaranteed prompt availability of their certificates for collection on or before Wednesday, June 19. The Diaspora Conference is being held...

Applications are open for the HEART/NSTA Trust’s Summer of Skills Programme. Jamaicans, aged 15 and older, who are interested in acquiring practical skills for employment or entrepreneurship or who are passionate about the creative arts and technical innovation, are encouraged to apply. Addressing Wednesday’s (June 12) post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House, Managing Director, Dr. Taniesha Ingleton, said the initiative...

Information Commissioner, Celia Barclay, is urging data controllers to register, despite any obstacles they may face in meeting the requirements of the Data Protection Act (DPA) 2020. Ms. Barclay’s plea comes as Jamaica moves forward with the full implementation of the legislation, which aims to safeguard individuals' privacy rights and regulate the processing of personal data across various sectors. In...

The Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) will be processing registration applications for Data Controllers in order of priority. In a public notice published on June 2, the OIC said it is balancing the rights and interests of all people as it phases implementation of the Data Protection Act. In the first phase, from June 1 to August 31, 2024,...

The Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) has established registration fees for Data Controllers. Under the Data Protection Act, persons who hold, receive, use, collect or deal with personally identifiable information of any individual are considered data controllers and must register with the OIC. Registration began on December 1, 2023, and data controllers were given a six-month grace period to...