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Cabinet met at Jamaica House today for the start of its meeting focusing on the economy, the 2013/2014 Budget and the Growth Agenda. It received a briefing on the status of the IMF discussions and noted specifically that Jamaica has successfully completed all prior actions required by the Fund. Jamaica now awaits a report from the Fund regarding its discussions...

The Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica (BCJ) has concluded its schedule of schools outreach programmes and activities for the 2012/13 financial year, which ends on March 31. Over 4000 primary and high school students islandwide participated in a series of digital presentations, delivered over the past year by the Commission, which plans to embark on another phase shortly. The sessions were...

The Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica (BCJ) wrapped up its sensitisation and awareness meetings in western Jamaica on Wednesday, March 20, with a successful session at Godfrey Stewart High School in Savanna-La-Mar, Westmoreland. More than 150 students took a break from the annual sports day activities to participate in the interactive one-hour session, where they were addressed by Executive Director of...

The Consumer Affairs Commission (CAC) will be relocating its head office from Seaview Avenue, Kingston to a more central location in the city. CAC Chairman, Lorna Green, who made the disclosure at a recent media briefing at the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce in New Kingston, said the move is part of efforts by the agency to improve the...

Legislation is being crafted for the development of a public procurement regime, which will legally separate the National Contracts Commission (NCC) from the Office of the Contractor General (OCG). The independent NCC, will be renamed the Public Procurement Commission. Making the announcement at the Jamaica House press briefing on Wednesday, March 20, Information Minister, Senator the Hon. Sandrea Falconer, explained...

Cabinet has approved the sale of the Oceana Hotel complex to the National Health Fund (NHF) for $350 million. The Ministry of Health will continue to occupy the building, which will be rehabilitated, to provide an improved environment for Ministry staff and the public. Minister with responsibility for Information, Senator the Hon. Sandrea Falconer, in making the announcement at the...

Cabinet will begin a two-day retreat on Sunday, March 24. Minister with responsibility for Information, Senator the Hon. Sandrea Falconer, made the announcement at the weekly Jamaica House press briefing on Wednesday, March 20. She said that the Cabinet Ministers will discuss the various programmes and plans and the Government’s strategic priorities, as the new fiscal year approaches. Focus will...

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller, has congratulated telecommunications company Digicel, for its bold investment in downtown Kingston and the role it continues to play as a full service Information and Communication Technology (ICT) provider in Jamaica. She said the decision by the company to establish its state-of-the-art headquarters downtown, “clearly demonstrates that Digicel has caught both the...

Some 48 houses are earmarked for construction at a cost of $20 million, under the pilot phase of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security’s Social Housing Project. The initiative, being jointly undertaken with charity organisation, Food for the Poor (FFTP) which is spearheading the construction, is being facilitated through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by both entities. This...

Plans are well advanced for this year’s staging of the Prime Minister’s Youth Awards for Excellence and Jamaican Youth in Concert, scheduled to take place on Sunday, March 24, at Emancipation Park, New Kingston. Nearly 30 young men and women, 15 to 24 years old, will be honoured for achievement in sports, agriculture, academics, leadership, journalism, arts and culture, youth...

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller says household workers, who are predominantly women, occupy positions of importance and make their contribution to national development. “This largely female cadre has contributed throughout every period of our history to the fundamentals of our development,” said the Prime Minister. She was speaking at the launch of the Jamaica Household Workers Union on Friday, March...

Jamaica’s Ambassador to the United States (US), Professor Stephen Vasciannie, says strong partnerships are needed in the fight against the lottery scam. “We cannot live like this. Jamaica will destroy its tourism sector, its remittance sector, and business sector more generally, if the country assumes that the rest of the world will eventually ignore the lottery scam problem,” Ambassador Vasciannie...