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Prime Minister, the Hon. Bruce Golding, says that the Government has an obligation to ensure and safeguard the constitutional rights of all Jamaicans. Mr. Golding was referring to the issues which were at stake in the United States’ Government’s request for the extradition of Christopher Coke in 2009, as he opened his submission at the Commission of Enquiry into the...

KINGSTON – Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Senator, the Hon. Dorothy Lightbourne, has maintained that an e-mail allegedly sent to Solicitor General Douglas Leys from her office was not written by her. Under cross-examination from Attorney, Lord Anthony Gifford, Senator Lightbourne explained that all e-mails sent by her, are sent through her work e-mail address. “It is not my...

Prime Minister Bruce Golding says that development applications are benefitting from the National Environment and Planning Agency’s Development Assistance Centre (DAC). Mr. Golding noted that last month, of 123 applications, 77 per cent or 95 applications were completed within 90 days. Mr. Golding, speaking at the launch of the NEPA DAC on March 16 in Kingston, said that the target...

The Government is expanding the National Customer Service Programme, as part of overall efforts to modernise the public sector, says Chief Standards and Monitoring Officer, National Customer Service Programme, Public Sector Modernisation Unit, Cabinet Office, Michele Gordon-Somers. Speaking at  the opening  of the Customer Service Monitoring and Evaluation System (CSMES) inaugural customised training course, at the Management Institute for National...

The effective and efficient delivery of products and services by the public sector is pivotal to the realisation of the country's National Development Plan, Vision 2030. This was emphasised by Chief Standards and Monitoring Officer, National Customer Service Programme, Public Sector Modernisation Unit, Cabinet Office, Michele Gordon-Somers, at the opening of the Customer Service Monitoring and Evaluation System (CSMES) inaugural...

MANDEVILLE – The Canaan Heights community in Clarendon has received four computers and other office equipment from the Social Development Commission (SDC), as part of the agency’s community safety and security initiative funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Director of Governance at the SDC, Sherine Walker-Francis, told the handing over ceremony at the Canaan Heights Community Centre on...

KINGSTON - The 2011 Housing and Population Census will assist policy makers in making critical decisions in the areas of transportation and communications. Director General of the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN), Sonia Jackson, in an interview with JIS News, said that unlike the last census, questions relating to these sectors have been included in the 2011 survey instrument. “The...

By the end of March, the Companies Office of Jamaica (COJ) will be taking legal action against entities that refuse to comply with the registration requirement under the Registration of Business Names Act. “We will be taking to court all these businesses that have not been registered or have not renewed certification and have been served three notices,” said Compliance...

The Government of Jamaica is deeply concerned about the massive earthquake that struck the eastern section of Japan earlier this morning. Measuring 8.9 on the Richter scale, it is the most severe earthquake ever to have struck Japan and the 7th worst in the history of the world. A large number of persons have been killed and extensive damage done...

Prime Minister, the Hon. Bruce Golding, has announced that a parliamentary by-election and four Local Government by-elections will be held in April. He said that Nomination Day will be next Wednesday, March 16, and Election Day for all five contests will be on Monday, April 4. Mr. Golding made the disclosure Tuesday (March 8) at a press conference at Gordon...

The Office of the Children’s Advocate (OCA) has reported that at least two foreign nationals have been convicted within the past six years for attempting to sell a Jamaican child overseas. In its 2009/10 annual report, the OCA points out  that the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) Trafficking in Persons Unit indicates that since 2005, five incidents of child trafficking cases,...

Prime Minister Bruce Golding says a Sexual Harassment Policy is being developed and a National Gender Policy is to be launched shortly to further strengthen the protection of women. “Despite the advancements made, regrettably, too many of our women are still afflicted by daily challenges in the homes, communities and places of work-challenges that we must consistently strive to minimize...