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The Development Assistance Centre (DAC), which has been set up at the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), to reduce the turnaround time for the processing of building applications, should be fully operational by mid-June. Minister with responsibility for Information, Telecommunications and Special Projects, Hon. Daryl Vaz, informed that the core staff has already been identified. He said that although...

Prime Minister Bruce Golding today toured sections of Tivoli Gardens, his first visit to his West Kingston constituency since the Security Forces intervened in the community on May 23. Mr. Golding spoke with several residents, some of whom had lost family members in the confrontation between the security forces and gunmen supporting Tivoli strongman Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, which left more...

The Jamaica Red Cross has continued to provide relief for residents of Tivoli Gardens, having expended some $7 million in food and medical supplies since it began humanitarian assistance in that community last week. Speaking with JIS News this morning (June 2), Deputy Director General of the Jamaica Red Cross, Mrs. Lois Hue explained that standard food packages have initially...

The National Meteorological Service has announced that, effective this hurricane season, watches and warnings will be issued 12 hours earlier than in previous years. The announcement was made by Director, National Meteorological Service, Sylvia McGill, at a press conference observing Disaster Preparedness Month at the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management's (ODPEM) headquarters in Kingston, on Tuesday (June 1)....

Director General of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), Ronald Jackson, has said that his organisation has spent some $98 million on project-based interventions in preparing the nation for this year's hurricane season. He noted that this involved the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) funded Natural Hazard Management programme in urban, coastal areas to develop model community disaster...

The Citizen Security and Justice Programme (CSJP) yesterday (May 31) met with residents of West Kingston and stakeholder groups that work in the area, in an effort to assess the state of the communities and develop an action plan to move forward. Programme Manager of the CSJP, Simeon Robinson, informed JIS News in an interview that there was excellent response...

President of the Press Association of Jamaica (PAJ), Byron Buckley, has lauded members of the media for the level of courage they have displayed in covering the police/military operation in sections of West Kingston. "I think the media was courageous in going out there. There are one and two things that we are going to need to review and do...

There needs to be a collective period of internal cleansing and purging on the part of all Jamaicans as the nation recovers from the recent unrest in sections of West Kingston, Psychologist Dr. Leahcim Semaj, has said. "Every single one of us has to play his/her part. (We need to ask), what can we do in our own little way...

To enable the Land Administration and Management Programme (LAMP) to better serve its many clients, consideration is being given to expanding the complement of staff. LAMP, which operates out of the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), was established by the government in 2000, out of a need to assist individuals secure titles for lands they occupied, for which they...

The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) is developing a welfare plan, which will address the needs of children affected by the police/military operation in West Kingston. Deputy Director General at ODPEM, Richard Thompson, told JIS News that the agency has contacted the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in an effort to assist the children. He informed that...

At least 10,000 children and adults affected by the security operation in West Kingston have been receiving food supplies along with medical assistance since Wednesday (May 26). Assistance is being provided to residents in Tivoli Gardens, Denham Town and Hannah Town by the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), Jamaica Red Cross and St. John's Ambulance. Deputy Director...

A new dormitory was opened at the Brown's Town Fire Station, in St. Ann, on Thursday, May 27. It was constructed at a cost of $1.5 million. Speaking at the official opening, Deputy Commissioner in charge of operations at the Jamaica Fire Brigade, Errol Mowatt, commended fire fighters across the island for the way in which they continue to carry...