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The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management's (ODPEM) efforts at building disaster resilient communities will be supported with a $31.3 million provision in the 2010/11 Estimates of Expenditure currently before the House of Representatives. The three-year project, which commenced in July 2008, is intended to improve disaster management communication and planning systems at the national, parish and community levels....

The 25 residents of the Manchester-based Mount Olivet Boys' Home have been inspired to pursue a more meaningful future. More than 23 staff members at the Jamaica Information Service (JIS), some of whom have received mentorship training, visited the home on Saturday (March 27), where they engaged the boys in motivational sessions and other fun-filled activities. Chief Executive Officer of...

A sum of $1.8 million has been allocated to the Carib-HYCOS Project, which is being executed by the Water Resources Authority. Funded by the Government and the European Union (EU), the programme aims to provide a database for improved forecasting of extreme weather events, such as hurricanes, storms and floods. The funds will be spent on training for staff in...

The small ruminant industry has received a total of $50.1 million in the Estimates of Expenditure, which is now before the House of Representatives. This will be spent under the Diversification of the Caribbean Livestock through the Production of Small Ruminants Project, with the aim of contributing to the attainment of self sufficiency in regional meat consumption initially through the...

Solicitor General, Douglas Leys Q.C. has expressed the view that there is need for a CARICOM Regional Insolvency Pact, which would ensure greater creditability and elements of certainty in the regional trading block. To this end, Mr. Leys argued that the possibility exists for a special jurisdiction for the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), in respect of insolvencies arising out...

The Micro, Small and Medium-size Enterprises (MSME) Alliance is to receive $500,000 in budget support, as the Government continues to provide assistance for the sector. Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Hon. Karl Samuda gave the commitment on Wednesday (March 24) at the third annual general meeting of the group held at Jamaica Trade and Invest's Trafalgar Road headquarters. He...

Minister with responsibility for Information, Telecommunication and Special Projects, Hon. Daryl Vaz, has noted that three of the Haitians who arrived in Portland on March 23, were prisoners when the earthquake struck Haiti on January 12. He pointed out that they are currently in the custody of the Port Antonio police and will be returned to Haiti to face the...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw, has said that the Government is looking into a bank insolvency law for Jamaica, which will clearly define how and in what circumstances a bank can be declared broke. Minister Shaw, who was addressing the opening of a three-day banking conference at the Rose Hall Resort and Spa in Montego...

A sum of $14.9 million has been earmarked in the 2010/11 Estimates of Expenditure, currently before the House of Representatives, for the Planning Institute of Jamaica's (PIOJ) Strategic Flexible Funding Facility. The undertaking, jointly funded by the Government and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), aims to respond to the administration's strategic short-term development needs by facilitating the relevant interventions requiring...

The Government is spending an additional $109.4 million this year on the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Project in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), which is scheduled to end in June. The 2010/11 Estimates of Expenditure, tabled in the House of Representatives on Thursday (March 25) states that the project, jointly funded by the Government and the Inter-American...

The Jamaica Information Service (JIS) and the Mount Olivet Boys' Home in Manchester are set to deepen their relationship with the addition of a mentorship programme, carried out by the JIS. The home was adopted by the JIS late last year and the boys were treated to a day of prizes and gifts during the Christmas season. However, the JIS...

Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) representative in Jamaica, Mr. Gerard Johnson, has said that the agency's US$650 million loan agreement negotiated with the Government, represents the largest sum ever to be disbursed to a country as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP), in the institution's history. Speaking at the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica's (PSOJ) Chairman's Club Forum breakfast, held...