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Children Advocate, Mary Clarke, while lauding the Foster Care Programme as a viable alternative to the institutionalisation of children in need of care and protection, has made a number of proposals to improve its effectiveness and efficiency. The recommendations, which include mechanisms to properly assess those with learning disabilities, increasing the stipend paid to foster parents, and developing minimum standards...

The parish of the St. Mary was the stop for the Local Government Department on Thursday (Feb.18) as it continued its island-wide series of symposia, aimed at engaging ordinary Jamaicans in the process of developing a 20-year sustainable development plan for their communities and parishes. The event, held at the Anglican Church Hall in Port Maria, attracted a large turnout...

A team of Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC) and National Works Agency (NWA) officials and engineers, lead by Deputy Mayor of Kingston, Councillor Lee Clarke, toured the Liguanea Post Office on Thursday, to get a firsthand look at its structural condition. The tour was triggered by a report to the KSAC Council from the Corporation's City Engineer, Norman Shand,...

Initiatives being undertaken by government towards the sustainable development of Portland were recently outlined to residents and other stakeholders by Minister with responsibility for Information and Member of Parliament for Western Portland, Hon. Daryl Vaz. Speaking at the function held on Tuesday (February 16) at the College of Agriculture, Science and Education (CASE), Mr. Vaz stated that the government is...

The Prime Minister, the Hon Bruce Golding, has said that Jamaica needs to accelerate the national switchover to a digital telecommunications system to boost education and investment. Speaking at the official opening of the Spectrum Management Authority's (SMA) office on Harbour Street, downtown Kingston on Thursday (February 18), Mr Golding said that a digital switchover would make more frequencies available...

The Public Sector Transformation Unit (PSTU) is moving to put several measures in place to ensure that staff welfare issues are adequately dealt with during the public sector rationalisation process. Human Resource Specialist on the PSTU team, Ward Mills, told a news briefing today (February 18) at Jamaica House that "we are very aware of the fact that whatever happens...

The process of community development was extensively discussed at the Portland leg of the one-day Vision 2030 Symposium, held at the College of Agriculture, Science and Education (CASE), in Portland, on February 16. Attended by representatives from a number of communities and community organisations in the parish, the session facilitated discussions on how the organisations can best contribute to parish...

Dear ColleaguesSince the beginning of the year, we have analysed the matrices submitted by the Ministries, Departments and Agencies. That is, we have looked at their subjects, budget, services provided, staffing, as well as, their own recommendations of what functions should be retained, merged, transferred, reorganized or privatized. We have also held one-on-one discussions and consultations with each Permanent Secretary,...

Prime Minister Bruce Golding will attend two regional meetings in Mexico from February 21-23. The Prime Minister will address the first Mexico-Caricom Summit on Sunday, February 21 where he will make a presentation on trade and development in the region. The meeting provides an opportunity for dialogue between Caricom member states and Mexico in areas of mutual interest. Mr. Golding...

The family of Mr. Ivan Washington Bernard, a 70-year-old-Jamaican from the parish of Hanover, who was residing in the United States of America is being asked to contact the Diaspora and Consular Affairs Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade at 926-4220. Mr. Ivan Washington Bernard died of natural causes in the Cobb County area of the...

A visionary, giant, cultural icon and intellectual were some of the accolades repeatedly echoed today (February 16) as Jamaicans bade farewell to Professor the Hon. Ralston 'Rex' Milton Nettleford, at a thanksgiving service held at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Chapel in Kingston. For a man who wore many caps as an academic, a dancer, choreographer, cultural ambassador...

Former Prime Ministers of Jamaica, the Most Hon Edward Seaga and the Most Hon P.J. Patterson, paid tributes to the late Vice Chancellor Emeritus of the University of the West Indies (UWI), Professor the Hon. Rex Nettleford, during Tuesday's (February 16) sitting of the House of Representatives at Gordon House in Kingston. Mr. Seaga remembered Professor Nettleford as an individual...