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Prime Minister the Hon. Bruce Golding has called on the region's disaster management professionals to empower communities to manage their own disaster prevention and risk recovery. He identified this as an area that is seriously lacking in the region's response mechanisms. Speaking at the opening ceremony for the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), in Montego Bay (December 8), Mr....

The Ministry of Finance and the Public Service has ceased the granting of discretionary waivers on taxes on duties, effective December 1, in light of significant reductions in revenue inflows during the first half of the 2009/10 fiscal year. Speaking at Wednesday's (December 9) post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House, Minister with responsibility for Information, Telecommunications and Special Projects in...

Prime Minister the Hon. Bruce Golding, says that Jamaica has done "reasonably well" in striking a balance between development and the protection of the environment but admits that much more needs to be done. "We have done considerable work in the policies that we have developed over time and in the regulations that we have presented," the Prime Minister said....

Prime Minister the Hon. Bruce Golding has said that poverty is a major contributing factor to environmental degradation and that any programme focused on the environment must include measures to address the needs of the poor. The Prime Minister was delivering the keynote address on Tuesday (December 8) at the 4th Caribbean Conference on Comprehensive Disaster Management at the Rose...

Prime Minister the Hon. Bruce Golding has expressed regret at the recent passing of Jamaica's first Parliamentary Ombudsman, Errington George Green, who died at the age of 83. Mr. Golding noted that Ombudsman Green, an attorney-at-law, established himself as one who provided exemplary service to his country for over 50 years. Throughout his years in the government service, E.G. Green...

The Ministry of Labour and Social Security has disbursed $5.7 million of grant money to 57 vendors whose stock was destroyed in the Oxford Mall fire of October 27. The grant came as the result of an intervention of the Prime Minister who saw the plight of the vendors first hand when he visited on the day of the fire....

Minister with responsibility for Information, Telecommunications and Special Projects in the Office of the Prime Minister, Hon. Daryl Vaz, has said that an agreement reached Tuesday (December 8) between recording artistes Mavado (David Brooks) and Vybz Kartel (Adidja Palmer) at Jamaica House in Kingston, should reduce tensions between their fans. "The meeting was very amicable. The issues raised by both...

Prime Minister the Hon. Bruce Golding has said the delay in the appointment of a new United States Ambassador to Jamaica may have been due to the State Department's pre-occupation with other matters. Speaking in Parliament on Tuesday (December 8), Mr. Golding cited what he said was a general delay in the "processing and approval of the President's nominees for...

The Government Tuesday (December 8) handed over cheques amounting to some $5.7 million to registered vendors who lost stalls and goods in the recent Oxford Mall fire, downtown Kingston. Of the 68 vendors affected, 57 received cheques valued at $100,000 each, during a brief ceremony held at the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation's (KSAC) Markets Department, at the Bus Terminus,...

Minister with responsibility for information, Daryl Vaz has emphasized government's responsibility to intervene in the situation created by the Gully Gaza controversy which has resulted in tension between the fans of dancehall artistes Movado and Vybz Kartel. Minister Vaz along with Minister of Education, Andrew Holness, Security Minister Dwight Nelson, representatives of the Ministry of Youth, Culture and Sports, head...

Disaster mitigation stakeholders from some 30 countries in the Caribbean, Latin America and the South Pacific, are in the island for the 4th Caribbean Conference on Comprehensive Disaster Management (CDM). The five-day conference, which got underway yesterday (December 7) at the Rose Hall Resort and Spa in Montego Bay St. James, is being held under the theme: 'Strengthening CDM through...

Prime Minister the Hon. Bruce Golding told young people that they must put aside bad examples of elders and take responsibility for their own actions. He was speaking at the Prime Minister's Youth Awards for Excellence on Sunday (December 6) at the Emancipation Park in Kingston where 27 outstanding youth were recognised and 16 received awards. "Young people must start...