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The Government of Jamaica's Emergency Response Initiative (ERI), aimed at enhancing the country's preparation and response capacity in disaster management, was officially launched yesterday (May 29) at the St. Mary High School. The programme, which is being executed at a cost of $90 million, through the Emergency Recovery Project, involves collaboration between the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management...

Prime Minister Bruce Golding, today (May 28), presented a motorised wheelchair to Sergeant Cecil Smythe, during a ceremony at the City Centre Police Station, in downtown Kingston. The wheelchair will assist the committed policeman, who was made physically challenged some 22 years ago after being accidentally shot by a colleague while on duty, to move around more comfortably while carrying...

Prime Minister Bruce Golding has assured redundant sugar workers that within a month they will be receiving payments due to them. Last night (May 27) he told listeners on his call-in radio programme Jamaica House Live, "We gave an undertaking that redundancy payments will be made in June. Both the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture confirmed to...

The Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC) has embarked on an islandwide drive to help small business operators position themselves to secure contracts. As part of the Government's stimulus package, Prime Minister the Hon. Bruce Golding announced in December that the Government would facilitate small business access to at least 15 per cent of Government contracts. The JBDC has taken a...

Prime Minister the Bruce Golding told residents of Portmore, Tuesday night (May 26), that the Government is seeking to address decades-old sewage disposal problems in the community with Japanese Government support. "We have made a submission to the Japanese Government, there is a special loan facility that they have provided, and we have included it in the list of projects...

President of the Jamaica Institute of Environmental Professionals (JIEP), Marcia Creary, has said that the global economic crisis has brought the implications of climate change into sharp focus, and the need to address the issue promptly. Speaking at the opening ceremony for the JIEP's Fourth Conference on the Environment on May 26 at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston, Miss...

Prime Minister the Hon. Bruce Golding, in remarking on the stress on Jamaica's justice system, noted that for last year alone, there were some 345,000 cases listed for the Resident Magistrates Courts. This does not include the numbers listed in the Supreme Court or the Court of Appeal. Of the total, some 90 percent involve criminal offences. Mr. Golding was...

Prime Minister the Hon. Bruce Golding confirmed last night that the Government has received a substantial offer for the purchase of the Forum Hotel in Portmore, St. Catherine to be used as a medical facility and nursing school. The Prime Minister disclosed that the offer was from a group led by a Jamaican resident in the United States. "They have...

Prime Minister the Hon. Bruce Golding said that the upcoming development of the Caymanas lands, along with the earmarking of funds for entrepreneurship, will directly stimulate the Portmore economy. He was speaking at the Town Hall meeting in Portmore St. Catherine last night (May 26). Noting that "It is through small business that we can have the fastest impact on...

Jamaican author, Lorna Goodison's new book, 'From Harvey River', had its official United Kingdom (UK) launch, at the Jamaican High Commission in London, last week. The book is a memoir of Ms. Goodson's mother, Doris. It tells of her life in Harvey River in Hanover, where she was born and grew as one of the 'Fabulous Harvey Girls'. The narrative...

Prime Minister the Hon. Bruce Golding has urged farmers in Clarendon to use the technology and expertise available to them to plant more and better ginger. Mr. Golding was visiting the community of Top Alston in Clarendon, which was abuzz with activity on Labour Day yesterday (May 25), continuing the project to establish a ginger sucker nursery. Farmers are being...

Prime Minister the Hon. Bruce Golding has called for more investment in the area of agro-processing, as adding value to local produce will result in greater economic rewards, not only for the sector, but for the country. "We need to do more with the items before we ship them away. We have to add value to the things that we...