General Manager of the Urban Development Corporation (UDC), Dr. Damian Graham, says work is advanced in selecting the location for the country’s Third City. He told JIS News that consultants have been engaged to identify possible sites, and the findings will be shared with the public by year end. He said the work being done includes forecasting and horizon scanning...

Prime Minister Andrew Holness today (February 7) hosted the United States Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson at the Office of the Prime Minister where they discussed critical issues of mutual interest to both countries. Matters discussed included the strengthening of security cooperation in order to more effectively combat transnational organized crime; boosting the US Jamaica economic partnership, exploring opportunities to...

The Clarendon Municipal Corporation has launched its second Youth in Business (CYIB2) project, with a $2.4-million grant for 20 residents of the parish. Under the initiative, the beneficiaries will participate in a three-month certificate course and an 18-month diploma programme spearheaded by the HEART Trust/NTA, and the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC). The project is seeking to build the capacity...

Chief Technical Director in the Office of the Prime Minister, Jacqueline Lynch-Stewart, has reiterated the call for Jamaicans to support the National Identification System (NIDS), noting that it will address the major issues the nation faces with undocumented youth. “We have a large number of young persons who have no identification (ID). Not having an ID puts you at a...

When Inez Williams’ oldest son got into trouble with the law, it was his probation officer who helped him get his life back on track. She tells JIS News that the officer advised him to seek training at the HEART Trust/NTA in May Pen, Clarendon. “He went, and now he is studying to be an executive chef,” she boasts. Miss...

Prime Minister Andrew Holness has reassured stakeholders of the Government’s commitment to restoring public safety and the rule of law order while dismantling the ecosystem of crime in the parish of St. James and the wider Jamaica. The Prime Minister, who yesterday (Saturday, January 28) visited the parish now under a State of Public Emergency, met with stakeholders to get...

The National Water Commission (NWC) will be placing increased focus on rural parishes as it intensifies activities to reduce non-revenue water (NRW) loss. “We are looking at other areas where the NRW is significantly greater than Kingston,” said President of the Commission, Mark Barnett, at a recent JIS Think Tank. “In Kingston, it’s about 60 per cent. Clarendon and St....

The Government has launched the 2018 Extended Migration Profile of Jamaica, which can be used to inform policy development and planning. This is Jamaica’s second publication of a migration profile, which is essentially a pertinent body of research that will allow for the monitoring and evaluation of migration and development policy, and the socio-economic impact on Jamaica. It was launched...

Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) Managing Director, Omar Sweeney, is encouraging more service clubs to support community development projects such as those being implemented by the agency. He said their input in this regard is important to JSIF’s work, noting that “everything that we have done has come through partnerships”. “Those partnerships include government agencies and ministries, the private sector,...