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The Government will be seeking to promote private sector investment in the energy sector by updating the regulatory framework, preparing projects for investment decisions, and increasing the contribution of renewable energy in electricity. To this end $393.7 million has been allocated in the 2014/15 Estimates of Expenditure for the Energy Security and Efficiency Enhancement project. The proposed budget, which was...

The country’s business environment will be further strengthened, with the support of $40 million, which has been set aside in the 2014/15 budget, to enable large scale investments and capacity support for the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector. The Jamaica Foundations for Competiveness and Growth project, being implemented by the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), is geared at...

The Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) is to receive $96.65 million to carry out a project to combat poverty and improve revenues in banana dependent areas. The Jamaica Banana Accompanying Measures (JBAMS) project is being funded by a $90 million grant from the European Union, and $6.65 million from the Government of Jamaica. This is set out in the 2014/15...

The Government is to spend $615 million this fiscal year to undertake various infrastructural works at several educational institutions across the island. The funds have been provided in the 2014/15 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives. Of the allocation, $388.4 million will be used to provide improved sanitary facilities and additional classroom spaces in select educational institutions....

Government has allocated $64.9 million towards enhancing the resilience of the country’s agricultural sector and coastal areas. This is set out in the 2014/15 Estimates of Expenditure, currently before the House of Representatives. The project, which is being financed through the Adaptation Fund and the Government, is being implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. Its goal is to...

A sum of $82.8 million has been allocated in the 2014/15 Estimates of Expenditure to assist with the relocation process of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade moving to downtown Kingston. Relocation of the Ministry is to contribute to the redevelopment of the downtown area, and to exclude the Government from the high cost of office rental in...

Just over $1 billion has been earmarked in the 2014/15 Estimates of Expenditure to continue implementation of the Government’s Fiscal Administration Modernization Programme. The five-year Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)-funded project, which commenced in December 2011, aims to support the administration’s focus on attaining sustainable fiscal consolidation. This will be done by strengthening the institutional capacity of the implementing agency, the...

Activities under the National Quick Start Programme Trust Fund Project will be bolstered this financial year, following a $7.5 million injection in the initiative. This is contained in the 2014/15 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives. Formerly known as the Globally Harmonized System of the Classification and Labelling of Chemicals, the project is being implemented by the...

Efforts to shore up the country’s integrated management of the Yallahs/Hope River watershed management area have been bolstered with the injection of $12.4 million. The undertaking, being implemented by the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), aims to reduce the pressure on natural resources in the Yallahs River and Hope River Watershed of the Blue Mountains, by increasing the practice...

Approximately $327.4 million has been set aside in the 2014/15 Estimates of Expenditure, to improve the socio-economic conditions of residents in several rural communities. This will be done under the Community Investment Project, which began in April 2009, and is being implemented by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) with financing from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB). Initial targets envisaged for...

Small farmers and tourism projects in rural Jamaica will receive a boost of $350 million this fiscal year, under the Rural Economic Development Initiative (REDI). The funds have been set aside in the Government’s proposed budget for 2014/15. The project, which began in January 2010, aims to improve market access for micro and small-scale rural agricultural producers, and tourism projects....

A total of $93 million has been set aside for the continuation of the Poverty Reduction Programme (PRP) III, in the 2013/14 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives. The project, which is being implemented by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), with funding from the European Union, began in May 2012 and is slated to run until...