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Member of Parliament for Central Kingston, Ronald Thwaites, has joined the call for the establishment of a permanent Constitutional Commission of Parliament with powers to consult with and co-opt opinion from the general public. "We need to have a permanent body that is looking at our Constitution at all times," Mr. Thwaites stated. He was making his contribution to the...

The Senate has approved a motion urging the Government to intensify its policies and programmes supporting the growing and consumption of locally grown foods. The motion also urged the Government to establish a bipartisan multi-stakeholder task force, aimed at identifying the causes of the continuous increase of imports over the last 25 years and to make recommendations that can lead...

Finance and Public Service Minister, Hon. Audley Shaw, has announced Cabinet's signing off on a discussion paper that will help to lay the groundwork for a review of the collateral lending framework for micro-financing. The move, he contends, comes against the background of the administration's cognizance of the role which micro and small businesses, and micro-financing play in moving Jamaica's...

Opposition MP for East Central St. Andrew, Dr. Peter Phillips, says that the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, now being debated in the House of Representatives, represents only "a way station" on the road of Constitutional reform. "It is not the final destination," Dr. Phillips noted, as he made his contribution to the debate on Tuesday (October 27). He...

The Registration (Strata Titles) Amendment Act was passed in the House of Representatives on Tuesday (Oct. 27) with 26 amendments. The Lower House had suspended the conclusion of debate on the Bill on Tuesday (Oct. 20), during the Committee stage of the proceedings, after issues arose on the provisions of Section 7, which deals with the procedure to be followed...

Cabinet has given approval for the award of a contract in the sum of $65,520,000 to Lamasa Limited, for the provision of janitorial services at the Half-Way-Tree Transport Centre over a three-year period. Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister, with responsibility for Information, Telecommunications and Special Projects, Hon. Daryl Vaz made the revelation at the weekly...

Cabinet has given approval for the award of two contracts with a combined value of $315,918,116 million for infrastructure works on phase 2 of the Whitehall housing project in Westmoreland and the Jones Town Integrated Infrastructure Project in St. Andrew. Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for Information, Telecommunications and Special Projects, Hon. Daryl...

The Human Resource Committee of the House of Representatives will review a proposal to look at the need to extend training and certifying facilities for new entrants into the legal and medical professions. The decision was taken by the House on Tuesday (October 20), during debate on a Private Members Motion from MP for Central Kingston, Ronnie Thwaites. The motion...

The House of Representatives suspended the conclusion of debate on the Bill to amend the Registration (Strata Titles) Act until its next sitting, when it sat Tuesday (October 20). The decision to suspend the debate was taken, during the Committee stage of the proceedings, after issues arose on the provisions of section 7, which deals with the procedure to be...

The House of Representatives is expected to continue debating the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms (Constitutional Amendment) Bill next week, unless there is a bipartisan agreement to do otherwise. At the end of Tuesday's sitting, the Government seemed set on continuing the debate, to meet a deadline of completion prior to the end of the current parliamentary session next...

The House of Representatives will on Tuesday (October 13) resume debate on the Bill entitled the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms (Constitutional Amendment) Act, 2008. This Bill provides for the protection of the rights and freedoms of Jamaicans, subject to such measures as are required for state governance in periods of public disaster or emergency, or as are regarded...

Government Senator, Hyacinth Bennett, has called for national consensus to steer Jamaica through the challenges posed by the onset of the global economic crisis. Central to this must be plans to boost the country's productive capacity, to enable the nation to increase its ability to earn its way out of debt and reduce dependency on borrowing, she suggested. Senator Bennett,...