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The ceremonial opening of Jamaica's Parliament for the 2009/2010 Session will take place at Gordon House, Duke Street, downtown Kingston, this morning at eleven. Governor General, His Excellency the Most Hon. Dr. Patrick Allen, will deliver his first Throne Speech since his installation in February, after inspecting the Guard of Honour formed by the Jamaica Defence Force(JDF) on Duke Street....

The Senate on Friday (April 3) passed the Conch (Export Levy) Act, which, when enacted, will allow the Government to impose a duty on conch intended for the overseas market. Exporters of conch will be required to pay US75 cents per pound of conch during the 2009 season and the levy will be increased to US$1.00 per pound in 2010....

The Prime Minister, the Hon. Bruce Golding, has announced the following changes to the Cabinet: Senator the Hon. Dwight Nelson Minister of National Security Hon. James Robertson, M.P. Minister of Energy and Mining Hon. Olivia Grange, M.P. Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Hon. Daryl Vaz M.P.Minister without Portfolio (Office of the Prime Minister) The subjects of Information and Telecommunications...

Debate on a Bill to amend the Financial Administration and Audit Act(FAAA) to make the appointment of audit committees in Government departments mandatory, and to establish an Audit Commission to ensure their effectiveness, was suspended in the Senate Friday (April 3). Minister of Justice and Leader of Government Business, Senator Dorothy Lightbourne, suspended the debate to allow the Senate time...

The House of Representatives on Tuesday (March 31), approved a Government guarantee of US$2.75 million, of a loan of US$5.5 million to the University of the West Indies (UWI), to partially finance the construction of a Vice Chancellery building on lands adjacent to the Mona Campus. According to a Ministry Paper, which was tabled in the Lower House, the Vice...

The Sexual Offences Act 2009 was passed today (March 31) in the House of Representatives. The Act is an amalgamation of various laws relating to rape, incest and other sexual offences. It will repeal the Incest (Punishment) Act and several provisions of the Offences Against the Person Act. The Bill also provides for the establishment of a Sex Offenders Registry,...

Daryl Vaz was sworn in Tuesday (March 31), at Gordon House, as the Member of Parliament(MP) for West Portland, following his success in last week Monday's by-election in the constituency. Mr. Vaz won the by-election by scoring 7,915 votes to defeat the People's National Party's (PNP) candidate, Kenneth Rowe, who polled 5,626, and retained the seat he had won in...

A Bill to amend the Constitution, to increase the maximum number of constituencies from 60 to 65, was passed in the Senate on Friday (March 27). Minister of Justice and Leader of Government Business, Senator Dorothy Lightbourne, who piloted the Bill, said that the country's electoral population has grown tremendously, with approximately 1.3 million persons registered to vote. She informed...

The State Opening of Parliament will take place on Tuesday, April 7, beginning at 11:00 a.m. On that day, the Governor-General, His Excellency the Most Hon. Dr. Patrick Allen, will deliver the Throne Speech, in which he will outline the Government's programmes and policies for the 2009/10 Fiscal Year, which begins on April 1. Later in the afternoon, Minister of...

The Airports Authority of Jamaica has negotiated some US$60 million in loans from the European Investment Bank and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), to finance Phase1A of the expansion programme at the Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA). The House of Representatives, yesterday (March 24), approved a Government guarantee for the loans, which comprises US$40 million from the European Investment Bank...

The Honourable Olivia "Babsy" Grange, Minister of Information, Culture, Youth and Sports has advised that today's meeting of the Cabinet focused on the Expenditure side of the 2009/2010 Budget. Minister Grange said that between now and Thursday of this week (March 26) when the Cabinet will hold a special meeting on the Budget, ministers, their permanent secretaries and technical staff...

The House of Representatives today (March 24) approved the withdrawal of $85.1 billion from the Consolidated Fund to defray expenses until the 2009/10 budget takes effect. Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Audley Shaw, who moved the resolution, explained that $61.2 billion will be used to meet ongoing recurrent overheads, while $23.9 billion will be spent on capital expenditure....