The 2024/2025 parliamentary year will commence on Thursday, February 15, 2024, with the time-honoured Ceremonial Opening of Parliament being held at George William Gordon House. His Excellency the Most Hon. Sir Patrick Allen, Governor-General of Jamaica, will deliver the Throne Speech outlining the Government’s legislative agenda for the upcoming parliamentary year. This year’s event is expected to see the full...

The House of Representatives, on Tuesday (February 6), passed the Political Ombudsman (Amendment) Act, 2024, which will provide for the Office of the Political Ombudsman to be integrated into the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ). The office of the Political Ombudsman in Jamaica has been vacant since November 15, 2022. In a statement to the House of Representatives, Minister of...

Government Senator, Abka Fitz-Henley, has reiterated that the Government has taken steps to address the vexed issue of fixed-term contracts within the public sector. “Only a few weeks ago, a senior executive of the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions commended the Administration for moving more than 10,000 workers from contractual arrangements to permanent employment,” Senator Fitz-Henley said. “Additionally, in October...

Beginning April 1, commuters who use a Smartercard to pay their fares on the State-owned Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) buses will benefit from a 50 per cent reduction in fares. Minister of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport, Hon. Daryl Vaz, made the disclosure in the House of Representatives on Tuesday (January 30). He said that a Cabinet note is...

The House of Representatives on Tuesday (January 30) approved the Fourth Supplementary Estimates for the fiscal year 2023/24, which reflects total government expenditure of $1.092 trillion. The Estimates proposes a total expenditure of approximately $1.092 trillion, a reduction of $2.5 billion on the approved Budget, following the submission and approval of the Third Supplementary Estimates in September 2023. In his...

A sum of $20 billion has been allocated to constituencies to rehabilitate community roads under the Shared Prosperity through Accelerated Improvement to Our Road Network (SPARK) Programme. Prime Minister, the Most. Hon. Andrew Holness, in making the disclosure in Gordon House on Tuesday (January 23), said $10 billion of the total will be divided equally among the 63 constituencies, which...

Thousands of public servants will no longer be required to submit statutory declarations to the Integrity Commission (IC) following parliament’s approval of an order to raise the threshold for submissions from $3.5 million to $12 million. The Integrity Commission (Total Annual Emoluments Exempt from Statutory Declaration Requirements) Order, 2023, was approved following a resolution moved by Minister of Justice, Hon....