Construction of the country’s state-of-the-art forensic pathology autopsy suite is set to continue in the new fiscal year. The Government has budgeted approximately $323 million to carry out construction activities on the facility, which will be located at 149 Orange Street, downtown Kingston. It is expected to increase the forensic capacity of the Jamaica Constabulary Force and reduce the backlog...

The Government has budgeted $360 million to continue improving Jamaica’s emergency communication system in fiscal year 2023/24. The ‘Improvement of Emergency Communication System in Jamaica’ project aims to develop a national platform to coordinate incident response among key agencies of government and volunteers. Details of the engagement are outlined in the 2023/24 Estimates of Expenditure, tabled recently in the House...

In the 2023/24 financial year, the capability of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) to monitor and safeguard the country’s borders will be further strengthened. The Government has allocated $3.1 billion in the 2023/24 Estimates of Expenditure to facilitate the procurement of radar, marine offshore patrol vessels, cameras, software, hardware, and other equipment. This will be done under the Purchase and...

The historic sitting of the first all-female Parliament, involving women aged 18 to 25, will be held at Gordon House on February 21. Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Hon. Olivia Grange, made the announcement on the motion of adjournment during Tuesday’s (February 14) sitting of the House of Representatives. “All 63 constituencies will be represented. And I want...

The Government will be procuring an additional 50 garbage compactor trucks, including small units that can traverse narrow community roads. Governor-General, His Excellency the Most Hon. Sir Patrick Allen, made the disclosure while delivering the Throne Speech to open the 2023/24 Parliamentary Year in Gordon House on Tuesday (February 14). Fifty garbage trucks were handed over by Prime Minister, the...

Work is in progress to complete the Action Plan to implement the National Diaspora Policy and to review the Foreign Trade Policy Action Plan. During the 2023/24 fiscal year, the Government will also complete the legislative support of the Work Plan for Anti-Money Laundering, Countering the Financing of Terrorism and Countering the Financing of Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction....

Agro-parks and production zones have recorded a 230 per cent increase in output for the 2022/23 fiscal year, compared to 2021/22. This was achieved following the Government’s provision of more than $1 billion to expand infrastructure and production in eight agro-parks and nine agro-economic Zones. Governor-General, His Excellency, the Most Hon. Sir Patrick Allen, who made the announcement, highlighted the...