The annual Budget Debate is slated to take place in March, and the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service is on a mission to get all Jamaicans to pay attention to details of the presentations. The Budget outlines the Government’s planned fiscal year expenditure on projects and services programmed for implementation and delivery. A total of $1.3 trillion is...

Approximately $1.9 billion has been allocated to continue work under the Essex Valley Irrigation Infrastructure Development Programme in the upcoming fiscal year. Details of the provision are contained in the 2024/25 Estimates of Expenditure, which was recently tabled in the House of Representatives by Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke. Implemented in April 2017,...

The Government has made a budgetary allocation of $406 million to commence the second phase of the Rehabilitation of Research Centres project in the agricultural sector in the upcoming fiscal year. The allocation is contained in the 2024/25 Estimates of Expenditure, which was tabled in the House of Representatives by Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon....

An additional $35.9 million has been budgeted to continue work under the Soil Fertility Mapping Project during fiscal year 2024/25. The project, which commenced in October 2021, aims to increase productivity and the quality of agricultural produce through an integrated soil management system. It is also intended to optimise farmers’ profits and enhance farming efficiency, while maintaining good environmental stewardship....

The Government will be constructing and operationalising a 6,826 sq. ft (634 sq. metre) Justice Centre in May Pen, Clarendon, to facilitate the provision of restorative justice, child diversion and mediation services. Funding for the project, which is expected to cost $54.3 million, is earmarked in the 2024/25 Estimates of Expenditure. This was recently tabled in the House of Representatives...

The Government will be spending $845 million in its continued thrust to end the shift system and reduce overcrowding in schools, by constructing additional classrooms and other amenities during the upcoming fiscal year. Among the projects listed in the 2024/25 Estimates of Expenditure are the completion of architectural and civil/structural designs for Dias Infant School, and Papine and Newell High...

Work will be advanced on the upgrading and expansion of Mount St. Joseph High School in Manchester in the upcoming fiscal year. A sum of $514 million has been earmarked under the Education Transformation Programme to complete construction of the administrative, third and fourth-form blocks, and conclude pre-contract activities for the auditorium and canteen. The details are outlined in the...

For the 2024/25 fiscal year, the Government is to expand coverage of social protection in Jamaica and strengthen its social protection delivery system, particularly its capacity to respond to shocks. This will be done through the Social Protection for Increased Resilience and Opportunity (SPIRO) project, at a cost of $62.2 million. It is being funded by the International Bank for...

Another request for a proposal for a further 168 megawatts of renewable energy will be launched in the new financial year, which begins on April 1. This is in addition to the supply of up to 100 megawatts of electricity generation, for which the Generation Procurement Entity invited tenders last September. The disclosure was made by Governor-General, His Excellency the...