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A total of $595.8 million has been allocated to the Energy Security and Efficiency Enhancement Project in the 2012/13 Estimates of Expenditure, which is now before the House of Representatives. The project, which got underway in August 2010, aims to promote private sector investment in the energy sector by updating the regulatory framework, preparing projects for investment decisions, and increasing...

The government of Jamaica’s capacity to reduce the cultivation, production and trafficking of illicit drugs, is being boosted through a $252 million allocation to the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative. This is contained in the 2012-2013 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives. Supported through funding from the United States Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, the...

Commissioner of Police, Owen Ellington, says the government is moving to strengthen legislation, which will keep lawbreakers off the streets. He said for the police to have a tight rein on crime and criminal activities in Jamaica, people, who break the law, must be locked away and denied their freedom.   “As long as criminals have the freedom to move about...

A sum of $84.9 million has been allocated to the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) Accountability Programme in the 2012/13 Estimates of Expenditure now before the House of Representatives. The programme aims to strengthen the investigative capacity of the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) and to fulfil its mandate of external oversight of the JCF. The allocation for 2012/13 will go...

A sum of $6 million has been earmarked in the 2012-2013 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives, for the Jamaica National Crime Victimisation Survey. The project is being implemented by the Ministry of National Security, with support funding from the United Kingdom Department of International Development (DFID). Objectives under the programme, which is scheduled to run from...

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Representative in Jamaica, Robert Fuderich, has made an appeal for the region to "break the silence" surrounding child abuse to end the scourge, which is affecting a significant number of children. He informed that an estimated six million children in Latin America and the Caribbean suffer severe abuse, including abandonment, and 80,000 children die each...

Persons who use mobile phones while driving will soon face fines, with the promulgation of new legislation by the end of 2012, which will make the practise illegal. Making the announcement recently, Minister of Transport, Works and Housing, Hon. Dr. Omar Davies, said when the Act is passed, Jamaica will have a modernised Road Traffic Act and regulations predicated on...

Police Commissioner, Owen Ellington, has endorsed the community safety project being executed by the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development in collaboration the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The project, titled: ‘Enhancing Civil Participation and Local Governance for Community Safety’, is a two-year initiative, which seeks to take a citizen security approach to developing sustainable long-term strategies focusing on...

Police Commissioner, Owen Ellington is suggesting that issues related to public vending, night commerce, and night entertainment be urgently addressed under a special safety and security project.  The two-year project dubbed: ‘Enhancing Civil Society Participation in Local Governance for Community Safety’ is being jointly implemented by the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development and the United Nations Development Programme...

Minister with responsibility for Information, Senator the Hon. Sandrea Falconer, has expressed optimism about the actions being taken by the Police to squash the lottery scam, which in recent months has tainted the country’s image overseas. “The level of law enforcement against lottery scammers has been stepped up. I believe that the police are making major inroads into this illegal...

Since the start of the year, the parish of St. Elizabeth has seen a 24 per cent reduction in major crimes, with a 38 per cent drop in the murder rate, over the same period of 2011. Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Derrick Cochrane, who heads the Area Three Police Division, credited the improvement to the hard work of the...

The Ministry of National Security will be seeking the support of the Ministry of Tourism, in launching a public education campaign to sensitise Jamaicans about the sophistry of lottery scamming. The campaign will be undertaken nationally, with special focus on the resort town of Montego Bay, from which the scammers operate. “We have to be aware that these criminals have...