The Senate on Friday (March 27) passed the Appropriation Act 2020, approving the $853.5 billion the Government intends to spend in the 2020/21 Estimates of Expenditure. This Bill provides authority for expenditure (other than statutory expenditure) for the financial year 2020/21 and specifies the manner in which the money is to be allocated to the various services and purposes of the...

Parliamentary Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister, Senator Robert Morgan, says once the Forestry Department has completed its 250-kilometre ground-truthing exercise, specific legislation will be promulgated to safeguard the Cockpit Country Protected Area boundary. Making his contribution to the 2019/2020 State of the Nation Debate in the Senate on February 7, he pointed out that the Forestry Department...

The Government will be spending $1.9 billion to establish the Goat Islands wildlife sanctuary, just off Jamaica’s south coast. Parliamentary Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister, Senator Robert Morgan, who made the announcement, said this forms part of measures to safeguard Jamaica’s biodiversity and natural history. He was speaking during the 2019/20 State of the Nation Debate in...

The increased presence of the security forces in the Eastern Kingston Police Division under the State of Public Emergency (SOE) has put residents at ease, and they are now able to go about their normal lives without fear. Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, announced the SOE on January 26 to quell rising crime in the Division. Speaking in...

Jamaica and the Republic of Cuba have enjoyed “special bonds of friendship,” since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1972, says President of the Senate, Hon. Tom Tavares-Finson. Speaking at a reception on Friday (January 31), at the residence of the Ambassador of the Republic of Cuba, in Kingston, to celebrate the 61st anniversary of Cuba’s National Day, Senator...

Members of the Senate have approved the continuation of States of Public Emergency (SOEs) in six parishes for another 90 days. Three Emergency Powers Resolutions, which give effect to the extension of the SOEs in St. James, Hanover, Westmoreland, Clarendon, St. Catherine and St. Andrew, received the support of both Government and Opposition Senators during a special sitting on Thursday...

The Patents and Designs Bill, which is aimed at modernising Jamaica’s intellectual property regime, was passed in the Senate on Wednesday (January 23). Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Senator the Hon. Pearnel Charles Jr, who piloted the legislation, said it will impact positively on the country’s economic development. “It will allow us to...