A Bill to amend Section 61 of the Constitution of Jamaica to provide for new Words of Enactment was passed in the Senate on Friday (July 19). It constitutes the first legislative step in a proposed series of amendments intended to give effect to a Constitution enacted by the Parliament of Jamaica and approved by the people of Jamaica. Section...

The Senate approved legislation that will facilitate the establishment of the National Natural Disaster Reserve Fund (NNDRF), during its recent sitting at Gordon House. Leader of Government Business in the Upper House and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator the Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith, piloted the Financial Administration and Audit (Amendment) Act, 2024, which paves the way for...

The Senate passed the Appropriations (Amendment) Bill, today (April 12), which seeks to remove, from the Act, the amounts related to statutory expenditures that were inadvertently included in the schedule. The legislation was piloted by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and Leader of Government Business in the Senate, Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith. Senator Johnson Smith reiterated that the...

President of the Senate, Hon. Thomas Tavares-Finson (centre), shares a photo opportunity with members of a visiting Parliamentary Group from the Bundestag (German Federal Parliament), who paid a courtesy call on him at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade in downtown Kingston on Monday (February 12). Visiting are (from left) Parliamentary Group Vice Chairman, Steffen Janich; Vice Chairman...

Government Senator, Abka Fitz-Henley, says the Government has been working assiduously and making gains in improving service delivery in the health sector. He noted that more than $14 billion has been invested in upgrading western Jamaica’s premier medical care institution, the Cornwall Regional Hospital, and more than $6 billion on expansion work at several other facilities, including the Spanish Town...

Government Senator, Abka Fitz-Henley, is challenging workers in the private and public sectors to be more productive in 2024. “The challenge is to ask yourself, what can I do to be more productive this year and onwards, to turn out better outcomes in a shorter space of time. I call for the creation of plans and strategies towards achieving this...

Members of the Senate, on Thursday (December 21), passed the Domestic Violence (Amendment) Act, which will provide greater protection to victims of domestic violence. The legislation has been amended to provide for increased penalties for breach of Protection Orders from a maximum of $10,000 to a maximum of $1 million, and a sentence of up to one year in prison....