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The Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) has put aside US$20 million for on-lending to investors to finance and support the construction of information and communications technology (ICT) facilities. Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller made the announcement in a national broadcast on Sunday (January 6), that this has the potential to create between 7,000 and 10,000 new jobs....

On New Year's Eve (December 31), just a few hours before the nation greeted 2013, residents of Highlight View and Land Lease in Eastern St. Andrew, were happily celebrating the receipt of electricity in their communities for the first time. With the flick of a switch, Prime Minister the Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller, turned on the street light in...

Cabinet has approved measures aimed at reducing the estimated $2.8 billion electricity costs to the State for island’s 93,000 street lights. Speaking at Wednesday’s (December 19) Jamaica House Media Briefing, at the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), Minister with responsibility for Information, Senator the Hon. Sandrea Falconer, announced that Cabinet has approved the introduction of policy standards on the...

Government Senator, Wensworth Skeffery, has called on the Education Ministry to make the teaching of science compulsory for all students at the primary and secondary levels. He said that enhancing knowledge in the sciences is vital to the country's progress. The Senator, who was making his contribution to the 2012/13 State of the Nation Debate in the Senate on December...

Minister of State in the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Hon. Sharon Ffolkes Abrahams, says that the Government is actively seeking opportunities for public-private partnership to develop additional Information Communication Technology (ICT) space to meet growing demand. She noted that some 26 companies are providing over 13,000 jobs in the offshore business process outsourcing (BPO) sector, while other investors...

Minister of State in the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining (STEM), Hon. Julian Robinson, says increased efforts will be made to speed up Parliamentary deliberations on the Cybercrimes Act. The State Minister told JIS News that a proposal will be made to House Leader, Hon. Phillip Paulwell and his Opposition counterpart,  Delroy Chuck, for the establishment of a...

Another 100 persons from approximately 34 households in rural St. Elizabeth have joined the list of beneficiaries to access electricity through the Government’s Rural Electrification Programme (REP). The most recent beneficiaries, who were officially connected on Wednesday (November 28), are from the community of Powell Town in Southfield. Chairman of the REP, Rev. Garnett Roper, who addressed a ceremony held...

The Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining (MSTEM), has brought together stakeholders from a wide cross section of public and private sector agencies, to participate in discussions on the introduction of natural gas as a means of diversifying Jamaica’s energy sources. The discussions are part of a two-day workshop, organised by the Ministry’s Energy Security and Efficiency Enhancement Project...

State Minister for Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Hon. Julian Robinson, has re-emphasised the Government’s commitment to energy diversification and conservation, noting that money saved on energy can be injected into the economy. Speaking at a stakeholder workshop, hosted by the Ministry, in collaboration with Worldwatch Institute, at the Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston on November 27, the State Minister...

Jamaica’s Growth Inducement Strategy (GIS), developed by the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), is now available on the agency’s website for public viewing. Speaking at the PIOJ's quarterly media briefing at the Institute’s New Kingston offices on Tuesday (November 20), Director General, Dr. Gladstone Hutchinson, advised that “significant work has been made in all of the critical areas” related to...

Cabinet has approved the execution of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at providing a suitable energy solution for the Jamalco plant in Clarendon. The MoU is to be executed by the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, and involve the Government, Alcoa Minerals of Jamaica, and Clarendon Alumina Partners. Making the disclosure on November 21 Jamaica House press...

State Minister for Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Hon. Julian Robinson, has emphasised the importance of stemming expenditure on oil imports and energy usage, as if these high costs continue, the economy could “grind to a standstill." Addressing the closing ceremony of  a one-week Energy Management Training Programme for public sector officials, at the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica in Kingston,...