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The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), today (September 4), received US$300,000 in relief commodities and transportation from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), through its Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (ODFA). This assistance has come in the wake of the damage sustained across sections of the island, by the passage of Tropical Storm Gustav last...

Prime Minister, Bruce Golding has instructed that each Member of Parliament should be permitted to utilise $2 million of their Constituency Development Fund (CDF) balances for relief/repair related expenditure. "It is to be understood that this is not an additional provision but an advance from the undisbursed balances on each constituency's account. This, of course, would be separate from the...

While some schools got off to a delayed start for the official start of the 2008/09 school year, because of Tropical Storm Gustav, for teachers and students at the Church Teachers' College Early Childhood Demonstration School in Manchester, things were fairly normal. Even as the air was pierced with the cries of some anxious students, teachers and parents did all...

Traffic flow between Kingston and St. Thomas has been restored with the newly installed Bailey bridge, which spans the Hope River in Harbour View, St. Andrew, but with a number of safety restrictions. Communications Director of the Ministry of Transport and Works, Reginald Allen, told JIS News that the bridge was opened to vehicular traffic since the night of September...

Prime Minister Bruce Golding has put forward a number of areas in which Jamaica is seeking to establish greater co-operation with Brazil. The areas being considered are the expansion of the tourism market to attract Brazilians to Jamaica, the expansion of commercial trade and the development of sports, particularly as it relates to football. Mr. Golding made the proposals when...

Status update on Damage to the Sector The 2008 School year should have started on September 1 however due to the passage of Tropical Storm Gustav we decided to facilitate the recovery process in the education sector; as a result we will officially begin the school year on September 3rd. I must offer my deepest sympathy to those who have...

Prime Minister, Bruce Golding, has informed that work is being carried out to restore access to the 13 communities in St. Thomas, Portland, St. Andrew, and St. Catherine, that remain marooned because of landslides and breakaways. "Work continues to restore access. Where roads are blocked by landslides, these are being cleared. In instances where road sections have collapsed rendering the...

Estimates of the cost to repair the damage to roads, infrastructure, public buildings, especially schools and health facilities, water and sewage systems, and to provide assistance to persons, whose houses have been damaged or destroyed by Tropical Storm Gustav, should be completed within a week. "The cost is expected to be significant and will pose challenges for the budgetary framework....

The Regional Conference on the Media and the Caribbean Justice System, was officially launched today (September 3), by Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Senator Dorothy Lightbourne, at the Hilton Hotel in Kingston. "I welcome the opportunity to participate in this workshop.because I recognise its value and the importance of educating the public about justice and the law," Minister Lightbourne...

St. Ann Parish Disaster Coordinator, Alvin Clarke, is appealing to residents who were severely affected by Tropical Storm Gustav, to co-operate with the various assessment teams, as they carry out their work to ensure a speedy response to welfare needs. "Remember that we are not going to be able to give you back all that you have lost but we...

Thousands of concert fans who attended the 2008 staging of Irie Jamboree in Queens, New York, on Sunday, August 31, used the occasion to show their appreciation for the record-breaking performance of Jamaican and Caribbean athletes at the just concluded 29th Olympiad in Beijing, China. Billed in part as a 'salute to our Caribbean athletes', the massive crowd, estimated at...

The House of Representatives yesterday (Sept. 2), approved a resolution endorsing the decision of the Government, to affix its signature to the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), which was negotiated between CARIFORUM states and the European Union (EU). Prime Minister, Bruce Golding, during his contribution to the debate, stated that with the EPA, CARIFORUM countries have regained the market that they...