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The Government is to organise a special welcome reception for Jamaica's athletes, on their return from the Olympics in Beijing, China. Prime Minister Bruce Golding, who made the disclosure this morning (Aug, 20) at a press conference held at Jamaica House, said he will be announcing a special committee of about five or seven persons to be in charge of...

Minister of Water and Housing, Dr. Horace Chang, is warning that he will use the full powers of the Ministry, to limit and ameliorate the squatter problem in Jamaica. He was speaking at a meeting of the Squatter Management Unit (SMU), at the Ministry of Water and Housing in New Kingston, recently. "We really don't have much of a legislative...

Jamaican athletes Ms Shelly Ann Fraser and Ms Melanie Walker were commended by Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) H.E. Edwin Carrington for their performances at the Beijing Olympics. In a message of congratulations to the athletes, the Secretary-General said it was with "great pride and pleasure that I extend to Ms Fraser and Ms Walker in particular and their...

Sports Minister Olivia Grange said Usain Bolt ran himself into the league of the greatest Jamaicans of all time tonight by smashing multiple records in Beijing. She rated his performance at the 29th Olympic Games where he won gold in the 100 and 200 metres in world record times as comparable to Garvey's seminal, philosophical impact on the world and...

The report of an analysis of samples carried out by the Mines and Geology Department, in relation to the illegal removal of sand from Coral Springs in Trelawny, was today (Aug. 18) handed over to Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mark Shields, by Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister, Daryl Vaz. The report which was received by...

Acting Head, Family Health Services in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Yvonne Munroe, is urging school administrators not to accept students who do not meet the prescribed immunization requirements for the new school term. Instead, Dr. Munroe is requesting that these students be sent to the relevant health centres to be vaccinated before admission, except in extenuating circumstances. "The principals...

The Jamaica Association of Explosives Engineering Professionals (JAEEP), is committed to promoting the safety, security and the controlled use of explosives, while representing the interests of explosives engineers across the island. An explosive engineer is a certified professional or practitioner, who has been trained and has mastered the art of using commercial explosives for rock blasting or demolition of structures....

Director of Technical Services in the Ministry of Education, Errol Golding, has assured that schools are in a state of readiness for the new academic year, which begins in September. "I think we are about 90 per cent ready.repair on schools is an ongoing process, so most schools are in a fairly good condition," Mr. Golding told JIS News. He...

The Bureau of Women's Affairs in the Ministry of Information, Culture, Youth and Sports (MICYS), will be strengthening its capacity to execute its mandate of empowering Jamaican women. "We want to look at institutional strengthening in terms of capacity building, even for my staff at the Bureau," says newly appointed Executive Director of the Bureau, Faith Webster, in an interview...

The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), is urging residents of Old Harbour Bay in St. Catherine, to devise family disaster plans, so as to reduce the impact of a hurricane or other disasters. "How best you survive an event, depends on how prepared you are as a person and a family," Regional Co-ordinator, ODPEM, Sophia Mitchell, told...

Director General of the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), Dr. Wesley Hughes, has said that while prospects for the economy remained challenging, "fairly modest growth" was expected in the forthcoming months. "This performance will be supported by growth, which we expect to see (resulting from) a recovery from the devastation of last year, when we had Hurricane Dean. So, assuming...

A total of 413 primary schools islandwide are to benefit from the skills and expertise of 63 Mathematics specialists, who will be in the schools by October. This move is part of plans to improve students' performance in the subject. Details of the initiative were given by National Mathematics Co-ordinator, Tamika Benjamin, in a recent interview with JIS News. "We...