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Prime Minister Bruce Golding, in a broadcast to the nation earlier tonight, announced a package of assistance for the major sectors such as tourism, manufacturing and small business, as the Government puts measures in place to stave off the worst effects of the unfolding global financial crisis. Effective January 1, the General Consumption Tax payable by hotels will be reduced...

Fire Prevention Officer attached to the May Pen Fire Department, Sergeant Rayon Davis, is imploring motorists to take care on the roads during the Christmas season. In a recent interview with JIS News, Sergeant Davis pointed out that the increased intake of alcohol during the festive period impairs the ability of motorists to think rationally, and to be alert, which...

The first set of municipal police for St. Elizabeth were sworn in on December 11 to take up duties in the main commercial centres and bus parks in the parish. At the installation ceremony for the nine officers held in the chambers of the St. Elizabeth Parish Council, Secretary Manager, David Gardener, informed that they will patrol assigned areas to...

Teachers at the Victoria Town Primary School in Manchester were on Thursday (Dec. 11) feted by the school's administration for exemplary work during the current school term. At a function held at the Chinese International Restaurant in Mandeville, the teachers were presented with gifts while receiving words of commendation. Principal of the institution, Paul Grant, in his remarks at the...

The National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) is on a drive to remove derelict vehicles from the streets of St. Thomas. Speaking at the monthly meeting of the St. Thomas Parish Council held on Thursday (Dec. 11) Public Cleansing Manager for the parish, Danny Barrett, said that the NSWMA has made a request for councillors to submit a list of...

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Charles Scarlett, has called on Jamaicans to help to reduce crime in their communities by reporting acts or wrongdoing and being alert to the activities of suspicious persons. Addressing an award function of the Association of Past Members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) held recently at the Chinese International Restaurant in Mandeville, DCP Scarlett...

A number of changes will be implemented in Morant Bay, St. Thomas to ease the congestion caused by vending and to regulate the flow of vehicles in the town during the Christmas season. Effective Monday, December 15, easterly bound transport operators will be required to use the parking facility at Hope Road, near the Morant Bay Fire Station, while operators...

Debate on the death penalty continued in the Senate yesterday (Dec.12) with Government Senator, Dennis Meadows, arguing that capital punishment denies due process of law, as it deprives an individual the benefit of new evidence, or new law, that might warrant the reversal of a conviction or setting aside of a death sentence. "The death penalty violates the constitutional guarantee...

Jamaica will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Cuba within the next few weeks, which will provide for joint destination marketing and airlift arrangements between the Caribbean island states. Tourism Minister, Edmund Bartlett speaking at a media forum on issues affecting Jamaica's tourism sector at the Creative Production and Training Centre (CPTC) in Kingston on Thursday (Dec. 11), said...

As we all know, the world is going through a serious financial and economic crisis - in its extensiveness and complexity perhaps worse than anything we have ever experienced. Most of the major economies of the world are heading into recession. Some already are- like the USA, Germany, Italy and Japan. We in Jamaica are not able to escape the...

President of the Jamaica Chess Federation (JCF), Attorney-at-Law Ian Wilkinson, has said that the game of chess should be an integral part of all national sporting bodies, as the athletes would benefit tremendously from exposure to the game. "I keep advocating from the platform at the Federation, that all sporting disciplines in Jamaica should have chess as their backbone. All...

As Government intensifies measures to address illiteracy, Minister of Education, Andrew Holness, has pointed to the need for a culture change, where the critical skills of reading and writing are encouraged in the home. "I am embarrassed to say that in the 21st Century, Jamaica is talking about the problem with illiteracy. We should have conquered that long time ago",...