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Minister of Labour and Social Security, Pearnel Charles, has pledged to represent the interests of the island's master builders to the government, so as to accelerate job creation. "I want to hear from you," he told executive members of the Incorporated Master Builders Association of Jamaica (IMAJ) at a meeting held at his North Street offices on Wednesday (Oct. 3)....

Mayor of Kingston, Senator Desmond McKenzie, has called for the strengthening of forest laws to penalize persons, who cut down trees arbitrarily. "One of the things I'd like to encourage environmentalists to lobby for is for the law in Jamaica to be changed to make it a criminal offence to cut down trees," said Senator McKenzie on Friday (Oct. 5),...

Over the next three weeks, the Registrar General's Department (RGD) will be targeting 6, 872 children, who were born between September 1, 2004 and December 31, 2006, and whose names do no appear in the RGD's birth records. The initiative is under the second phase of the Name the Child Project, which will cost the agency some $7 million. Speaking...

Chief Executive Officer of the Registrar General's Department (RGD), Dr. Patricia Holness, has reported that error rates for the registration of births, marriages and deaths, have been reduced to less than one per cent as a result of increased focus on civil registration. "In 1995, the error rates for births stood at 35 per cent, which meant that 35 per...

Prime Minister, Bruce Golding, has written to Governor-General, His Excellency, the Most Hon. Professor Kenneth Hall, recommending four additions to the list of persons, who will receive National Honours and awards for 2007. Local music pioneer, Clement Seymour "Sir Coxsone Dodd" has been recommended to receive the Order of Distinction in the Rank of Commander (CD), posthumously. Sir Coxone, who...

Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett, has said that tourism in Kingston could be boosted, with the city revolutionized into a home port for cruise ships. In his speech read by Director General, Carole Guntley, at the launch of Kingston Restaurant Week at Mac's Chop House in New Kingston on Thursday (Oct. 4), the Minister said he envisaged Kingston as "a...

A novel written by renown author Beverly East, and based on the Kendal rail crash, was launched at the Jamaican High Commission in the United Kingdom (UK) this week. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Kendal rail crash in Manchester, Jamaica. Titled 'Reaper of Souls', the book, which has fictional characters, is very personal for Ms. East who...

Minister of State for Agriculture, William J.C. Hutchinson, has refuted claims that officers of the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) are selling Hurricane Dean relief fertilizer, which is meant to be distributed to farmers. In an interview with JIS News, Mr. Hutchinson said that there was "no evidence whatsoever to suggest that any RADA officer across the island has been...

The three-day meeting of CARIFORUM Heads of Government and European Union (EU) Commissioners ended on (Oct. 5), with the parties agreeing to work toward having an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) in place by the end of the year. Prime Minister, Bruce Golding, speaking at a joint press conference held at the Half Moon Hotel in Montego Bay, said that the...

The Minister of Sports, the Honourable Olivia "Babsy" Grange has sent heartiest congratulations to Jamaica's Special Olympics Team at the World Summer games in Shanghai, China. "It is with great pride and joy, that I congratulate you for winning a total of nine medals so far. "This is a very special day for us all and new experience as Jamaica...

Minister of Education, Andrew Holness, has said the Ministry is committed to securing a full cadre of highly trained teachers in the education system, to reduce gaps in performance and achievement among students. "There is an inequitable distribution of effective school teachers in the education system. The schools with the biggest achievement gap, that is the low performing schools, tend...

Minister of Education, Andrew Holness, is reminding parents that while the government has abolished tuition fees at the secondary level, they should still contribute to their child's educational development through the payment of auxiliary fees. "We have eased the budget constraint by taking away compulsory tuition fees. You will still be faced with a contributory fee or what is termed...