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Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller has announced a further $500,000 benefit for first-time home owners who are contributors to the National Housing Trust (NHT). This will move the loan ceiling from $3 Million to $3.5 Million. She made the announcement on Tuesday (May 1) during her contribution to the 2007 Budget Debate. She also disclosed that as of July 1,...

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller has said that the growth and development of the country's agricultural sector was critical in stemming rural under-development. "Many of the social ills now experienced in the urban area, stem from the neglect of the rural areas. Continued rural under-development leads to the rural-urban drift. This deprives the rural areas of the strength and vitality...

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller has announced that during this financial year, $2.8 billion from the National Insurance Fund (NIF) Credit Facility would be available to selected financial institutions to on-lend loans to small and medium sized businesses. Mrs. Simpson Miller, who was making her contribution to the 2007/08 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives, yesterday (May 1), pointed...

Prime Minister, Portia Simpson Miller, said yesterday (May 1) that the country has done "remarkably well" in the area of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), with liberalization of the sector having fundamentally impacted development. Prime Minister, who was making her contribution to the 2007/08 Budget Debate in Gordon House, noted that over the period 2000 to March 2006, the island's...

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller has urged parents to take their individual roles and responsibilities more seriously, in order to empower their families and communities. Speaking yesterday (May 1), in the 2007/08 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives, Mrs. Simpson Miller stressed that the empowerment of women, and men fulfilling their responsibilities, could jointly influence families and communities in...

Prime Minister, Portia Simpson Miller, has informed that the government will be spending $979 million this year on a number of water projects in communities across the island. The areas to benefit are: Lucky Valley, Tydixon, John's Groin and Waugh Hill in St. Catherine; James Hill and Peace River in Clarendon; Islington, Buff Bay, Fruitful Vale in Portland; Cascade in...

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller has stressed that the well-being of the Jamaican family must rest on a sound economic foundation. "You cannot have social development, without economic development. The two must go hand in hand. You cannot eliminate poverty without producing economic growth and removing the distortions in the economy," the Prime Minister said. Mrs. Simpson Miller was making...

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller has said that the Government is shaping the future of the country by providing a safer and healthier environment for families. Making her contribution to the 2007/08 Budget Debate in the House, yesterday (May 1), Mrs. Simpson Miller cited the Soapberry Sewerage Project in St. Catherine as one such critical initiative. She informed that the...

Prime Minister, Portia Simpson Miller, informed the House of Representatives said that the government was committed to improving the administration of justice for the benefit of all Jamaicans. "We are serious about giving the people the effective justice system to which they have a right. This will reduce the anguish of our inner-city residents, who suffer most when the system...

Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Carlton Davis has said that the creation of Executive Agencies has proven to be a huge success in the thrust to modernise the public sector. Speaking at the Human Resource Development Conference, put on by the Management Institute for National Development (MIND), at the Knutsford Court Hotel recently, Dr. Davis pointed out that, "every single executive agency...

A delegation comprising private sector leaders from Spain will visit the island this month to examine investment prospects. Prime Minister, Portia Simpson Miller, who made the announcement during her contribution to the 2007/08 Budget Debate in Parliament yesterday (May 2) noted that during her visit to Spain earlier this year, she was given the honour of addressing the Spanish Chamber...

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller has called on public servants in ministries and agencies of government to treat the public with care, respect and compassion as they carry out their duties. She noted that some public officials tended to be disrespectful to the poor and the vulnerable, a practice which must be stopped. "Respect people's time. Quality customer service says:...