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The amended Agricultural Produce Act is impacting the agricultural sector in several positive ways. This legislation, which was amended in November of 2005, now includes new provisions, such as a compulsory receipt book system to be used by farmers in conducting their transactions. The definition of agricultural produce has also been extended to include fish, livestock and other items that...

Gill Woolmer, widow of the late Pakistani Cricket Coach, Robert 'Bob' Woolmer, has been informed that the body of her husband will not be repatriated on March 26, as was previously announced. "She is distressed. by the fact that Bob's body will not be repatriated on Monday, as perhaps was anticipated, but she fully understands that this is Jamaican law...

There are still no suspects in the murder of Pakistani Cricket Coach, Robert 'Bob' Woolmer, some seven days after his death on March 18, a day after the country was eliminated from the ICC Cricket World Cup (CWC) 2007. Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of crime, Mark Shields, told journalists at a press conference at the Jamaica Pegasus on...

Two hundred years ago legislation was enacted in the British Parliament to outlaw the trans-Atlantic slave trade. That did not bring an end to slavery itself but it was an important step toward its ultimate abolition. No one would dare deny, no argument can rationalize and nothing that has since been done can ameliorate the barbarity visited on our forebears...

The Bicentenary Commemoration of the abolition by Great Britain of the Trans-Atlantic Trade in Enslaved Africans is without doubt a defining moment in the history and contemporary realities of Jamaica. For, it effectively cut the source of supply of the exploited labour that fed and nourished the system of slavery now universally regarded as a "crime against humanity". The Abolition...

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director of the ICC Cricket World Cup (CWC) 2007, Chris Dehring is defending the security arrangements in place for the event. "We have reviewed security arrangements in place and we believe that they are adequate for the event and it is certainly appropriate, based on the Master Security plan that was drafted and [put]...

President of the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS), Senator Norman Grant is appealing to farmers who have lost their animals and agricultural produce to praedial thieves, to report the matter to the Police, instead of taking the law into their own hands. In an interview with JIS News, Senator Grant pointed out that the agricultural sector continues to lose millions of...

Minister of Agriculture, Roger Clarke, has highlighted the link between agriculture and national development, stressing that one could not take place without the other. "As we look to the future, and the importance of agriculture to rural development, one begins to recognize that agriculture will continue to play an increasingly important role in national development," he said. The Minister was...

The Joint Select Committee that is reviewing the proposed reform of the Offences Against the Person (Amendment) Act and the Incest Punishment (Amendment) Act has recommended that a Sexual Offences Act be created to deal with all sexually related offences. This was disclosed by Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Senator AJ Nicholson at Thursday's (March 22) sitting of the...

The Ministry of Education and Youth is to establish student assessment centres throughout its regional offices, in order to expand and improve the quality of psychological assessment services offered to students with disabilities. This is being done in keeping with the Ministry's mandate to transform the education system. Speaking at a JIS 'Think Tank' on March 21, Education Officer in...

A Coroner's inquest with a jury into the murder of Bob Woolmer is to be held. Following discussions with Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mark Shields this morning, the Coroner directed that the inquest be held as soon as practical. He also ordered that Mr. Woolmer's body remain within his jurisdiction until the inquest has been completed. Mr. Woolmer's widow, Gill...

The success of the partnership between the Jamaica Diaspora Advisory Board and the Northeast United States (US) Education Sector, launched at the St. James High School in Montego Bay some time ago, has resulted in a call to replicate the model across the country. This was among the highlights of a recent meeting of the Education Sector, held at the...