More

The Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) parish office in St. Thomas, is setting up outlets to make it easier for more than 3,000 farmers to acquire receipt books. Farmers are required to have receipt books to conduct agricultural transactions with merchants. Under the Agricultural Produce Act, persons caught transporting agricultural produce without receipts for the goods in their possession, could face...

More than 2,000 clients of the Jamaica National Small Business Loans Limited (JNSBL) are to benefit from a business management training programme, which will be facilitated by the Jamaica Business Development Centre (JBDC), between November 2006 and October 2007. The training programme entitled 'Managing Business Growth', targets business owners who are clients of the JNSBL and have accessed loans under...

Minister of Local Government and Environment, Hon. Dean Peart has said that the purpose of the islandwide audit of Parish Councils, which he ordered, was not due to widespread irregularity in procurement procedures. Mr. Peart was clarifying a previous statement that he made in which it was said that there were breaches in procurement regulations in the St. Catherine, St....

I welcome the opportunity to share in this very important consultation with you this morning.This gathering of women's groups and individuals is a gathering of leaders and change agents - change agents in your families, in your communities and in our nation. When I became Prime Minister of Jamaica, my first pledge to the Jamaican people was to advance human...

Prime Minister, The Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller has taken a firm stance against offenders who abuse women, stating that their actions were impeding the progress of the nation. "Violence against women in whatever form is considered a violation of their human rights. Such violence manifests itself in sexual, physical and psychological and economic forms," she said at yesterday's (Nov....

A national consultation on gender equality and women's empowerment was convened at the Stella Marris Pastoral Centre in Kingston today (November 22). The consultation, which took the form of a workshop brought together some 200 women from various women's groups from across the island, to discuss issues that were affecting them and find solutions to the problems that were identified....

Minister of Health, Hon. Horace Dalley, has urged the Joint Select Committee of Parliament to expedite deliberations for enactment of the National Registration Bill, which was tabled in the House of Representatives some five years ago. Mr. Dalley's prompting came at yesterday's (Nov. 21) sitting of the House of Representatives, following concerns raised by Member of Parliament for Central Clarendon,...

Minister of Agriculture and Lands, Hon. Roger Clarke has said that amendments to the Public Gardens Regulation Act would "bring the management of public gardens into the 21st century and let us be better able to revive the civic pride all Jamaicans felt in visiting and using our gardens". Piloting the Bill to repeal the Act in the House of...

The House of Representatives yesterday (Nov. 21) passed an Act to Repeal the Public Gardens Regulation Act of 1899, to among other things, increase the fines for breaches of the law. Minister of Agriculture and Lands, Hon. Roger Clarke, in outlining the amendments to the legislation, which governs the use of public parks and zoos, explained that, "although the Act...

The European Commission and the Government of Jamaica today (Nov. 22) signed a $165 million (two million euros) financial agreement to provide funding for the rehabilitation and maintenance of more than 30 rural and parochial roads. "This is a very important signing ceremony as it reflects continuation of the European Union's support for the Government of Jamaica, directed specifically through...

Jamaican-born Shirley Graham Paul is one of several residents whose stories are featured in a new book 'Routes to Reading', which chronicles the lives of immigrants who live in Reading in South East England. Mrs. Graham Paul, who is originally from Kingston, told JIS news, that she was both humbled and honoured to have been selected. "I am terribly humbled...

Scores of students are expected to gather at the Stella Maris Resource Centre at 62 Shortwood Road at 9:00 a.m. on November 24 to participate in the annual Youth Forum organised by the National Child Month Committee (NCMC). The forum will focus on the theme this year for Child Month, 'Restore the Family: Save the Children' and will see representatives...