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Cabinet has approved a US$8.1 million contract for the National Safety Limited to acquire 13 fire fighting units from Rosenbauer America LLC. The equipment comprises five emergency tenders, four hydraulic platforms, and four turntable ladders. Minister of Information and Development, Senator Colin Campbell, who made the announcement on July 24 at the weekly post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House, said...

Jamaica is hosting a best practices workshop with a group of customs personnel from Latin American and Caribbean, who will be undertaking a pilot project of Jamaica's Customs Automates Services Online System, with a view to implementing the system in their respective customs sectors. The system was developed by Fiscal Services Limited (FSL), a government-owned information technology company, in response...

The National Works Agency (NWA) is far advanced with its $6.2 million Disaster Mitigation Programme in the Corporate Area, to alleviate the possible effects of flooding in critical flood prone areas during the current hurricane season. Manager for Communications and Customer Service at the NWA, Stephen Shaw told JIS News that the mitigation programme "seeks to ensure that gullies, waterways...

As the Government continues to encourage more persons to take advantage of the benefits provided under the National Health Fund (NHF), senior citizens in particular are also being reminded that both the NHF and Jamaica Drugs for the Elderly Programme (JADEP) cards can be used simultaneously to purchase their prescription drugs. Explaining the process in a JIS News interview, Vice...

The Government is collaborating with the World Bank to "provide funding for a full-scale implementation of a squatter management policy", through the recently launched Squatter Management Unit, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, Donovan Stanberry, has said. Until then, the Unit will operate based on guidelines which have been approved by the Cabinet. "The guidelines basically provide...

Residents of Bog Walk, St. Catherine, are upbeat about the development of a Craft Village in the area, to take advantage of the flow of visitors expected during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007. The Social Development Commission (SDC) is planning to set up a vending area in the town, where visitors can buy fruits, vegetables, craft and other items....

The St. James Parish Council will host some 500 young persons between 13 and 16 years of age at its Summer Youth Sport Camp, and an additional 60 children from 7 to 12 years at its Summer Kids Camp, scheduled to be held simultaneously from July 24 to August 4 in Montego Bay. The sport camp, to be staged under...

Approximately 23,500 tonnes of cement will be available for distribution this week. This figure was released yesterday (July 24), by the Ministry of Industry, Technology, Energy and Commerce (MITEC), in conjunction with the Incorporated Master Builders Association, the Hardware Merchants Association, and the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce. At a joint meeting at the Ministry in Kingston, the entities reported that...

Plans are in high gear for the internationally acclaimed Emancipation Jubilee 2006, at the Seville Heritage Park in St. Ann's Bay, St. Ann from July 31 to August 1. The event will highlight traditional and oral culture in an invigorating form, and is expected to attract thousands of locals as well as visitors to the island. "This year promises to...

At 19 years-old Kamala LaTouche thought she had it all figured out. The self-described "unfocussed and wayward" teen felt she could make life on her own without help from anyone. But, her all-age school principal thought otherwise, and felt Kamala needed the structure, training and life coping skills that a programme, such as the National Youth Service's (NYS) Customer Care...

Parents play an integral role in the development of children. Not only do they provide care, support and discipline, but are also the major agents of socialization for their children. With the role of the parents being so important, there are calls in Jamaica for them to become more involved in the education system, in terms of participating in decision-making...

As the campaign to build a permanent monument to Jamaican born heroine Mary Seacole gains momentum, another honour has been bestowed on her, with a major landmark in Salford dedicated to inter-professional teaching and research in UK health and social care, now named in her honour. The