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Finance and Planning Minister, Dr. Omar Davies, has said that the new public sector Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), to be signed this afternoon (May 30), would provide for the retraining of workers to create a "leaner, more efficient public sector". "The government takes its commitment to do retraining and retooling and to provide a workforce, which is consistent with a...

Jamaican icon, Mary Seacole, will be among 10 Britons to be honoured in a new series of Royal Mail stamps to be issued this summer. The stamps, which will commemorate the National Portrait Gallery's 150th anniversary, will also feature William Shakespeare, Virginia Wolf, Winston Churchill, and T.S. Elliot. The only known portrait of the Jamaican born nurse went on display...

Minister of Agriculture and Land, Roger Clarke, announced today (May 30), that the Ministry has earmarked $200 million to assist farmers across the island to carry out high-yielding, competitive projects. Speaking at the launch of the National Consultation Workshop on Food and Nutrition Security and Vulnerability Profiling at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston, Minister Clarke said these projects are...

Minister of Housing, Transport, Water and Works, Robert Pickersgill, has said that the government is developing a National Housing Policy, which will provide all Jamaicans with access to affordable, safe and legal housing solutions. Mr. Pickersgill made the announcement as he addressed the opening of the Caribbean Associations of Housing Finance Institutions conference at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, in Montego...

Some 70,000 tonnes of cement are expected to arrive in the island by June for distribution by six private sector companies, in an effort to relieve the slump in the construction industry caused by a shortage of the product. Information Minister, Senator Colin Campbell, who made the disclosure during a post Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House in Kingston on...

Minister of Industry, Technology, Energy and Commerce (MITEC), Phillip Paulwell has said that with the continued escalation in world oil prices, Jamaica must seek cost-effective energy alternatives. "With increased concerns over environmental degradation and our escalating oil prices, it is imperative that we seek the most cost-effective methods," the Minister said, as he addressed the launch of an Up-flow Anaerobic...

The National Land Agency (NLA), in a move to decentralize its services and to address more effectively, the needs of persons in western Jamaica, will be establishing a regional titles office in Montego Bay by year end. This move will help to offer essential services in the land titling, survey and mapping divisions. The project will extend to most of...

The Values and Attitudes steering committee will launch its 'Respect for Life' campaign tomorrow (May 31) at the Bethel Apostolic Church, 13 Fernleigh Avenue May Pen, Clarendon. The launch will be held under the theme: 'I respect Life'. Convener of the Respect for Life project, Winnie Anderson Brown, told JIS News that the launch came out of the need to...

Cabinet has given the go-ahead for the awarding of a contract to Matrix Engineering Works Limited, for the construction of a new female residence at the Westmoreland infirmary, at a cost of $16.5 million. Information Minister, Colin Campbell, speaking at a post Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House yesterday (May 29), said the construction of the new wing would create...

Down from the hills, they comeWith swinging hips and steady strideTo feed the hungry TownThey stirred the steep dark land To place within the growing seed.And in the rain and sunshineTended the young green plants,They bred, and dug and reaped.And now, as Heaven has blessed their toil,They come, bearing fruits,These hand-maids of the Soil,Who bring full baskets down,To feed the...

An empty lot in Golden Grove, St. Thomas, which was once overgrown with bushes and wild cane, has been transformed into a beautiful park by the St. Thomas Parish Council and residents of the community. The facility was officially opened on Friday (May 26) at a ceremony held in the vicinity of the park. Following the ceremony, Mayor of St....

Minister of Education and Youth, Maxine Henry-Wilson, on Friday (May 26) officially opened five schools, which were constructed under the North Western Schools Programme. The schools, which have been in operation for about a year, are Green Pond High, Green Pond Primary, Green Pond Basic, Irwin High and Irwin Primary. This brings to seven, the number of new schools completed...