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Finance and Planning Minister, Dr. Omar Davies, has invited suggestions from the Opposition, special interest groups and the public at large, regardingthe management of the Education Transformation Fund. Dr. Davies invitation formed part of his response in the House yesterday (May 10), to Opposition Leader, Bruce Golding, who last week said the Government's proposal to consolidate statutory payroll deductions into...

Finance and Planning Minister, Dr. Omar Davies, has said that steps would be taken to rectify identified deficiencies in the legislation governing the tendering, consideration and award of contracts. Minister Davies made the announcement while closing the 2006/07 Budget Debates in Gordon House yesterday (May 10), in response to claims by Opposition Leader, Bruce Golding, that the procedures for the...

Finance and Planning Minister, Dr. Omar Davies, has dismissed proposals put forward by Opposition Spokesperson on Finance, Audley Shaw to address the country's debt problem, including accessing US$1 billion in low cost loans from a consortium comprising the World Bank, the Inter American Development Bank, and the Caribbean Development Bank, to replace expensive instruments. He noted that while the country...

Special Adviser to the Prime Minister on Science and Technology, Dr. Arnoldo Ventura, has said that the only way government could cope with risks and uncertainties was by deploying scientific approaches.He pointed out that this would bolster confidence to pursue innovations prompted by evidence-based information. "This can go a far way to create new enterprises, ensure higher productivity, allow better...

Organizers of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 are reporting that the tickets in the most demand since the launch of the ticketing programme on May 1, are those for the finals in Barbados and the semi-finals in Jamaica and St. Lucia. A further breakdown of the number of applications for ticket packages so far, reveal that matches involving the...

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller has said that her vision for Jamaica was a country where there is universal literacy, with an education and training system that produces first class citizens, capable of competing within any sector of the world economy. Delivering her maiden presentation as Prime Minister in the 2006/07 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives, yesterday (May...

Prime Minister, Portia Simpson Miller, has said that the government remained committed to pursuing a sound macro-economic policy that prudently managed the fiscal accounts, controlled inflation and reduced the debt ratio. The Prime Minister, who was making her contribution to the 2006/07 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives on May 9, stressed that the government would also be steadfast...

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller has named the agencies through which the $1 billion to be deducted from the National Insurance Fund (NIF) for small business development, will be disbursed. The Prime Minister, who was making her contribution to the 2006/07 Budget Debate in Gordon House yesterday (May 9), informed that the National Development Foundation of Jamaica will receive $100...

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller has announced that the National Housing Trust (NHT) would be providing some 7,900 new benefits, at a cost of some $13.2 billion in the 2006/07 fiscal year. Mrs. Simpson Miller, who was making her debut presentation in the 2006/07 Budget Debate as Prime Minister, said through the introduction of these new benefits, the government was...

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller has announced that the National Housing Trust (NHT) would allocate $500 million per annum to assist contributors who, because of their income levels, were unable to qualify for a housing benefit. Making her contribution to the 2006/07 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives yesterday (May 9), Mrs. Simpson Miller said she was determined that,...

Prime Minister Simpson Miller said that the modernization of the judicial system and the completion of the process of constitutional reform were the two major elements that would be targeted to advance human rights and civil liberty in Jamaica. She made the disclosure in Parliament as she delivered her maiden Budget Presentation yesterday (May 9, 2006). "An efficient justice system...

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller said Jamaica will continue to use its foreign and trade policy initiatives as tools to aid in the development process and help the country meet the UN Millennium Development Goals. Mrs. Simpson Miller was speaking in Parliament on Tuesday (May 9) in her contribution to the 2006/07 Budget Debate as the first woman Prime Minister...