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Community Mental Health Care, is more effective and cheaper to provide than institutional care, but in order to have a successful system, all the critical institutional services, must be available at the community level. In addition, there is an urgent need for specialised branches of psychiatric services, including forensic psychiatry, geriatric psychiatry, and child and adolescent disaster psychiatry, Senior Medical...

Minister of Health and Environment, Rudyard Spencer, yesterday (Oct. 27) announced that Vice President of Management and Information Systems, at the National Health Fund (NHF), Hugh Lawson, will act as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), of the agency until a new CEO is hired. This follows the recent termination of the services of Rae Barrett as CEO of the Fund. The...

The Ministry of Mining and Telecommunications, has launched a three- month consultation process, to finalise Jamaica's first national minerals policy, and establish the framework for management and development of the local mining industry. Minister, Derrick Smith, said the draft document "sets out a comprehensive and unified approach to developing the country's minerals industry ensuring that the Jamaican people are the...

The Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA) and the Government officially signed off on a wage and fringe benefits package yesterday (October 27). The 2008 to 2010 agreement, stipulates that teachers' salaries will be increased to 80 per cent of the existing private sector market and that they will be paid retroactively in three payments from December to June 2009. Addressing the...

Minister of Labour and Social Security, Pearnel Charles, has called on employers and trade unions to work in unison, in order to improve Jamaica's productivity level. Speaking at the opening of a two-day Productivity Conference, hosted by the Jamaica Productivity Centre (JPC), today (October 28), at the Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston, the Minister emphasised that the Government is committed...

Some 70 per cent of Jamaican importers of goods and raw materials from the United States, will benefit from a US$10 million line of credit, which has been secured by the Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank of Jamaica, as the financial crisis in the US and around the world deepens. The facility, which is to become effective within the next two weeks,...

Prime Minister, Bruce Golding, has expressed his Government's gratitude to Cuba's Ambassador, Gisela Garcia Rivera, for the significant role she has played in strengthening the friendship between Jamaica and Cuba. Mr. Golding, on Tuesday (Oct 28), hosted a luncheon at Jamaica House, which was attended by Government Ministers and members of the Cabinet, in honour of Ambassador Garcia, who recently...

Prime Minister, Bruce Golding, says that if Jamaica is to achieve the desired levels of productivity, there will have to be a cultural transformation that must involve a change of attitude to work and the workers' attitude to both work and management. He said part of this transformation will also involve increased expenditure on education, while at the same time...

A heritage exhibition, depicting Jamaican culture and history, was staged by the Registrar Generals Department (RGD), in Twickenham Park, St. Catherine, on October 24. On show were the last will and testament of National Hero, The Right Excellent George William Gordon, a list of the first registered marriages in Jamaica, and the first locally recorded bill of sale. Also in...

Governor-General, His Excellency the Most Hon. Professor Sir Kenneth Hall, has cited the Boys' Brigade as a crucial organisation in the development of the nation's young people. In his message read by Custos of Manchester, Dr. Gilbert Allen, at the Boys' Brigade Founder's Day Church Service, held yesterday (October 26), at the Ridgemount United Church in Mandeville, the Governor-General said...

Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Christopher Tufton, has said that the world food crisis has forced investment in agriculture, and is pushing consumers to accept local food options. The Minister who was speaking on (October 24), at the Alpart Community Council's Annual General Meeting, held at the company's sports club in Nain, St. Elizabeth, noted that the Government is promoting programmes...

The Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC), is to assume responsibility for all activities relating to micro and small business development, Industry, Investment, and Commerce Minister, Karl Samuda, has announced. Speaking at a media briefing at the Ministry's New Kingston offices on October 24, Mr. Samuda said that activities at the Ministry would be restructured, to facilitate the transfer of this...