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As of next Tuesday (Feb. 21), Parliamentarians will, for the first time in the country's history, be allowed to use computers during sittings of the House. Commerce, Science and Technology Minister, Phillip Paulwell, who made the announcement at Tuesday's (Feb.14) sitting of the House, said that the Speaker of the House, the House Clerk, the Opposition Leader, the Prime Minister,...

Elected officials and community leaders from the Caribbean American community have come out in support of the Bill proclaiming June as National Caribbean American Heritage Month in the United States (US), which was passed in the US Senate last Tuesday (Feb.14). The Bill - House Concurrent Resolution 71 - authored by Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland, CA) and supported by a...

With 41 persons already killed and several others maimed on the nation's roads for 2006, the Police Traffic Division is preparing to roll out a number of initiatives to cut down on the carnage on the roadways. In an interview with JIS News, Byron Powell, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) in charge of administration at the Police Traffic Division, informed...

The audit of the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) Company's billing practices, which was ordered by the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) in 2005, should get underway by March 1 and should last for six to eight weeks, said OUR Director General, J. Paul Morgan. According to Mr. Morgan, the hitches delaying the start of the audit have been cleared up....

Director General of the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), J. Paul Morgan, has called for the establishing of an "office of the public counsel", which would lobby and advocate on behalf of consumers on matters relating to utilities.He suggested that the Office of the Public Defender could be expanded to undertake this role. Mr. Morgan, who was addressing an OUR-organized...

Minister of Transport and Works, Robert Pickersgill, on Friday (Feb.17) broke ground for phase 2 of the Sangster International Airport expansion programme, which will be carried out at a cost of US$51 million. The project, which got underway in early January, will entail the construction of a new ground transport hall, a new departure security area, redevelopment of the departure...

The Prime Minster's Business Development Forum, slated for February 23, will serve to reposition Kingston as a safe and ideal business location for local, regional and international investors. Minister of Commerce, Science and Technology, Phillip Paulwell, speaking at Friday's (Feb. 17) Government Communications Group-organised panel discussion on 'Going for growth and development through ICT' at Jamaica House, outlined that the...

Residents of Summerfield in Clarendon, yesterday (Feb.17) benefited from an outreach session organized by the Clarendon Health Department, where they were provided with information on how to guard against contracting sexually transmitted infections (STI), including HIV. The session was as part of activities to mark 'Safer Sex Week' from February 12 to 17. Shelton Maxwell, Targeted Interventions Officer at the...

Jamaicans will soon be able to have easier access to government and its services through the use of information communications technology (ICT) as the country moves towards a paperless system, said Phillip Paulwell, Minister of Commerce, Science and Technology. The Minister, who was part of the panel at yesterday's (Feb.17) Government Communications Group-organized discussion on 'Going for growth and development...

The National Works Agency (NWA) has stepped up efforts to improve traffic flow at all congestion-prone areas across the country, particularly in urban centres such as Montego Bay, Spanish Town and Kingston. Last year, the agency effected changes to the movement of traffic in the corporate area and a number of roads were either widened or rehabilitated as part of...

The Health Corporation Limited (HCL) has reported that the 2004/05 fiscal year was a successful one, with the agency having achieved or exceeded 86 per cent of its key performance indicators. As contained in the HCL's annual report for that period, which was tabled in the House of Representatives recently, the Corporation experienced its 10th successive year of profitability, making...

The Child Development Agency (CDA) has developed a Childcare and Protection Service Manual, as part of its measures to ensure quality service delivery to wards of the state. The manual sets out protocols for CDA operations and service delivery and provides standards by which the CDA can be measured. According to Winston Bowen, Director of Programmes at the CDA, the...