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Given the region's increased vulnerability to natural disasters due to the effects of climate change, and the threat this places on agricultural production and food security, Executive Director of the Caribbean Agriculture and Research Development Institute (CARDI), Dr. Wendel Parham, is calling for an action plan to protect Caribbean food systems, with research targeted at the areas under threat. The...

The Ministry of Agriculture has implemented a US$1.3 million Pig Industry Development Project (PIDP) to improve the supply of pork locally. The project, which is a joint initiative involving the Agricultural Support Services Project (ASSP) and Newport Mills, involves the importation of purebred pigs from a genetics company in Canada for interbreeding with local varieties. Agriculture Minister, Roger Clarke, in...

Thirty students from 11 primary and all-age schools in North Clarendon who gained the highest marks in their region in the recent Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT), have been awarded bursaries by Horace Dalley, Member of Parliament for the area and Minister of Labour and Social Security. The top three achievers have received $10,000 each and back-to-school packages, including schools...

Michael Peart, Member of Parliament for South Manchester, has urged Jamaicans to work together to advance the education process. "Education is not a school project; it embraces students, parents communities and the country," Mr. Peart stated, as he addressed students and parents, who attended the Jamalco-sponsored back to school assistance function held on August 23 at the Alpart Mining Venture...

October 2005 will be 25 years since Montego Bay acquired city status, and the St. James Parish Council is pulling out all the stops to make this silver anniversary a special one. Public and Community Relations Officer with the Parish Council, Suzette Brown told JIS News that a special committee, chaired by Councillor Richard Solomone has been put in place...

Chairman of the Social Development Commission (SDC), Robert Bryan has said that local government should be seen as a distinct sphere of government with specific responsibilities rather than a second tier or second cousin of central government. Mr. Bryan was making his presentation at the High-level Inter-American Network of Decentralization, Local Government and Citizen Participation Sub Regional Mandate and Activities...

Infirmaries around the island are benefiting from the medical supplies and equipment donated by the Independent United Order of Solomon, a Canadian-based charitable organisation. The distribution process began this month, and according to Leon Campbell, Secretary of the Board of Supervision in the Ministry of Local Government, Community Development and Sport, the list of items include sheets, pillows, towels, uniforms...

A new courthouse is to be constructed in Bryan's Bay, Port Antonio, to replace the existing structure, which was badly damaged during a fire last July. The facility will be built at a cost of $247 million, through a partnership between the National Commercial Bank and the Ministry of Justice. In his remarks at the groundbreaking ceremony held on August...

The Ministry of Health has refuted reports by the Jamaica Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (JSPCA) of an outbreak of leptospirosis among dogs, noting that there was no laboratory evidence to support such a claim. According to Dr. Linnette Peters, Director of Veterinary Public Health in the Ministry, since the start of the year, only seven samples...

The Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) has said that the fare discount to public sector workers should not impede the company's goal of returning to profitability. Marketing and Public Relations Manager at the JUTC, Gwyneth Harold told JIS News that the company expected that any shortfall in providing this discount would be cushioned by increased patronage from the general public...

Work is well underway to construct a $23 million skills training centre in the northern Clarendon community of Crooked River. The centre is being established as a collaborative effort between the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) and the HEART Trust/NTA, and is being funded by the European Union under its Poverty Reduction Programme (PRP). Ayanna Mitchell, Community Driven Development Co-ordinator...

Two schools in Clarendon, Central High and Bustamante High, which have piloted the implementation of a Safe Schools Programme in the parish, are reporting success with the initiative. Assistant Co-ordinator of the Clarendon programme, Constable Odale Mulgrave told JIS News that the project has been successful in tackling four main problems at the schools - use of narcotics, possession of...