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Director General of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), Ronald Jackson, says the development of a comprehensive national risk reduction strategy to build resilience to disasters, is vital to the country’s sustained economic and social growth. He argued that unless the impacts of hazards are minimised, they will continue to affect Jamaica’s social, economic and environmental development....

Approximately 75 members of staff of the Grand Palladium Hotel in Point, Hanover, have graduated from a training course in food and beverage service and food preparation, which was carried out by the HEART Trust/NTA. The training course lasted  from January to July and  the successful participants have received the National Vocational Qualification of Jamaica (NVQJ) certificate, in keeping with...

The Ministry of Education will be putting in place a working group aimed at improving the performance of students in both Mathematics and English Language. “This will include the best minds from the academic community, who will assist us to deal with what I consider to be a crisis and the main element that may drop us short of our...

Education Minister, Rev. the Hon. Ronald Thwaites, says the country's education system ranks highly with those of other countries, particularly developed nations, whose standards  Jamaica surpasses in many instances. Speaking at Northern Caribbean University’s (NCU) colloquium at its central campus in Mandeville, Manchester, earlier this week, Rev. Thwaites said that level has been achieved with less Gross National Product (GNP)...

The Spanish-Jamaican Foundation, and the Ministry of Labour and Social Security have joined forces, to cater to the needs of the disabled community in Jamaica. Persons with special needs are now being equipped with a foreign language, which should prepare them for the world of work, both locally and internationally, says Modern Language Education Officer at the Ministry of Education,...

The life and work of National Hero the Rt. Excellent Marcus Garvey, was on Friday (August 17), given special recognition in the parish of his birth, St. Ann. Scores of persons representing civic groups, the Rastafarian community, academia, the political directorate, along with a number of children, turned out at the St. Ann’s Bay Parish Library, just a few kilometres...

Creating a quality education system that will equip Jamaicans with the skills and abilities to drive development and effectively compete in a community, has been a major focus of successive governments since Independence. Once a privilege for a select few, education has now become the right of every Jamaican, from every social, economic and ethnic background, at all levels of...

While Jamaica has recorded slow economic growth since independence, the social development of its people has improved significantly. This was the consensus among panelists participating in a discussion on: ‘Understanding Jamaica’s Economic and Social Development Since Independence’, at the Golden Jubilee Village, at Independence Park, on August 4. Director General of the Planning Institute Of Jamaica (PIOJ), Dr. Gladstone Hutchinson,...

State Minister in the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Hon. Sharon Ffolkes-Abrahams, says the Government is working towards the development of an effective Services Growth and Expansion Plan, in an effort to further advance the services sector. Mrs. Ffolkes-Abrahams said the initiative forms an integral part of the Vision 2030 National Development Plan, which is also in support of...

The Ministry of Transport, Works and Housing, has launched a titling programme, aimed at further empowering a large segment of the Jamaican population who reside in Operation PRIDE schemes all across Jamaica. "Over 10,000 Operation PRIDE beneficiaries will now be afforded the opportunity of having their individual splinter titles transferred to them, thereby providing security of tenure for lands which...

The Ministry of Transport, Works and Housing, has taken steps to formulate a National Housing Policy and Implementation Plan, to give strategic direction to the housing sector and to enable the Government to meet its vision/target of providing access to adequate and secure shelter for all Jamaicans by 2030. "This policy and implementation plan are intended to address the perennial...

State Minister for Industry, Investment and Commerce, Hon. Sharon Ffolkes- Abrahams, has emphasised the importance of minimising bureaucracy and creating a favourable business environment for investors, in order to propel the economy forward. Mrs. Ffolkes-Abrahams explained that  a favourable business environment is critical, not only for attracting foreign direct investments, “but also essential for the development and sustainability of domestic...