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Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Hon Dr. Kenneth Baugh, is urging nationwide support for the 2011 Population and Housing Census, which will be administered by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) over a four month period, beginning April 5. This year's census, the island’s fourteenth since the commencement of the modern format in 1943,...

Prime Minister, the Hon Bruce Golding, officially opened Jamaica's 'most modern and elaborate' port, the Falmouth Cruise Pier in Trelawny, on Tuesday March 22. The approximately US$ 269 million pier, which is still under construction,  also saw the arrival of the world’s largest cruise vessel, Oasis of the Seas, making its inaugural stopover in Jamaica, with about 6,000 passengers and...

Recommendations aimed at inducing short and medium term economic growth in Jamaica, have been included in a strategy developed within the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ). The document, a Growth Inducement Strategy for Jamaica in the Short and Medium Term, was developed through a special secretariat established within the PIOJ. It establishes a strategic framework for robust economic growth, aligned...

A total of 154 persons have received certification in various competencies under an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Capacity Development Project between the Governments of Jamaica and India. The students, who were presented with their documents at a ceremony held on March 17 at the Courtleigh Auditorium in New Kingston, are the second batch to be certified with the Indian-based...

The pilot phase of the much anticipated Community Renewal Programme (CRP) could be rolled out as early as the end of March, according to officials at the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ). The programme, which is being coordinated by the Institute, will address poor housing, poor infrastructure, weak community governance and the lack of coordination of social intervention programmes. The...

Jamaica is ranked among the top 15 countries in the world with top broadband speeds, Chairman of Columbus Communications International, Brendan Paddick, has revealed. “With Flow’s introduction of up to 100 mega bits (per second) of internet speeds into Jamaican homes, I am proud to announce that Jamaica has now moved up the Information and Telecommunications Technology (ICT)  ladder...ranking higher...

The Government is expanding the National Customer Service Programme, as part of overall efforts to modernise the public sector, says Chief Standards and Monitoring Officer, National Customer Service Programme, Public Sector Modernisation Unit, Cabinet Office, Michele Gordon-Somers. Speaking at  the opening  of the Customer Service Monitoring and Evaluation System (CSMES) inaugural customised training course, at the Management Institute for National...

The effective and efficient delivery of products and services by the public sector is pivotal to the realisation of the country's National Development Plan, Vision 2030. This was emphasised by Chief Standards and Monitoring Officer, National Customer Service Programme, Public Sector Modernisation Unit, Cabinet Office, Michele Gordon-Somers, at the opening of the Customer Service Monitoring and Evaluation System (CSMES) inaugural...

A call has been made for qualified electrical engineers to take advantage of the opportunities existing for energy auditors, and for the implementation of energy auditing projects, with over $1 billion available annually for these projects. The call came from Acting Group Managing Director of the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ), Nigel Logan, in an interview with JIS News. He...

The Ministry of Energy and Mining is working to complete the National Minerals Policy 2010 to 2030 within the first quarter of the new fiscal year for tabling in Parliament in August. Consultations on the draft policy are now underway, which will inform the final document. Principal Director for the Policy Planning and Development Division of the Ministry, Oral Rainford,...

Jamaica’s rich potential in the alternative energy sector was unveiled to potential investors at the Commonwealth Power Summit held in London this week. Minister of Energy and Mining, Hon. James Robertson, who was the main speaker at a session on ‘Power Opportunities in the Caribbean’, outlined a number of projects that offer investment possibilities in the areas of wind and...

Prime Minister, Hon. Bruce Golding says the Wigton windfarm in Manchester will be providing hard currency savings for the country, while earning from the sale  of carbon credits overseas. “It will save us almost 60,000 barrels of oil imports per year, at a value of over US$5 million,” the Prime Minister  pointed out, adding that together,  Phases One and Two...