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Ladies and Gentlemen, join me in creative imagination. Close your eyes and picture this:A backdrop of unfurling mountain ranges, towering peaks and lush vegetation - sixty thousand revelers sway in unison, to Jamaica's music, reggae music, enchanted by the warm, friendly atmosphere. The voice of Bob Marley fills the air with a haunting melody and the mass of people ingest...

It is said that the first wealth is health, and with the Government's plan to have the country achieve developed country status by 2030, the Ministry of Health and Environment (MOHE) is moving to ensure that all Jamaicans are healthy by then. As part of this thrust, the ministry has already embarked on a transformation and restructuring programme to ensure...

Head of the Caribbean Development Bank's (CDB) Social Sector Division, Yvonne Moses Grant, says the prevailing economic crisis presents Caribbean countries with an opportunity for creative innovative solutions to deal with the challenges. "We must be creative and imaginative, finding the best solutions to the problems we face, creating new employment opportunities to offset the anticipated layoffs at the workplace,...

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Dr. Kenneth Baugh, has said that an Information Communication Technology (ICT) Training Centre, created at the Excelsior Community College, Kingston, should produce a cadre of persons capable of transferring their skills to others within their communities. "This initiative is important, as it represents progress, consistent with the development of Jamaica's information and communication...

Jamaica could become the business and industrial hub of the Caribbean and the Americas, thanks to the opportunities presented under the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), signed recently between CARIFORUM States and the European Union (EU). Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Dr. Ken Baugh, outlined a massive vision of economic growth and development for the island, to be stimulated...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Audley Shaw, said that the Government's economic policies have the objective of growing the economy out of debt and positioning the country on a path to sustained development. The Minister was speaking to a nine-member delegation from Tanzania, including Minister of Energy and Minerals, William Ngeleja, today (Jan. 21) at the Ministry's National...

Senior Director in the Ministry of Justice, Marcia Beverley, has underscored the provisions and benefits to be derived under the Justice Transformation Agenda Programme, which the administration is pursuing for implementation. Addressing the half yearly meeting of the Manchester Lay Magistrates Association at the Golf View Hotel in Mandeville on January 15, Mrs. Beverley said the initiative aims to improve...

Cabinet on Monday (Nov. 17), approved the draft Vision 2030 Jamaica National Development Plan and Medium Term Socio-Economic Framework (MTF) 2009-2012. This follows the March 2007 Cabinet directive, that the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), prepare a long-term development plan, which by 2030, would advance the country's strategic objectives to achieve developed country status. Based on a comprehensive vision and...

The Government is preparing a medium-term strategy for public sector labour relations in order to manage wages, sustain and improve the quality of the public workforce, and increase workforce efficiency. Minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, Senator Don Wehby, during his Sectoral Presentation in the Senate on Friday (Nov. 14), said the new strategy...

Minister of Information, Culture, Youth and Sports, Olivia Grange, has said that the performance of the athletes in the summer Olympics has renewed international interest in the island. "Jamaica is now centre stage in a number of areas including our tourism, our culture and also in our agricultural products, as foreigners try to discover the source of our success in...

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Dr. Kenneth Baugh, has said that collaboration between Government and the private sector is necessary, to ensure that practical measures are taken, regarding implementation of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). Dr. Baugh pointed out that one of the measures is the improvement of "our own Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures and standards, which will...

Several critical agencies were placed under the umbrella of the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), with the formation of the new Government in September last year. These include the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ); the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN); the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA); the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF); the National Solid Waste Management Authority...