Retired Chairman of the Rio Tinto Alcan Legacy Scholarship Steering Committee, Rev. Lenworth Sterling, was recently honoured by his peers for unstinting service and outstanding contributions to agriculture and education through his leadership of that body. Member of the committee and stakeholder partner, the Jamaica 4-H Clubs, presented Rev. Sterling, a retired educator, with a citation and commemorative plaque during...

Stakeholders and participants in the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Information’s robotics workshop are hoping the new year will bring another staging of the programme, as they have deemed it a fulfilling and worthwhile project which teaches a valuable skill. The robotics initiative formed part of the Ministry’s Enrichment Programme which was designed to provide students who perform differently from...

The leadership of unions/bargaining units signing agreements on behalf of civil servants for the Government’s four per cent salary increase offer for April 2021 to March 2022, is anticipating seamless implementation of the Public Sector Compensation Review, and have committed to working to facilitate this. The review, slated to begin in April 2022, is intended to overhaul the structure of...

For nearly 200 years, farmlands within 15 miles of the Long Pond Sugar Factory in Clarks Town, Trelawny, were dedicated to cane cultivation. Since the decline in the factory’s fortunes, farmers and their families in the neighbouring districts of Crawle, Georgia, Hyde Park, Parnassus, Swanswick, and Jackson Town have been seeking alternative livelihoods, particularly against the background of the emergence...

The Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) is seeking to promote digital art through its Jamaica Visual Arts Competition and Exhibition. The event was open to artists, six years and older, who are Jamaican citizens or have been residing in Jamaica for a period of not less than two years at the closing date for entries. Entries were accepted in seven...

Outstanding students from Chetwood Memorial Primary School in St. James dominated the essay component of the 2021 Jamaica Information Service (JIS) Heritage Competition, with students placing first, second and third. They also copped three of the six category certificate awards in the essay component. The star student who edged out her competitors to win the essay competition, 11-year-old Okaejah Stephens,...

One hundred and fifty years ago, the Jamaica Fire Service was established after the city of Kingston was affected by a series of large fires. The service was officially launched in October 1871 to address the country’s need for an organised fire service. The first fire brigade was established under the Kingston and St. Andrew Fire Brigade Act with others...

Jamaica’s primary health sector continues to benefit from infrastructure strengthening through support from the European Union (EU) under the Poverty Reduction Programme (PRP). The longstanding programme, which is currently in its fourth phase, is being implemented by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF). It is focused on improving living conditions in underserved communities by providing access to quality basic infrastructure...

To date, 730,548 trees have been distributed/planted under the National Tree Planting Initiative, and the environment has been that much better for it. By simply planting tree seedlings since the project began two years ago, over 14 tonnes of pollutants have been removed from the air; 574.3 million gallons of water have been filtered; and more than 4,490 tonnes of...