Volunteers in the recently established COVID-19 Mental Health Response Programme say the training they have received will enable them to assist persons facing mental challenges to get some relief. The programme has commenced with 30 community volunteers, and will shorty expand to 150 persons trained by the Jamaica Red Cross and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), to reach persons,...

Head of the Community Safety and Security Branch (CSSB) in St. James, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Yvonne Whyte-Powell, says the relationship between the police and residents in sections of Salt Spring, St. James, has seen a vast improvement. She says police-citizen relations are being repaired through social intervention programmes, including a breakfast feeding programme, an annual youth summer camp started...

While the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues to wreak havoc across the island, charities such as the One Hart Hill Foundation, from the coastal district of Hart Hill, Portland, remain shining examples and inspiration to many. Founded in April 2020 by Hart Hill resident, Michael Coombs, the community-based non-profit organisation, whose members predominantly reside overseas, has been a model of consistency,...

Coping with cancer is undoubtedly a stressful experience for any individual so afflicted. But the Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) Cancer Support Group in St. James has, for several years, been helping many persons stricken with the disease to cope emotionally and spiritually in their everyday life. Since its establishment in 2004, the group has been providing a safe space for...

Nakeba Brown was only 10 years old when her mother died at age 29, leaving nine children who had to be rescued by the then Child Development Agency (CDA), now the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA). The trauma of losing her mother at a tender age, being separated from her brothers and sisters and living with strangers, took...

Capital improvement works are proceeding apace at the Sangster International Airport (SIA) despite the fallout in the global airline industry resulting from the downturn in activity due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The projects, which represent investment of approximately US$170 million, include expansion works under a master plan programme and a runway expansion project. President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO)...

Head of the European Union (EU) Delegation to Jamaica, Ambassador Marianne Van Steen, has commended the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) for the efficient management of the Poverty Reduction Programme (PRP), which is being undertaken through EU support. “We would never have been able to do what we're doing if we would not have been able to count on the...

Mayor of St. Ann’s Bay, Councillor Sydney Stewart, says that an all-hands-on-deck approach is being employed in tackling the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in St. Ann. He told JIS News that the St. Ann Municipal Corporation has been working with the health department and other public and private-sector stakeholders to ensure that there is greater adherence to the health and safety...

With the raging coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic impacting and taking a huge toll on almost every sector across Jamaica, the tourism resilient corridors have been an exception to the rule, stakeholders say. So much so that some hoteliers are openly declaring that one of the safest places to be is “the inside of a resort where there are some strict and...