Miss Jamaica Festival Queen 2019, Khamara Wright, has embarked on a project, dubbed ‘Nourish and Flourish’, which is focused on facilitating high-school students with healthy meals. Key among the initiative’s objectives are encouraging creative cooking lessons; fostering and heightening awareness of the need for healthy living and eating practices; and showcasing the versatility of Jamaican foods, while promoting what she...

Founder of ReBuild, Zara Harris, has formulated a novel way of utilising discarded plastics in the construction of environmentally friendly albedo (heat resistant) pavements. The project minimises the amount of plastics in the environment, while the low temperature sidewalks allow for cooler surroundings. “These pavements will not reflect the sunlight in a blinding way, and facilitate a smoother run-off of...

Educator and graduate of the Aspiring Principals’ Programme (APP), an initiative of the National College for Educational Leadership (NCEL), for 2019, Mr. Everton Tyndale, is calling for early childhood educational institutions to increase play time for their students. “I realised that children are not allowed to go outside and play as much when compared to previous years. Play time has...

For 35 days between October and early December, Clayon Elliot travelled 149 kilometres from his home in York Town, Clarendon, to attend classes in event production at the Grandiosa Hotel in Montego Bay, St. James. It was a three-and-a-half-hour commute to and from Montego Bay each day for a total of seven hours. Mr. Elliot tells JIS News that he...

The St. Elizabeth Homecoming Foundation has honoured fruit and vegetable farmer Desmond Whitely, for 42 continuous years in the industry. The 54-year-old son of the parish was presented with the ‘Best of St. Bess Golden Award’ at the Foundation’s Homecoming Week 2019 Awards Brunch held recently at Lover’s Leap, where he was showered with accolades for his contribution to the...

DFL Importers, once the largest local supplier of polystyrene (Styrofoam) food containers, has retrofitted its operations is now offering a range of eco-friendly products. These items, which meet international standards, are made from materials such as cardboard, bagasse, minerals and paper. Sales Manager, Mark DeCasseres, tells JIS News that the change is in support of the Government’s ban on single...

Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, says that 2019 was another successful year for tourism with the sector poised to generate record numbers in arrivals and earnings. “In 2018, we welcomed 4.3 million visitors, which earned us US$3.3 billion and this year we are well on our way to surpassing this record achievement,” he tells JIS News. “Jamaica is poised to...

Veteran public relations officer at the Jamaica Information Service (JIS), Judith Hunter and dedicated telephone operator, Georgene Smith not only share similarities in their over two decades of distinguished service to the government agency but also their passion for the job. Both spoke glowingly about their tenure at the JIS after they were recognised for 26 years of dedicated service,...

On Saturday, December 7, Retirees of the Jamaica Information Service (JIS), Ms. Lillieth Richards, Office Attendant, and Ms. Dolet McPherson, part-time Office Attendant, were treated royally by the agency at its Christmas Soiree, held at the Terra Nova Hotel, in Kingston, on December 7. Ms. Richards, affectionately called “Miss Lil”, and Ms. McPherson were each presented with a watch and...