Persons receiving retirement pension payments under the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) will soon be required to have a bank account. NIS Director, Portia Magnus, tells JIS News that the plan is to have all NIS pensioners receiving their funds through direct deposits into their accounts. “That is where we will be going,” she says. “Gradually we are shifting. The Government...

Following a $15-million infrastructure upgrade, the popular Scott’s Cove food and rest stop is being seen as a potential booster for tourism on Jamaica’s southern coast. Also known as ‘Border’ and located between the neighbouring parishes of St. Elizabeth and Westmoreland, Scott’s Cove, a haven for fish and bammy lovers, has also been transformed into a major gastronomy centre, which...

The Ministry of National Security, through the ‘Goals for Peace’ (GFP) social intervention initiative, is achieving positive behaviour change among young men in Montego Bay, St. James. The GFP initiative is a collaboration between the Ministry’s Citizen Security and Justice Programme (CSJP) and the ‘I AM Voluntourism’ programme, which engages neighbouring communities in St. James through football tournaments and social...

Several private-sector leaders have welcomed the Government’s decision to forge more public-private partnerships for the management and operation of State assets. Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, says this is being embarked on in a bid to pair targeted assets with the expertise determined to be capable of maximising the entities’ outputs. Examples of this include divestment of the...

Justice of the Peace (JP) for Kingston, Lt. Col. (Ret’d) Euken Mills, believes specialised training which he and colleague JPs have received to serve as a lay magistrates, will greatly enable them to assist in reducing the backlog of cases in the courts. He is one of 40 JPs from Kingston and St. Andrew who have trained in the Justice...

A group of enterprising young entrepreneurs has been gearing up to fill the void anticipated from the impending Government ban on single-use plastic items, which is slated to take effect on January 1, 2019. The operators of the fledgling business entity, Those Creative People Tings (TCP Tings), which is known for its signature line – ‘One Bag Ah Tings, have...

Prime Minister’s Youth Awardee, and Director and Founder of the Jamaica Climate Change Youth Council (JCCYC), Eleanor Terrelonge, is passionate about safeguarding the country against climate change. She believes that her interest in and the application of science, research and technology, along with work done through the JCCYC, will enable her to assist in shaping the future of the Jamaica...

Hair care guru and founder of Kumea’s Hair Perspective, Yolande Gooden-Rhoden, has big plans to transform her small business into a much larger thriving enterprise under the Women in Entrepreneurship Support (WES) Project. She is one of four participants selected for the first phase of the three-year project, being jointly implemented by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries...

Wards of the State are benefiting from a range of initiatives under the Transitional Living Programme for Children in State Care (TLP-CSC) Project. The initiative is designed to equip youth in State care with life and vocational skills training and mentoring in a safe environment. This engagement is being implemented by the University of the West Indies (UWI) Open Campus...