Government Allocates $834.9 Million for Research and Development
By: , May 11, 2023
Photo: Mark Bell
Minister of Science, Energy, and Technology, Hon. Daryl Vaz, makes his contribution to the 2023/24 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on Wednesday (May 10).The Full Story
The Government has allocated $834.939 million for research and development, which is $47.207 million or six per cent more than the 2022/2023 allocation.
“While we are not yet at a target of 1.5 per cent of our gross domestic product (GDP) being allocated to research and development, implementing the objectives of the Science, Technology and Innovation Policy will put us well on our way,” Minister of Science, Energy and Technology, Hon. Daryl Vaz, has said.
He was making his contribution to the 2023/24 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on May 10.
In addition, to better support the international competitiveness of the local manufacturing and productive sectors, the Ministry has granted a $28-million increase for the Scientific Research Council (SRC) to upgrade the analytical labs.
“These labs have seen over 13,200 analyses conducted to date and have seen a successful re-accreditation to the ISO/ International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 17025 standard in November 2022 for 21 food, two non-sterile pharmaceuticals and 17 environmental tests,” Mr. Vaz stated.
Also, in August 2022 analysis turnaround times of Salmonella, Rapid Listeria, and E. coli, were significantly reduced from three weeks to 48 hours.
Moreover, quantitative methods for the analysis of cannabis and psychedelic mushrooms were also added to the scope, making the SRC the first entity to do so in Jamaica.