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Jamaica's Ambassador to the United States, Professor Gordon Shirley, will participate in a panel discussion in New York on January 29, focusing on the treatment of HIV/AIDS in Jamaica. The Ministry of Health and the Senior Medical Officer responsible for the government's National HIV Control and Prevention Programme, Dr. Yitades Gebre, have reiterated the commitment of the Ministry to increase...

Poultry farmers in St. Catherine who suffered losses during Hurricane Ivan have begun receiving vouchers last week from the Office of National Reconstruction (ONR), to assist in their rehabilitation efforts. The vouchers, which are each valued at $3,500, are being distributed by the Parish Office of the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) in Linstead. Several farmers who turned up at...

More customers of the Registrar General's Department (RGD), will now be able to access the agency's express services, with the implementation of electronic indices in all Regional Offices. "Previously, persons would have applied on the ordinary service because they didn't have all the information, so they probably did not have an entry number, but now we offer this search facility...

Expansion and upgrading work on the Cambridge Infant School in South St. James is advanced, with the project scheduled for completion within the next few months. Already, the foundation and walls have been built with windows, doors and other fixtures to be installed and the building painted. The $6 million contract for the work was signed on July 14, 2004,...

The Island's tertiary education landscape has been further widened with the establishment of a partnership between Caribbean International College (CIC) and international partners, Resource Development International, to provide tertiary level training in six areas. This will allow individuals to pursue further studies in Business, Information Technology and Management at the graduate and undergraduate level through distance learning. Speaking at the...

The House of Representatives on Tuesday (Jan. 25), passed amendments to the Broadcasting and Re-diffusion Act to extend the licensing period for Subscriber Television (SSTV) operators. Minister of Education, Youth and Culture, Maxine Henry Wilson, who piloted the Bill, which had came to the Lower House from the Senate, explained that the amendment was in recognition of the liberalization of...

The Micro Investment Development Agency (MIDA) continues to serve as a beacon of hope for persons operating small businesses, as the credit agency remains one of the rare institutions willing to provide funding to budding entrepreneurs who might lack the requisite collateral to secure loans from larger financial institutions. Vivian Chin, Managing Director of the MIDA, tells JIS News that...

Industry and Tourism Minister, Aloun Ndombet Assamba, has expressed optimism at the prospects for further growth in the tourism sector for 2005. Minister Assamba said industry players were heartened by the high number of forward bookings, which should translate to high arrivals, while noting that for the period January to April 2004, Jamaica experienced the best winter tourist season ever...

WSRF-AM 1580, a Jamaican-owned radio station in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has donated over US$20,000 to the Caribbean hurricane recovery effort. The money was raised from a radiothon held over two days last October and saw donations coming in from listeners throughout the United States. The funds were equally distributed among four Caribbean islands - Jamaica, Grenada, Cayman Islands and Haiti....

Estimates have shown that damage to agriculture and livestock caused by Hurricane Ivan last September is in excess of $8.5 billion, Minister of Finance and Planning, Dr. Omar Davies has said. He informed members of the Diplomatic Corps at Jamaica House on January 25 that the agricultural sector, which was severely affected by the hurricane, was currently on its way...

Minister of Finance and Planning, Dr. Omar Davies has said that in carrying out its studies, the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) will be placing greater emphasis on the social factors affecting the nation. He was speaking at a special ceremony to launch the beginning of the PIOJ's 50th Anniversary at the Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston on Wednesday, (January...

National Security Minister, Dr. Peter Phillips has said that during the past year a significant dent had been made in the cocaine trade by virtue of the cooperation with international authorities, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. "We have made significant arrests of people that we think are central to the trade, we have also been able...