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Minister of Information, Culture, Youth and Sports, Olivia Grange, has said that the upcoming Olympic Homecoming Celebrations, scheduled for October 3 to 10, is an excellent way for Jamaica to honour and show its appreciation to the country's Olympians. "Our Olympic athletes have treated Jamaica, and the world for that matter, to an experience of a lifetime. The Olympic Homecoming...

Prime Minister Bruce Golding says the European Partnership Agreement which Jamaica is expected to sign come October 15, will provide a tremendous opportunity for US businesses to get into the European markets through Jamaica and to benefit from the duty free, quota free access offered under the agreement. Mr. Golding told representatives of the Jamaica American Chamber of Commerce and...

Since the new administration assumed office last year, the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, has been actively attending to the social needs of Jamaican citizens, particularly the under-privileged, through the strengthening of its social intervention programmes, among other activities. One such, the Programme for Advancement through Health and Education (PATH), is set to benefit from the installation of a...

Minister of Education, Andrew Holness, has reiterated that all students leaving the primary school system must be certified literate by the Grade 4 Literacy Test, before they can sit the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT), or proceed to high school. "The Ministry of Education is going to set a policy now that all students leaving the primary school system must...

The Tax Administration Services Department (TASD), is to launch an aggressive Tax Compliance Programme on November 1, as it takes a hard line stance against avoidance and delinquency. Speaking to JIS News yesterday (Sept. 24), Director of Public Relations, Meris Haughton, said the Department is ready to bring tax dodgers to book. "Come November 1, following the end of the...

The Forestry Department, is now in the final stages of moving from a department of the Ministry of Agriculture, to being an Executive Agency. In an interview with JIS News, Conservator of Forests, Marilyn Headley, said that while the Forestry Department, as an Executive Agency, would generate some income for services offered in areas such as dissemination of research data...

Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Karl Samuda, has announced that local importers are to benefit from continued suspension of the Common External Tariff (CET), applied to the importation of cement. Speaking at a press briefing on September 24, at the Ministry's offices in New Kingston, Mr. Samuda pointed out that agreements have been finalised for the suspension of the...

Minister of Energy, Clive Mullings, has said that sugar cane, which was once the symbol of slavery in Jamaica and the Caribbean, is today, the key to liberating the country from its dependence on oil. The Minister made the statement at a JIS, Think Tank, session yesterday (Sept. 24), where he spoke about the energy challenges facing the country and...

Government's efforts at expanding Jamaica's productive capacity will be focussed heavily, over the next two years, on the development of facilities, to accommodate Information and Communication Technology (ICT) operations, by entities desirous of investing in the sector. This, according to Industry, Investment, and Commerce Minister, Karl Samuda, who says the expansion of Jamaica's productive capacity, is necessary, if the country...

Co-ordinator of the Institute for Sustainable Development at the University of the West Indies(UWI), Franklin McDonald, has said there is a need for more parishes to develop plans, in order to achieve sustainable prosperity. He was speaking at the St. Thomas Environmental Protection Association Benevolent Society's (STEPA) 2nd Wetlands and Coastal Areas Stakeholders Conference, held yesterday (Sept. 24), at the...

Minister of Energy, Clive Mullings, has informed that the E10 Ethanol programme, out of the Centre of Excellence for Renewable Energy, a unit within the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ), is expected to be rolled out on November 1. "We will make available in 87 gasoline, the blend of 10 per cent ethanol (and 90 per cent petrol).and that will...

Twelve persons from the county of Surrey, have been presented with citations and plaques, for outstanding achievement in their communities. They are: Kahielia Levy, Clover Angela Tobin and Verona Blair-O'Connor from St. Thomas; Cindy Haynes, Dr. Janique Mishael Ricketts and Bradley Orlando Lecky from Kingston; Kemoy Jorge Orlando Smith, Wayne Dave Mullings and Dean Lincoln Rhoden from St. Andrew; and...