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The Office of National Reconstruction (ONR) has engaged the services of accounting and auditing firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers. Tracey Hamilton, Communications Liaison at the ONR told JIS News today that the prominent auditing firm was selected as "treasurer", to ensure the transparency of the funds allocated to the agency for the purpose of relief and reconstruction, in the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan....

Prime Minister P.J. Patterson has stated that disaster preparedness should take centre stage in the Caribbean given the fact that natural disasters are a reality for which the region must be prepared. He said a regional response apparatus to include the strengthening of the Caribbean Disaster and Emergency Response Agency (CDERA) would have to be developed, adding that each country...

Jamaica's Consul General to New York, Dr. Basil K. Bryan met in an emergency session with representatives of various Jamaican organizations and community leaders to provide information and to devise strategies for the several efforts now in place in New York City to assist Jamaica in the relief and reconstruction work to return the country to normality following the passage...

Jamaica is among a small number of countries in the region, which experienced growth in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in 2003. As contained in the United Nations World Investment Report 2004, Latin America and Caribbean last year, experienced a decline in FDI flows for the fourth consecutive year, with inflows falling by three percent to $50 billion, the lowest since...

Health officials have commenced a number of source reduction measures, including the oiling or draining of large pools of water, to reduce breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Peter Knight, Director of Environmental Health in the Ministry of Health, told JIS News that monitoring officers have been covering the island, targeting areas where the population density was high. Additionally, where a significant...

Jamaica has offered to provide technical support to Grenada in the area of emergency management as its contribution to the recovery and reconstruction of that island following the passage of hurricane Ivan. Prime Minister P.J. Patterson made the offer to Grenadian Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell on Wednesday (Sept. 22) during a one-day official visit to the island. The specific...

Two of the island's largest alumina producing companies, Alumina Partners of Jamaica (ALPART) and West Indies Alumina Company (WINDALCO), have come together to establish a $62,000,000 disaster relief assistance fund. The primary objective of the fund is to provide hurricane assistance to employees and communities that are located in the immediate mining areas of both companies. Since the passage of...

The Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) has commenced its relief efforts to farmers across the island by making six tractors available to help in clearing and preparing farmlands, which suffered damage as a result of Hurricane Ivan. Senator Norman Grant, President of the JAS, told JIS News that the tillage programme is being concentrated in the parishes that were most affected...

The National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), through the National Biosafety Framework Project, is moving swiftly to have new legislation put in place to deal with biosafety, which is safety from exposure to infectious agents. At a public consultation on the National Biosafety Framework Project held on September 21 at the Knutsford Court Hotel, Chief Legal Officer at NEPA, Laleta...

More than 570 children in Clarendon, who were affected by Hurricane Ivan, are to benefit from the donation of food and recreational items by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) valued at more than $300,000. The items, to be distributed between September 23 and 28, will include water, canned meat, sachets of soup, rice and cornmeal, health supplies including first...

The Forestry Department of the Ministry of Agriculture will celebrate its National Timber Tree Planting Day on Friday, October 8. Director of Technical Services at the Forestry Department, Keith Porter told JIS News that tree-planting which is at the core of the department's operation, has taken on added importance in the wake of Hurricane Ivan, which decimated large portions of...

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Office of National Reconstruction (ONR), Danville Walker, this morning (Thursday, September 23) toured the Rocky Point and Portland Cottage communities in Clarendon, with a view to identifying sites for the relocation of the residents affected by Hurricane Ivan. Mr. Walker told JIS News that the Portland Cottage community should not only be relocated, but...