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The Government of Jamaica, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) and the Jamaica Defence Force Coast Guard, will be providing assistance to the people of Haiti, following the devastation of the country by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. Haiti, regarded as the poorest in the region, has been consistently battered by the...

In keeping with his pledge to tackle the scourge of crime and violence, when he assumed office on September 11 last year, Prime Minister, Bruce Golding, tabled six Bills in the Houseof Representatives, proposing several legislative measures to strengthen anti-crime initiatives. Mr. Golding said although the country still had a long way to go, crime-fighting efforts must be sustained, if...

Honouring its undertaking, on assuming office in September 2007, to provide unrestricted access to basic health care, the administration, on April 1, abolished user fees at all state-run medical facilities, save for the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI). The abolition of the fees, which formed part of a larger and comprehensive health policy by the Government, seeks to...

Manager for the St. Ann branch of the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), Pedro Worghs, is encouraging farmers in the parish who suffered agricultural losses from Tropical Storm Gustav, not to be discouraged and to continue to produce. "At present we are in the process of completing our assessment of the damage and to date we have picked up that...

The National Council for Senior Citizens (NCSC), will be celebrating Senior Citizens' Week through a number of activities across the island, to highlight the contribution of the elderly to nation building, over the period September 14 to 26. The parish of Clarendon will launch its series of events in an official church service slated to take place at the St....

Tourism Minister, Edmund Bartlett, has underscored the need for greater collaboration between the Ministry and its partners, to improve critical aspects of the tourism product, where Jamaica has not performed particularly well. Speaking at a workshop, jointly staged by the Competitiveness Company of Jamaica, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and World Economic Forum (WEF), at the Terra Nova...

Tourism Minister, Edmund Bartlett, is projecting that the tourism sector will employ an additional 58,000 workers over the next 10 years. This, he said, is based on the level and rate of infrastructural development and expansion, currently taking place in the sector. Speaking at a workshop, jointly staged by the Competitiveness Company of Jamaica, United States Agency for International Development...

A Joint Select Committee of Parliament, is to deliberate on the Credit Reporting Act of 2008, which was tabled in the House of Representatives recently, by Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Audley Shaw. The Bill seeks to provide for the sharing of credit information between specified bodies, the licensing of Credit Bureaus and for connected matters. Addressing the...

Jamaica's Ambassador to the United States, Anthony Johnson, has appealed to Jamaicans residing in that country, to support Jamaica's National Disaster Recovery Fund, which was established by the Government, to assist in resuscitating the country's infrastructure, which sustained significant damage during the passage of Tropical Storm Gustav. Addressing hundreds of Jamaicans and other patrons, who attended the inaugural staging of...

The building and rehabilitation of police stations in St. Thomas is progressing smoothly, despite the challenges wrought by Tropical Storm Gustav. Chairman of the St. Thomas Parish Council, Mayor Hanif Brown, told JIS News, that there is an extensive programme of building and rehabilitation being carried out in the parish, especially in the western end, adding that he was pleased...

Minister of Water and Housing, Dr. Horace Chang, has announced plans to abolish the National Housing Development Corporation (NHDC). Dr. Chang was delivering the main address at the Incorporated Master Builders Association of Jamaica's (IMAJ) seminar entitled: 'The Revised Standard Form of Building Contract', at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston on September 9. The seminar was organised in collaboration...

Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett, has outlined initiatives that will be pursued to boost the development of sports tourism in Jamaica. Speaking at a post Beijing Olympics Tourism briefing, held at the Hilton Kingston Hotel on September 9, the Minister said that, "sports tourism will become a major part of the deliverables in tourism and an important medium by which...