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Prime Minister Bruce Golding has extended condolences to the families of the fourteen (14) persons who died, and several others who sustained injuries, after the truck in which they were travelling, along the Rio Grande Valley Road in Portland on Friday (Dec. 19), plunged into a ravine. "It is a terrible tragedy, fourteen persons confirmed dead and a number of...

The Government of Jamaica through the Sports Development Foundation (SDF), an agency of the Ministry of Information, Culture, Youth and Sports, has entered into an agreement with Basil Watson, sculptor, for him to create a statue of sports icon, the Honourable Herb McKenley, to be mounted at Statue Road in Independence Park. Unveiling is scheduled for November 2009. The contract...

Curphey Home, in Manchester, a shelter for ex-soldiers, has received a donation of $25,000, from Lyn's Funeral Home, to carry out minor repairs at the facility. Director of the funeral home, Calvin Lyn, told JIS News that he made the gesture, because he wanted to show his personal appreciation to the ex- soldiers, for giving of themselves to defend the...

Transport and Works Minister, Michael Henry, has said that he will be seeking the guidance of the Attorney General, Senator Dorothy Lightbourne, regarding the current tenure of Acting Managing Director of the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC), Bindley Sangster, at the organization. Mr. Sangster had requested a leave of absence from his position to facilitate investigations by the Office of...

President of the Small Business Association of Jamaica, Edward Chin Mook, has lauded the measures introduced by Prime Minister, Bruce Golding, to assist the small business sector, during the current financial crisis, noting that they will make a big difference to the industry. The initiatives, which the Prime Minister announced in his address to the nation on Sunday (Dec. 14),...

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) yesterday (Dec.18), handed over three multimedia projectors, valued at more than $206,000, to three early childhood resource centres across the island. The projectors, which will benefit centres in regions two, four and six, were donated as part of UNICEF's Early Childhood Development Country Programme, which is an on-going strategy for institutional strengthening at the...

The Port Antonio Hospital, in Portland, has received 27 sheets from the parish's Returning Residents Association. The sheets, which were handed over on December 18, were obtained from health institutions in the United Kingdom (UK), as a result of the efforts of the association. Chairperson of the Association, Meryl Higgins, presented the sheets to the Matron of the hospital, Barbara...

Hundreds of children at several Children's Homes in Kingston and the rural areas, were given holiday treats this week, as volunteers from the South Florida Diaspora visited the institutions to spread Christmas cheer. In Kingston, toys, food and clothing, totalling nearly US$8,000, were distributed by volunteers from both the Clint O'Neil Needy Kids Association and Caribbean Music Festival Association, two...

A Community Access Point (CAP), to facilitate internet access by residents in the Ewarton community of St. Catherine, has been established at the Ewarton Sports Complex. It will also provide printing and photo-copying services, which community members may need. The facility was officially opened at a handing over ceremony, held on December 18. State Minister in the Ministry of Mining...

Minister of Education, Andrew Holness, says the Education Transformation Programme has not ended, but is being absorbed into the mainstream operations of the Ministry. "There is no plan at the present time to close transformation so the reports that I have seen in the media, which state categorically that transformation will be closed in March next year, are patently false,"...

The St. Ann Parish Council will be implementing a number of traffic changes in the major towns in the parish, to relieve congestion on the roads during the holiday season. A release from the Parish Council stated that the towns to be affected are St. Ann's Bay, Brown's Town and Ocho Rios. For St. Ann's Bay, the changes, which will...

Deputy Director of Tourism, Zachary Harding, has stressed the importance of service excellence in enhancing and improving the tourism product. Speaking at the 14th anniversary celebration of the Kiwanis Club of Eastern St. Andrew recently, at the Altamont Court Hotel in Kingston, Mr. Harding pointed out that service is crucial to the success of tourism, as it drives the sector,...