More

Scores of relatives, friends and well wishers are expected to attend the funeral service of Community icon, Hyacinth Maude Moodie-Anderson, who died last month. She will be buried on Friday, January 13. Mrs. Moodie, as she was affectionately known, was born in St. James in 1923 and began training as a nurse before moving to the United Kingdom in the...

Prime Minister Patterson has approved, on the request of the NHT Board of Directors, a six-month amnesty of penalty on outstanding NHT contributions for the period January 16, 2006 to July 15, 2006. During the period of the amnesty, delinquent contributors would be allowed to apply for a waiver of penalties on outstanding contributions for all years up to December...

New Kingston, the business hub of the nation's capital, will undertake special preparations for an earthquake, when the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) in collaboration with private sector entities, conducts an earthquake drill on June 7. The drill will coincide with the anniversary of the 1692 earthquake that destroyed Port Royal then dubbed: "the wickedest city in...

Residents of Providence Heights in Montego Bay are to benefit from additional sporting facilities being established by the St. James Police Community Relations Department, in collaboration with representatives from the New Life Christian Church and World Outreach Ministry in the United States. The hard court, which was built earlier by the National Housing Trust (NHT), is being upgraded with netball,...

Alumina Partners of Jamaica (Alpart), in keeping with its commitment to the educational development of young people in the mining areas of St. Elizabeth, has presented scholarships valued at $620,000 to seven tertiary level students from the Essex Valley community. The presentation was made under Alpart's annual scholarship programme, which is valued in 2004 and through which the company intends...

The Plant Quarantine Unit in the Ministry of Agriculture has implemented new import regulations, fees and penalties to monitor the operations of importers. The new regulations provide strict guidelines, which importers must follow when carrying out business at the island's ports of entry. Acting Chief Plant Quarantine Officer, Shelia Harvey told JIS News that the regulations would bring Jamaica in...

A 35-member medical team from the United States will be staging several health clinics in Jamaica, beginning with one in the Maroon community of Accompong in St. Elizabeth on Saturday, January 14, starting at 10:00 a.m. The visit has the full support of the Accompong Maroon Council, the Accompong Development Foundation as well as the Council of Overseas Maroons. Residents...

Regional securities dealers will explore the implementation of a regional stock exchange, when the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) holds its three-day investment conference next week. Already, the JSE has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados stock exchanges, with a view to achieving this goal, said JSE General Manager, Marlene Street-Forrest. The conference is slated...

Dr. Peter Figueroa, Chief of Epidemiology and HIV/AIDS in the Ministry of Health, has called on more sexually active Jamaicans to get tested for HIV. He noted that the estimated 140,000 tests administered last year were not enough. "Let's say that there are 1.2 million adults in Jamaica and one million are sexually active and you are just doing 140,000...

By the end of March this year, Jamaica should know whether it will continue to benefit from assistance through the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GTFAM), to continue its campaign to stem the spread of HIV/AIDS in the island. This will emanate from an assessment to be made by the Fund of the progress made under the...

The Ministry of Health is encouraging persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) to take advantage of the antiretroviral drugs that are available in the public health sector at significantly subsidized rates and in some cases, free of cost. "We are inviting PLWHA to come in and access the drugs. HIV/AIDS is no longer a death sentence. You can now live long...

The National Commission on Science and Technology (NCST) in the Office of the Prime Minister, will host its second awards ceremony of the National Medal for Science and Technology at Vale Royal on Thursday, January 12 beginning at 7:00 p.m. The National Medal for Science and Technology is a special honour bestowed by Prime Minister P. J. Patterson on Jamaicans...