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Transport and Works Minister, Robert Pickersgill has said that the cost to repair damage to the island's road network as a result of the passage of Hurricane Wilma, would likely exceed the billion-dollar mark. A total 149 roads were damaged due to heavy rains and landslides associated with Hurricane Wilma, with some 22 main roads affected in Clarendon; 12 in...

CARICOM member states are being urged to give equal recognition to social indices as is given to economic indices when gathering and analysing data. "Statistical institutions throughout the region should make a conscious effort to elevate their collection and analysis of social sector issues," Minister of Finance and Planning, Dr. Omar Davies has emphasised. "We need to monitor social statistics...

Minister of Information, Senator Burchell Whiteman said yesterday (October 31), that Cabinet has given the go-ahead for Jamaica's accession to the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence Against Women - Convention of Belem do Para. The Minister, who was addressing journalists at the weekly post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House, explained that the Convention, named from...

The St. Mary Office of the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), has been working closely with the farmers of that parish to increase the cultivation of pepper. Victor Edwards, RADA Parish Manager for St. Mary, told JIS News that hot pepper was one of the crops being targeted for cultivation in the parish under the Ministry of Agriculture's Domestic Food...

Persons living with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) should now find it easier to access antiretroviral drugs provided by the National HIV/Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) Control programme. This has been made possible through a National Health Fund/Antiretroviral (ARV) tracking system, which has been implemented by the government following a Cabinet submission and a formal...

Skills For a Life, an HIV/AIDS and sexual health education programme for young people with learning disabilities, was officially launched this morning (Nov.1) at the Hilton Kingston Hotel. The programme is an initiative of 3D Projects, a St. Catherine-based community rehabilitation service dedicated to the development of persons with disabilities, with support from the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF). It...

Thirty ward assistants and technicians at the May Pen Hospital have been honoured by that institution for their service to the health sector. They were recognized at a ceremony held on the grounds of the hospital, yesterday (October 27).In her address at the function, Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Hospital, Nadia Howe commended the ward assistants for the quality...

Even while many Jamaicans are of the opinion that imported goods are of better quality than local products, there are others who strongly believe in and are supporting the "Buy Jamaican: Build Jamaica" concept. Small Business Operator, Jessie Duffus-Thomas, seeks to play her part in promoting things Jamaican, through her production and marketing of 'Jessie's Jamaican Fruit and Rum Cake'....

St. Elizabeth born Veda Sampson has shown her love for cooking and Jamaican food by writing a new cookbook, 'Big Nanny's Caribbean Kitchen', which had its official launch at the Jamaican High Commission in London on October 26. The book, which is dedicated to Mrs. Sampson's Parents, Miriam and Cecil, took two years to write and publish. "I have been...

Vice Chancellor Emeritus of the University of the West Indies, Professor Rex Nettleford has pointed out that the history of the Caribbean region could be traced to what he termed "the process of cross-fertilization of the Americas" which began in the 15th Century. He was delivering the second installment in the Caribbean Lecture Series on, 'The Caribbean Diversity: A Defining...

Landowners in St. Elizabeth will soon benefit from the Land Administration and Management Programme (LAMP), when the pilot programme in St. Catherine comes to an end next year. "LAMP represents an ideal that can be replicated in other areas and as such a project of this nature will have longstanding impact and range," Lisa Campbell, Legal Officer at LAMP told...

Assistant Superintendent at the Fire Prevention Division of the Jamaica Fire Brigade, Floyd McLean, is appealing to householders to make contingency plans to deal with an outbreak of fire. This is particularly important, as a house can reach a critical point in as little as two and a half minutes, when it becomes too hot for occupancy or laden with...