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The 3rd annual South Manchester sweet potato festival will be held at new Broughton this Friday, October 28, beginning at 10:00 a.m.,br>President of the South Manchester Sweet Potato Growers Association, Dundee Hewitt told JIS News that the event was a very good way of galvanising support from the local farming community. "Our association wants to motivate farmers to produce much...

Disaster Studies experts are calling on government and disaster management agencies to make use of available technology in order to strategically and effectively monitor disaster zones and make life saving decisions before disasters occur. This sentiment emerged at a forum on Strategic Approaches to Disaster Preparedness, which was convened by Minister of Information, Senator Burchell Whiteman at Jamaica House last...

Minister of Health, John Junor, is currently attending an international meeting on the avian flu (bird flu), by Ministers of Health, in Ottawa, Canada. The two-day meeting entitled, 'Global Pandemic Influenza Readiness', got underway today (October 24), and Health Ministers and senior officials from approximately 30 developed and developing countries, together with representatives from international organizations, will discuss their state...

The Consumer Affairs Commission (CAC), will host a one-day workshop for persons involved in the trading of goods and services at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston on Thursday, October 27. The workshop will be held under the theme: 'The Implications of the Consumer Protection Act for Businesses'. Chief Executive Officer of the CAC, Dolsie Allen told JIS News that...

There is a buzz of activity behind the walls of some of the island's correctional institutions, as inmates get involved in various farming ventures to better assist their integration back into society. At Tamarind Farm in St. Catherine, low risk prisoners are involved in various types of animal rearing and crop production on several acres of rich farmland. In fact,...

Chief Executive Officer of the National Works Agency (NWA), Ivan Anderson, has said that a short-term budget of $480 million has been allocated to fund a project to protect the road leading to the Norman Manley International Airport. Speaking at a recent JIS 'Think Tank', at its Half-Way-Tree Road offices, Mr. Anderson said that, "right now we are inviting consultants...

Managing Director of the National Housing Trust (NHT), Earl Samuels has said that the organization would be moving with some urgency to tackle the housing needs in the parish of Hanover, particularly in light of new hotel developments now taking place. "Over the next five years, the NHT will be promoting the addition of some 7,500 new solutions to the...

This year's Youth Month, to be celebrated in November under the theme: 'Jamaican Youth.Shaping the World', will be packed with activities designed specifically for young people. Ohene Blake, Director of the National Centre for Youth Development (NCYD), said Youth Month 2005 would focus on the positive contribution young people were making in Arts and Culture, Sports, Academics, Leadership and Technology....

Several activities have been planned to observe Family Planning Week, which gets underway on Sunday, October 23. The National Family Planning Board (NFPB), having scaled down operations in 2002, will this year see the planning and organisation for the week undertaken by the Outreach Department under the theme - 'Men: Partners in Reproductive Health.' Dianne Thomas, Communications Officer/Writer at the...

The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) is reporting that the water levels are rising in the community of New River in St. Elizabeth. According to the St. Elizabeth Parish Disaster Coordinator, eight houses have been flooded and four families have evacuated to friends and relatives. The St. Elizabeth Parish Disaster Committee will however continue to monitor the...

President of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), Justice Michael de la Bastide has said that the CCJ was the institutional centrepiece of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), and was therefore crucial to the success and survival of the free trade area. Defining the primary function of the CCJ, he said that, "the original jurisdiction of the Court,...

Head of the Weather Branch of the National Meteorological Service, Evan Thompson has said that while the level of rainfall being experienced was more than was normal, these levels were not unprecedented. "On average we have been seeing 150 per cent of what is normal for an entire month experienced in only six days," Mr. Thompson told JIS News. However...