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Mayor of Portmore, Councillor George Lee has called for the establishment of a special disaster fund that would fast-track disaster relief response from municipalities across the island. The Mayor said the special fund would allow disaster response agencies to move more quickly to offer assistance to persons severely affected by a disaster, address infrastructural problems in a shorter time and...

Minister of Finance, Omar Davies has expressed confidence that the newly appointed Air Jamaica Board will be able to continue working towards returning the airline to one of viability and profitability. Today (Oct. 19) the Finance Minister officially announced the appointment of returning Air Jamaica Board member Owen K. Melhado as Chairman and American, Michael Conway as Chief Executive Officer...

Member of the European Union (EU) Parliament, Glenys Kinnock has said that if the current reforms being sought by the EU are imposed on developing sugar-producing countries, this would result in a reduction of resources of more than $400 million in the African Caribbean Pacific (ACP) states, and a loss of more than $100 million to CARICOM countries. Mrs. Kinnock...

Some 30 communities have been affected by flooding in Clarendon due to torrential rains associated with Hurricane Wilma, which has affected the island over the past week. Acting Parish Disaster Coordinator at the Clarendon Parish Council, Rowhan Blake told JIS News yesterday (Oct. 18) that the majority of the affected communities were located in the southern and central parts of...

The government has expressed an interest in collaborating with Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), the private sector and other business interests to develop creative solutions for micro financing. According to Philbert Brown, Director of Emergency Services at the Ministry of Land and Environment there are numerous examples worldwide and also emerging examples such as for alternate risk transfer mechanisms, from which Jamaica...

Hurricane Wilma developed into a dangerous Category 5 hurricane overnight, with the lowest-recorded barometric pressure of any Atlantic basin hurricane. The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) has been advised by the Meteorological Service that a Flash Flood Warning remains in effect as Hurricane Wilma strengthens. As a result of the inclement weather situation being experienced to date,...

The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management is reporting that there are currently three hundred and forty three (343) persons in shelters in the parishes of St Catherine, Kingston and St Andrew and Clarendon. The breakdown is as follows: St. Catherine - 202 personsKingston & St. Andrew - 63 personsClarendon - 78 persons Total - 343 persons The ODPEM...

The development of the Lucea Harbour, in Hanover, will be placed on the back burner, while a US$150 million hotel development to take place in Point, just outside of the town of Lucea, is given priority. Construction of the five-star Hotel, to be built on some 200 acres of land by Fiesta Hotels should begin in December 2005 to January...

A campaign to raise funds to build eye care capacity at the Bustamante Hospital for Children in Kingston was launched recently in Canada . ORBIS Canada, which has participated in more than 110 sight-saving programmes worldwide, launched 'Eyes on Jamaica' at the headquarters of AIC Limited in Burlington, Ontario, to raise US$600,000 to fund its 'Building Eye Care Capacity at...

Members of the St. Andrew High School Alumni Association in Toronto, Canada have donated Cdn$6,000 to their alma mater in Kingston. According to President of the Association, Cherita Girvan-Campbell, the remittance will be used largely for hurricane repairs, refurbishing of the office building and for the upcoming 80th anniversary celebrations. Mrs. Girvan-Campbell was speaking recently at a fundraising brunch organized...

All schools will be closed on Wednesday and Thursday as rains associated with Hurricane Wilma are expected to continue for the next 36-48 hours. An assessment will be carried out on Thursday to determine if schools will reopen on Friday. The decision was taken at an emergency meeting of the National Disaster Committee called by Prime Minister Patterson at Jamaica...

Prime Minister Patterson has instructed the PIOJ to work with the sugar industry to formulate a country strategy and plan of action for developing a sugar cane based industry that will include the production of ethanol. The plan is to be ready for submission to the European Union by December 2005. The Prime Minister said that the plan would provide...