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The Montego Bay Street People Programme, operated under the auspices of the St. James Parish Council's Poor Relief Department, will receive a big boost, with the acquisition of a 2001 Toyota Hiace Mini Bus valued at $1.07 million. The vehicle was purchased with funds allocated by the Ministry of Local Government, Community Development and Sport and will soon be officially...

The coconut industry like many others is vulnerable to the predicted active hurricane season, which has already manifested itself in the form of Hurricanes Dennis and Emily, and measures are therefore being implemented to protect coconut growers and the industry against the possibility of extensive losses. Director of Research at the Coconut Industry Board (CIB), Basil Been tells JIS News...

Farmers in the parish of St. Ann are being encouraged to practice low cost land husbandry throughout this hurricane season, as this will reduce the risk of major agricultural losses. Parish Manager for the St. Ann branch of the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), Pedro Worghs, told JIS News that the passage of hurricanes, Dennis and Emily, had resulted in...

At age 14 when most girls are taken up with music, fashion and friends, Simone had to be concerned about taking care of her new-born baby. A child herself, she was at her wits end when she found out she was pregnant as all she could visualise was failure. Today, 14 years later, Simone has realised her career dream and...

Water and Housing State Minister, Harry Douglas, has announced the appointment of a new board, with island wide scope, to hear rent disputes now being handed by the Corporate Area Rent Assessment Board and Resident Magistrate Courts. Mr. Douglas, who was making his contribution to the 2005/06 Sectoral Debate in Gordon House on July 20, explained that since the closure...

The National Youth Service (NYS) has received some $4 million in sponsorship towards Success Camp 2005, a six-week residential re-orientation and behaviour modification programme for students. The camp is being conducted in two segments and Chairman of the NYS, Keith Duncan, informed that $3 million of the amount, which was given by the Jamaica Securities Dealers Association (JSDA), would be...

Plans are in high gear for the staging of the internationally acclaimed Seville Emancipation Jubilee 2005, at the Seville Heritage Park in St. Ann's Bay. The event, renown for highlighting traditional and oral culture in an invigorating form, will begin on Sunday, July 31 and go through to Emancipation Day on Monday, August 1. It is expected to attract thousand...

Dr. Omar Davies, Minister of Finance and Planning, has said that Jamaican firms seeking to secure funding from multilateral agencies for expansion projects, must have their books and expansion plans of a high standard to withstand the strongest scrutiny. The Minister made this statement in light of the US$105 million financing package, which Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL), the parent company...

The first sitting of the Portmore Municipal Court was held yesterday(July 21), at the Portmore Family Court building in Greater Portmore, St. Catherine. Thirteen cases were presented to the presiding Judge, Resident Magistrate Simone Maddix, for offences ranging from building breaches to illegal garages and car washes. "It's a start, a good move and it will facilitate us getting our...

The Ministry of Local Government, Community Development and Sport is exploring cost-effective ways of training the firemen and women of the Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB). "It will cost approximately $1 million to have each person trained in London and so the possibility of having the trainers flown into the island and for us to do the training here are options...

Minister of State for Transport and Works, Dr. Fenton Ferguson, has given the assurance, that work on the railway bridge in St. Margaret's Bay, Portland, which is being repaired to be used as an alternative to the hurricane-damaged Rio Grande overpass, will be completed by the end of this month. The repairs, which began on Thursday (July 14), is being...

Forty-eight groups of farmers in St. Elizabeth and approximately 60 groups from Manchester, are looking forward to the Denbigh Agricultural and Industrial Show, to be held from July 30 to August 1. "St. Elizabeth is gearing up for Denbigh.. looking forward to putting out the best display we can," Second Vice President of the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS), Kingsley Clarke...