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Firefighters at the Morant Bay fire station in St. Thomas are now enjoying improved conditions after some $250,000 was spent to refurbish the facility. The Ministry of Local Government, Community Development and Sport through the St. Thomas Parish Council provided funding for the project, which included the renovation and tiling of the recreation room, administrative office and the three male...

Managing Director of the Water Resources Authority (WRA), Basil Fernandez has said that bauxite and alumina companies have made great strides in reducing contamination of water resources in mining and refining areas. He pointed out that when bauxite and alumina plants were established in the 1950s, there was limited information on the water resources of Jamaica, but observed that over...

Jamaican sprinter, Asafa Powell, sped away with the World sprint record in Athens, Greece on Tuesday, when he clocked a blistering 9.77 seconds in a 100 metres event. The 22-year-old shaved off one-hundredth of a second off the previous 100-metre record, set by American Tim Montgomery, three years ago in Paris. It was at the site of his less than...

The National Water Commission (NCW) has agreed to halt its standpipe disconnection drive and the agency will be paid initially, $35 million of the more than $100 million it is owed for supplying water to community standpipes. Water and Housing Minister, Donald Buchanan, who made the announcement in Gordon House yesterday, said the agreement came after a recent meeting with...

All Jamaicans will have access to affordable, safe and legal housing solutions by 2025, Minister of Water and Housing, Donald Buchanan told the House of Representatives, yesterday (June 15). Making his contribution to the 2005/06 Sectoral Debate, the Minister said that notwithstanding the success of the past, there were still major challenges to be faced, especially in providing housing solutions...

Water and Housing Minister Donald Buchanan has said that with the National Water Commission (NWC) should realize annual savings in excess of $30 million, with the completion of its organizational restructuring process. Minister Buchanan, who was making his contribution to the 2005/06 Sectoral Debate in Gordon House on June 15, said that the restructuring of the management team of the...

The National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS) is again appealing to the public to donate blood, due to the critically low blood levels at its collection centres. This appeal comes two days after World Blood Donor Day (June 14), when the NBTS issued an appeal to the public to donate more blood to save lives. The situation has become so grim,...

The Half-Way-Tree Transportation Centre, currently under construction, will comprise a state of the art facility featuring two levels for arriving and departing buses as well as appropriate facilities and comfortable surroundings for the commuting public. As stated in the Ministry of Transport and Works' Highlights of Agency Performance 2004/2005 report, which was tabled in the House of Representatives on June...

Of all the sources of lead poisoning, used lead acid batteries are considered the most dangerous, Professor Gerald Lalor, Director of the International Centre for Environmental and Nuclear Sciences (ICENS), has said. He said while cases of lead poisoning have been associated with some containers that store rum and exposure to lead mine waste, by far too many cases were...

Project Manager for the government's Information and Communication Technology (ICT) project, Richard Gordon has said that more than 850 persons have registered to use the online system for paying taxes, since the facility was put in place in December last year. The e-payment facility, Mr. Gordon said, was designed to make it easier for persons to do business with government...

Eight months after the launch of Operation Kingfish, National Security Minister, Dr. Peter Phillips has credited the special task force initiative as being instrumental in leading to 200 arrests, the seizure of 12 tonnes of cocaine, and nearly 100 illegal firearms being confiscated. Minister Phillips said Operation Kingfish was launched "with the aim of dismantling organised criminal gangs, and to...

Jamaica AIDS Support's on-going fight against HIV/AIDS in western Jamaica, received a boost yesterday (June 15), when a partnership was successfully established with the Jamaica Public Service Company Limited (JPS). The partnership will see the JPS spending some $5 million in cash and kind over a three-year period, supporting and enhancing the activities of Jamaica AIDS Support, which include a...