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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...

The Jamaica 4-H Club Warminster Training Centre in St. Elizabeth will be augmenting its peanut production business by engaging in the manufacturing of value-added products such as peanut butter. The clubbites grow peanuts on a 1.3 hectare-plot (four acres) and the produce is sold mainly to the informal sector. According to Regional Coordinator for the Jamaica 4-H Clubs, Ronald Blake,...

Members of the 4-H Club at the St. Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) now have a new and re-stocked poultry house, which was rehabilitated at a cost of $300,000 by the Council for Voluntary Social Services (CVSS)/United Way of Jamaica. The sum was given as part of the efforts of the organization to assist in the rehabilitation of the agricultural...

The port security programme, which was carried out to meet the requirements of the International Maritime Organization's International Ship and Port Facility Security (IMO ISPS) Code was successfully completed, making Jamaica one of the first countries to be accorded security certification for its ports. Transport and Works Minister, who made the announcement in Gordon House on June 14, informed that...

Delroy Palmer, Clarendon Parish Manager for the Ministry of Labour and Social Security has said that assessment of earthquake damage would continue until the end of the week and a report submitted to head office in Kingston for assistance to be organized. Some 23 families in North Clarendon are said to have suffered property loss or damage from the earthquake,...

The Kingston Container (Transshipment) Terminal was the Port Authority's premier performer last year. Transport and Works Minister, Robert Pickersgill noting the achievement during his contribution to the 2005/06 Sectoral Debate on June 14, said that at the end of 2004/05, the terminal recorded container throughput of 1,247,018 TEUs (twenty-foot container equivalents), which reflected a 14.63 per cent increase over the...

The first phase of expansion works at the Norman Manley International Airport will begin in September and should be completed in time for the staging of World Cup Cricket in 2007. As outlined in a document tabled by the Minister of Transport and Works, Robert Pickersgill in the House of Representatives on June 14, the work, estimated to cost US$62.8...

The Kingston and St Andrew Corporation (KSAC) will be working with the police to clamp down on illegal massage parlours operating in the corporate area. "We are planning a meeting with the Public Health Department and the police next week and we will be moving swiftly to close down these operations," said Mayor of Kingston, Desmond McKenzie as he addressed...

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...