More Speeches

Mr. Speaker I am pleased to announce the planned restart of operations of UC Rusal’s Windalco-Kirkvine Works Plant in Manchester beginning July 1 this year. This follows the restart of operations at WINDALCO’s Ewarton plant in St. Catherine last July bringing on board over a thousand jobs. Mr Speaker the very hard and focused work of the Ministry of Energy...

Queen’s Counsel, Hon. Emil George, has set a Friday afternoon (Jan. 21) deadline for the submission of outstanding statements pivotal to the Manatt/Coke Commission of Enquiry, which is being held at the Jamaica Conference Centre, downtown Kingston. Mr. George, who is Chairman of the Commission, on Monday (Jan. 17) complained that   statements from some key players involved in the extradition...

My fellow Jamaicans... 2010 was a year of mixed fortunes. It was, in some respects, a tumultuous year, most notably with the events surrounding the extradition of Christopher Coke. In the first half of the year, we experienced the worst drought in more than 30 years and then, in a complete reversal, we had more rains in the latter part...

Morning has broken, like the first morningBlackbird has spoken, like the first birdPraise for the singing, praise for the morningPraise for the springing, fresh from the word.And I might add, praise for the New Year! Another eventful year has passed by and here we are at the start of a New Year with its customary promises of a brand New...

My Fellow Jamaicans:Each New Year brings with it the promise of a new beginning, and the hope of a brighter future. I believe in renewal, and so at the beginning of this New Year, I invite you to pause to renew our minds and consciousness. . We need to embolden ourselves by renewing our aspirations, dreams and concepts of what...

There is now greater incentive for companies to invest in the redevelopment and renewal of urban areas, with the passing of the Urban Renewal and Tax relief Amendment Act, by the Senate on December 17. The amendments will facilitate the exemption from stamp duty and transfer tax, land acquired for use by approved developers. It will also allow for an...

Following the publication on Tuesday, of what is reported to be a classified internal missive by an official of the US Interests Section in Havana, Cuba which commented negatively on Jamaica's level of cooperation with Cuba in countering drug trafficking, the Prime Minister directed the Minister of National Security to carry out investigations into the allegations and submit a report...

The death of John Maxwell on December 10 represents the passing of one of the most influential figures in the Jamaican media landscape for more than half a century. His professional interests ranged across all media but perhaps his greatest contribution was through the broadcast media. After his early introduction to print journalism at the Gleaner, Mr. Maxwell was part...

Jamaica is very pleased to commemorate once again CARICOM-Cuba Day - on the, 8th December 2010. Building on the success of the celebrations in 2009, we felt it would be appropriate to collaborate with the University of the West Indies this year, as it is an institution that demonstrates the unity of our region and serves twelve of the fourteen...

The registration of contractors eligible for the award of government contracts is the statutory responsibility of the National Contracts Commission by virtue of section 23D of the Contractor-General Act. By agreement with the Commission, the Office of the Contractor-General conducts the administrative and technical processing and evaluation of applications for registration. Through the astuteness of the OCG, it has been...

An agreement has been reached between the National Works Agency (NWA) and the National Water Commission (NWC) to coordinate their activities to ensure the smooth implementation of work projects. This was stated by Minister of Information with responsibility for Telecommunications and Special Projects, Hon. Daryl Vaz, while touring communities in West Portland on Saturday (November 6), to see firsthand, the...

As you know, we have been placed on Storm Warning as Tropical Storm Tomas nears Jamaica. The Met Office has advised that we should expect to experience storm conditions in sections of the island within the next few hours. We have been tracking this system for the past week as it strengthened, weakened, strengthened again and made its way across...