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HAJ CLARIFIES NEWSPAPER REPORT REGARDING FINANCIAL LOSSES

Monday, 20 March 2017

KINGSTON, March 20 (JIS):

The Housing Agency of Jamaica (HAJ) is moving to clarify a recent newspaper report that the agency made millions of dollars in losses in the current fiscal year, which ends on March 31.

Speaking at a press conference at the agency’s Caledonia Avenue offices in Kingston today (March 20), Board Chairman, Norman Brown, said the information was “dated and erroneous”.

He explained that the entity incurred a loss of $900 million for the 2015/16 financial year and “that is what we inherited upon taking office (in 2016)”.

DPP URGES WOMEN NOT TO HAVE CHILDREN THEY CANNOT AFFORD

Monday, 20 March 2017

KINGSTON, March 20 (JIS):

            Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Paula Llewellyn, is urging women to desist from having children that they cannot afford to provide for financially.

            “If you know you cannot afford it, you cannot sit down in the 21st century and have five, six and seven children and you do not work,” she said.

            She noted that these women often get into relationships as a means of financial security, which makes them and their children vulnerable to abuse.

32 CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS TO BENEFIT FROM TRAINING

Monday, 20 March 2017

KINGSTON, March 20 (JIS):

            Thirty-two correctional officers will benefit from training scholarships totalling in excess of $1.2 million, which will equip them to deliver National Vocational Qualification of Jamaica (NVQ-J) programmes to inmates and wards in correctional facilities across the island.

            The scholarships were provided by the Vocational Training Development Institute (VTDI) under the HEART Trust/NTA’s Train-the-Trainer project.

RESOURCE APP FOR YOUNG PEOPLE TO ROLL OUT SHORTLY

Sunday, 19 March 2017

KINGSTON, March 19 (JIS):

The Ministry of Education, Youth and Information is fine-tuning a mobile application (app) which will serve as a resource guide for young people.

State Minister in the Ministry, Hon. Floyd Green, who spoke to JIS News at the inaugural staging of the Elevate Youth Festival on the lawns of Devon House recently, said the app, which should roll out by April, will serve as a practical source of information for youths.

GOV’T COMMITTED TO RENOVATING INFIRMARIES – MINISTER MCKENZIE

Sunday, 19 March 2017

MONTEGO BAY, March 19 (JIS)

            Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Hon. Desmond McKenzie, says the Ministry is committed to completing the renovation and upgrading of all State-run infirmaries by the ending of the 2019 financial year.

            Minister McKenzie, who was addressing the Board of Supervision’s Awards and Recognition ceremony at the Jewel Runaway Bay Beach and Golf Resort in St. Ann recently, said the matter of making provisions for the poor and vulnerable is the responsibility of the Government.

GOVERNMENT ENDORSES WATER ADAPTATION PROJECT BY JN GROUP

Friday, 10 March 2017

KNGSTON, March 10 (JIS):

The Government has endorsed a $738.7-million (US$5.75-million) water adaptation project being initiated by the Jamaica National (JN) Group, with loan funding support from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

The initiative will facilitate on-lending of the funds, through JN Bank, to real estate developers to finance housing projects incorporating water-efficiency technologies that yield conservation, particularly within households, through the utilisation of key inputs.

PUBLIC BODIES TO BE CATEGORISED

Friday, 10 March 2017

KINGSTON, March 10 (JIS):

The Government will be moving to categorise public bodies to facilitate more focused oversight and monitoring, in a principle-based approach to the new policy of rationalisation.

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw, said the Government will be conducting further rationalisation based on the need for the entity and its function and according to the best modality and most efficient manner in which remaining functions will be delivered.

NEW PROPERTY TAX REGIME APRIL 1

Friday, 10 March 2017

KINGSTON, March 10 (JIS):

            Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw, has announced that a new property tax regime will be adopted starting April 1.

Opening the 2017/18 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives on March 9,

Mr. Shaw informed that as of April 1, property tax liabilities will be based on the adoption of the 2013 valuation roll.

GOVERNMENT PROVIDES ADDITION OF $3.68 BILLION TO PATH

Friday, 10 March 2017

KINGSTON, March 10 (JIS):

The Government is providing an increase of 47 per cent to the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH), in a move to strengthen the country’s social safety net.

This addition of $3.68 billion in the Budget for the 2017/18 financial year, brings to $11.47 billion the total provision for the programme, which targets some of the most vulnerable segments of the population – children zero to 19 years; the adult poor, including the disabled, elderly, pregnant and lactating mothers, and the destitute.

HEART FOUNDATION WARNS AGAINST HIDING ILLNESSES

Friday, 10 March 2017

KINGSTON, March 10 (JIS):

The Heart Foundation of Jamaica is warning schools, parents and student athletes not to hide illnesses so that the student can participate in sports. Sports Medicine Specialist and Foundation volunteer, Dr. Paul Wright, told JIS News that the dangerous practice can land students in the hospital or worse. He was speaking against the background of student athletes dying of Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) recently.