News On The Go

Minister of Education, Senator Ruel Reid, is encouraging more young Jamaicans to adopt wholesome values and attitudes that will transform their lives, while reinforcing positive and law-abiding behaviours.

Reid was speaking at the 'Best Dressed Chicken 60 School Tour' held at Sabina Park on Tuesday.

He noted that while the country is "doing well economically", there are social problems that need to be corrected.

"We need to fix the homes, we need to fix the family, we need to live together as brothers and sisters ... we want a country of peace and love between all of us," he said.

The school tour's main objective is to lead teens at the secondary level of the education system to appreciate and practise the values found in the Scriptures, in order to become productive citizens.

The islandwide tour is slated to end on February 4.

The Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre is be opened soon at the University of the West Indies, Mona campus.

It is aimed at assessing, forecasting, mitigating, and managing risks related to tourism resilience, caused by various disruptive factors.

These disruptions may include climate change and natural disasters, cybercrime, cybersecurity, pandemics, terrorism, war, population and the changing funding models.

Come January 30, the official launch of the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre will take place at the Montego Bay Convention Centre.

The centre, which is the first of its kind, will be tasked with creating, producing, and generating tool kits, guidelines and, policies to handle the recovery process following a disaster.

The centre will also assist with preparedness, management and recovery from disruptions and/or crises that impact tourism and threaten economies and livelihoods.

Caribbean-based, non-traditional financial solutions firm Sygnus yesterday presented a cheque for J$200,000 to the St Patrick's Foundation.

"Sygnus had a great year in 2018 due to the support of our investors and clients and to demonstrate our appreciation, we are donating J$200,000 in their honour to assist in the upgrading of St Patrick's facilities. We chose this foundation primarily because of the affinity we felt for the organisation and their efforts in the development of human capital and community engagement.

St Patrick's Foundation's commitment to empowering young people through personal development, education and skills training is very much aligned with our social consciousness and we are proud to play our part in improving their facilities to continue advancing their mandate," said Berisford Grey, CEO, Sygnus Group.

The funds provided by Sygnus will go towards the purchase of a new energy efficient air conditioning system so that the hardworking team at the foundation can continue to operate efficiently and effectively.

Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie says provisions of the 2018 Building Act would be rigorously enforced.

The legislation, which took effect on Tuesday, seeks to discourage new squatter settlements from being built, promote sustainable development, and establish and enforce internationally accepted building standards and rules for individuals and entities providing construction material and services.

Speaking at the recent launch of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) Earthquake and Tsunami Awareness 2019 campaign in Kingston, he pointed out that the Building Act is one of the primary instruments available for the enforcement of modern building standards across the country.

McKenzie said the ministry will be enforcing the Act through the local building authorities, as well as the regulatory and appeals bodies established through the Act.

Under the Act, local authorities are empowered to demolish such a structure and recover the costs incurred by the local authority for remedial steps taken from the owner through the courts.