Schools to receive water tanks
Fifty-one primary and infant schools are to benefit from a donation of 100 water tanks, valued at over $9 million. The 1,000-gallon black tanks, along with fittings, were provided by the US Southern Humanitarian Command Program (USSHCP), though the National Education Trust.
The USSHCP’s donation is in support of the Ministry of Education and Youth’s efforts to ensure the safe operation of in-person school in light of the ongoing COVID-19pandemic.
Speaking at the handover ceremony on Tuesday at Jamaica College in St Andrew, portfolio minister Fayval Williams expressed gratitude for the contribution, noting that “it will assist the ministry to improve the general teaching and learning environment of the selected schools”.
“It will also support the ministry’s campaign for the safe operation of schools during the face-to-face delivery of the curriculum,” she pointed out.
Williams noted that the donation of the tanks also “serves to underscore the importance of the bilateral and multilateral cooperation that we have enjoyed with the United States government and its agencies for many decades”.
For his part, United States Ambassador to Jamaica Nick Perry said, “Keeping schools open, and ensuring that students have everything that they need to learn in a safe and healthy environment is critical.
“Washing and hygiene in our schools have never been more urgent,” he stressed, adding that supporting the education and safety of children is an important mission of the USSHCP.
Ahead of the peak of the hurricane season, areas prone to flooding are being prioritised as the Government continues drain-cleaning activities islandwide.
This exercise is being carried out by the National Works Agency and the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.
This was disclosed by Prime Minister Andrew Holness, who noted that while the budget to undertake the exercise is not sufficient, “it is adequately and strategically distributed across the country”.
Holness was addressing the National Disaster Risk Management Council’s recent meeting at the Altamont Court Hotel in New Kingston. He further emphasised that all the agents making decisions regarding the selection of drains and personnel who are going to clear these, must “put aside political imperatives in the selection of works” and “pay attention to the imperative of ensuring that there is no flooding that could dislocate [persons].”
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted a 65 per cent chance of an above-normal season.
The Montego Bay Marine Park Trust in St James plans to establish Jamaica’s first underwater sculpture park. This is aimed at further promoting awareness about the marine and coastal environment. Addressing a Jamaica Information Service ‘ Think Tank’ at the agency’s Regional Office in Montego Bay earlier this week, Executive Director of the Marine Park, Hugh Shim, said the project is being jointly developed with Smilozone Waste Management Limited.
He indicated that the underwater attraction will entail a village depicting “Jamaican-type mermaid” sculptures made of glass.
A 226.796-kilogramme (500-pound) mermaid figure has already been crafted and will be the first sculpture installed.
Shim pointed out that the park will serve to create a habitat for marine life, as well as act as a new tourism attraction in the city. lients of the Students’ Loan Bureau (SLB) will be able to make their loan payments online before the end of this year.
Deputy Executive Director Charmaine Rose Anderson said online payments will be facilitated via the Strategic Transformation of Endusers Experience Portal, also known as the customer portal.
“Students will be able to make payments directly from the portal using their debit or credit card. You don’t need to be coming into SLB… [or] going to Paymaster to make a payment,” Rose Anderson told JIS News. She said the SLB decided to institute the arrangement after analysing the relevant data. Meanwhile, the SLB will shortly be offering the option of making loan payments directly on its website. To make a payment on behalf of a customer on the website, Rose Anderson advised that the person only needs the customer’s loan account number.