MOODY'S Investors Services has maintained its B3 rating for Jamaica, but has shifted its outlook on the country from stable to positive, the ratings agency announced last Friday. The international ratings agency said the key drivers for the improvement were ongoing fiscal consolidation which, if sustained, supports continued reduction in
Jamaica needs to place more attention on creating a disaster-resilient built environment in a push to lessen the impact of natural disasters, according to Craig Fugate, former director of the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). "We're not going to build resiliency overnight, but as we build new constructions,
National Housing Trust, NHT, has released new information on the gender, income and age of buyers which shows that more Jamaicans aged 30 years and below are securing mortgages and that women are buying more homes than men, in general. The data supplied covered four fiscal years - periods ending
There are 24 hours in a day, yet we do not seem to have enough time to accomplish all that we set out to achieve, creating a constant need to multitask. While juggling many activities may be necessary in some circumstances, it is a definite no-no for others. "It's never,
Disregard for simple road-safety practices such as the use of seat belts, helmets and child-restraint systems is causing Jamaican children to die, according to recent findings from research on child road safety commissioned by the JN Foundation and The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF). "Speeding and riding without a motorcycle
IT seems like Parliament has been too busy for the past two months to address the passage of the long-anticipated Road Traffic Act (RTA). Checks by Jamaica Observer's weekly Auto magazine yesterday showed that while the Senate passed the Bill with 161 amendments on May 11, the House of Representatives
Investigators from the Port Antonio fire station are conducting a probe into the cause of an explosion of a 40-ft container in the farming community of Kensington in east Portland yesterday. At least three houses, a church, and two vehicles suffered extensive damage The massive explosion, which shattered doors and
Scotia Group Jamaica CEO David Noel has been elected president of the Jamaica Bankers Association. He succeeds Nigel Holness, the managing director of FirstCaribbean Jamaica. Other JBA executives elected at the group’s annual general meeting on Thursday included JMMB Bank CEO Jerome Smalling, as vice president, and First Global Bank
Minister with portfolio responsibility for investment and trade, Audley Shaw, has sought to defend reports on Jamaica's Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows following a publication by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) which quoted the country as earning US$239 million less than numbers recorded by the
MONTEGO BAY — Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett is excited over record growth in tourism earnings and arrivals in the first half of the year in spite of the imposition of a state of emergency in St James since January. “To come out of a state of emergency and grow in
