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Jamaicans must not belittle significance of blue collar jobs says Mrs. Holness

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#Kingston, December 20, 2018 – Jamaica – Wife of the Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Juliet Holness, is encouraging Jamaicans not to belittle the significance of blue collar jobs, noting that they are all critical to nation-building.

“In order for Jamaica to achieve its potential for prosperity, we must encourage partnerships between public and private sector, political and church organisations, between yard and foreign… and between women and men. This can only happen when we see each other as equals, when we stop disrespecting or downplaying the role of domestic and household workers,” she said.

Mrs. Holness, who is also Member of Parliament for East Rural St. Andrew, was speaking at the GraceKennedy/Heather Little-White Household Worker of the Year awards ceremony, held at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston on December 18.

“When we stop disrespecting the roles of our bus drivers, construction workers, our garbage collectors; when we stop seeing those honest hard-working Jamaicans as lesser than ourselves and instead see them as equal partners in the development of Jamaica, we will, at that time, increase in our beauty, fellowship and [the] prosperity that we desire,” she said.

Mrs. Holness noted that each Jamaican has a role to play in ensuring that the country achieves its full potential of becoming a “more ordered and productive society”.

“When parents see teachers as equal partners in education, and lawyers see law-enforcement officers as equal partners in enforcing the law, we will have a more ordered and productive society. When women and men start to see each other as equals and give each other equal respect while finding non-violent means of settling disputes, we will have a safer, happier and loving society,” she said.

She lauded GraceKennedy for saluting the memory of Dr. Heather Little-White, while recognizing the work of the “awesome technicians” as partners in the homemaking process.

“They are the real specialists who allow so many of us to not only grow up in balanced environments, but who have helped us as adults to be able to function normally in our professional lives because we know all is well at home,” she said.

For his part, Group Chief Executive Officer for GraceKennedy Limited, Don Wehby, said household workers are among those unsung heroes who provide a support system for persons to achieve their goals.

“We care about our household workers… .  You represent the values of GraceKennedy – honesty, integrity, trust,” he said.

Mr. Michael Brown and Ms. Rosemarie Forrester were selected as the male and female champion household workers.

Named in honour of the late Dr. Heather Little-White, to recognize her years of service to the company and for training and encouraging household workers to improve their lives, the GraceKennedy/Heather Little-White Household Worker of the Year Award was inaugurated to recognize and reward Jamaica’s household workers.

 

Release: JIS

Contact: Chris Patterson

Photo Captions:

Header: Wife of the Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Juliet Holness, addresses the GraceKennedy/Heather Little-White Household Worker of the Year awards ceremony, held at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston, on December 18.

Insert: Wife of the Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Juliet Holness (right) and Group Chief Executive Officer for GraceKennedy Limited, Don Wehby (left), with Michael Brown (second left) and Rosemarie Forrester, who were selected as the male and female champion household workers at the GraceKennedy/Heather Little-White Household Worker of The Year awards ceremony, held at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston on December 18.

Photographer: Adrian Walker

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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CARPHA Progresses to Eligibility for the First Disbursement of Pandemic Funding

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Following a landmark Public Signing Ceremony for the Pandemic Fund (PF) Technical Cooperation Agreement (“Reducing the Public Health Impact of Pandemics in the Caribbean through Prevention, Preparedness, and Response” [RG-T4387] Project) on December 14, 2023, in Trinidad, the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) continues to progress towards the start of implementation.

 CARPHA fulfilled the IDB’s nine conditions prior to first disbursement, achieving full eligibility on March 15, 2024, and is now eligible for the first disbursement. This milestone achievement in just 3 months after the signing speaks to the commitment of both CARPHA, the Executing Agency, and IDB, the Implementing Entity, toward the regional PF project with the objective of supporting the reduction of the public health impact of pandemics in the Caribbean by building pandemic prevention, preparedness and response (PPR) surveillance & early-warning systems (EWS), laboratory systems and workforce capacity, regionally at CARPHA and in countries.

Since the signing of the Technical Cooperation Agreement and as part of the conditions prior to first disbursement, CARPHA has achieved the following key outputs (i) the development of the PF Project Operations Manual, Multi-annual Execution Plan, Procurement Plan, Financial Plan, Procedure for CARPHA’s Financial Reporting System; (ii) vacancy announcements for two tranches of consultants with the subsequent hiring of five (Technical Coordinator, Financial Specialist, Procurement Specialist, Operations Officer and Project Operations Coordinator) and (iii) the establishment of the Project Execution Unit (PEU) and Project Execution Steering Committee (PESC). The dedicated PEU will be responsible for execution according to its planned timelines, which will be led by the Dr. Lisa Indar, the Project Director (CARPHA’s Director of Surveillance, Disease Prevention and Control Division).

 CARPHA, as the lead regional public health agency and an expression of Caribbean Cooperation in Health is mandated by its Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) to support its 26 CARPHA Member States (CMS) in bolstering national systems and coordinating regional response to public health threats. The Agency works closely with regional and international agencies and uses regional mechanisms, surveillance systems, and networks for coordinating its public health response work.

In July 2023, the PF Governing Board announced that CARPHA’s regional entity proposal, entitled ‘Reducing the Public Health Impact of Pandemics in the Caribbean through Strengthened Integrated Early Warning Surveillance, Laboratory Systems and Workforce Development’ was successfully selected for the first round of financing. It was one of only 19 proposals selected from over 300 submissions and the only regional project. The three priority areas in the proposal are: (i) Comprehensive disease surveillance and EWS, (ii) Laboratory systems and (iii) Human resources and public health and community workforce capacity.

This project is expected to begin implementation in March 2024, starting off with a blended onboarding session. A Stakeholder Meeting with countries is tentatively planned for July 2024.

CARPHA remains dedicated to working together with the IDB, CARPHA Member States and the Pandemic Fund to successfully implement the regional proposal geared toward reducing the public health impact of pandemics in the Caribbean.

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Men who had Murdered Man, Marley Higgs’ cell phone face Court

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Wilkie Arthur

Freelance Court Correspondent

The prosecution intends to try two young North Caicos men, both age 21 for the offense of possession of property of a murdered man, property that was stolen and landed in their possession.

The phone belonged to Peureton ‘Marley’ Higgs, who is believed to have been an innocent gunned down at his apartment complex in the Glass Shack area in a spray of bullets on February 2 that killed another man and wounded two others, including a ten-year-old little girl.

The cell phone was described as white in colour, an iPhone, in a hard black case. 

On Monday, March 18th, JEFFVANO HANDFIELD of North Caicos pleaded not guilty to the offense, and the matter was adjourned to April 2024. He was granted bail in the matter.

A second North Caicos man was charged similarly.  

SARENO CAPELLAN aka, Kino Williams is the second individual brought before the court pertaining to the said cellphone. He appeared in court a week after JEFFVANO HANDFIELD, the date being Monday March 25th 2024.

The case for the Crown is that both men sometime in February of this year possessed the cellphone knowing or suspecting it to be stolen property.

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Supreme Court Closed for Easter

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NOTICE is hereby given that the Easter Recess shall commence on Friday 29th April, 2024 and end on Friday 5th April, 2024. During the Easter Recess Judge Selochan will be available to deal only with matters that are urgent or require prompt attention.

Court Business During the Easter Recess

A person who wishes to have a matter heard during the recess must file a certificate of urgency along with an affidavit, which must set out the reasons why the matter is urgent or requires prompt attention. The matter will not be listed during the recess unless the Judge deems it fit for urgent hearing.

Opening Hours During the Easter Holiday

The Supreme Court’s last sitting day for the first term is Thursday 28th March, 2024. The Court will officially resume sittings on Monday 8th April, 2024. The Supreme Court Offices in both Grand Turk and Providenciales will continue to operate while the Court is not sitting during the recess.

The Court Office will be closed on the following public holidays:

  • Friday 29th March, 2024 (Good Friday) CLOSED
  • Monday 1st April, 2024 (Easter Monday) CLOSED

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