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Jamaica Finance Minister: ‘Small Business Grants to be paid May’

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Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke

#KINGSTON, May 13 (JIS): Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, says the verification of Small Business Grant applications is underway and payments will be processed following the review of the Auditor General.

“We expect payments of Small Business Grants to be made in May,”                      Dr. Clarke said during a statement to the House of Representatives on May 12.

The Small Business Grant is a component of the Government’s COVID Allocation of Resources for Employees (CARE) Programme.

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The Finance and the Public Service Minister explained that the grants are for businesses that file income tax and payroll returns indicating that they have at least one employee.

“Individual owners, who have no other employee other than themselves, can make a payroll return for themselves. The size of the Small Business Grant, at $100,000.00, is a large sum, and was calibrated to be for businesses that employ other Jamaicans,” Dr. Clarke said.

“All small businesses, whether or not they employ others, are eligible for the Small Business Tax credit of $375,000.00 introduced for the first time in March of this year. Small businesses that file taxes will not pay income taxes on their first $1.5 million earnings,” he added.

Meanwhile, eligibility verification activity for General Grant applicants is now in progress through the collection of registrants’ data from the municipal corporations; Early Childhood Commission; Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport; Transport Authority and other Government bodies.

            Dr. Clarke said that in some cases, the Auditor General’s Department is conducting a review/audit of data before payments are actioned.

“It is expected that the verification activities will be completed in May and eligible applicants will be notified accordingly. Verification will include matching applicants against approved lists received from the appropriate authorities as well as verification of bank account information,” he noted.

            Barbers, hairdressers, beauty therapists, cosmetologists, taxi operators, bus operators and market vendors who apply and qualify will receive a one-time COVID-19 General Grant of $25,000.

There is a one-time General Grant of $40,000 for bar operators and nightclub operators who apply and qualify.

In addition, Craft vendors and operators of the Jamaica Union of Travellers Association (JUTA), Maxi Tours Limited and Jamaica Co-operative Automobile and Limousine Tours Limited (JCAL) who apply and qualify will receive a one-time General Grant of $40,000.

JIS NEWS by LATONYA LINTON

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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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Caribbean News

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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