The board of the Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA) is to review all hiring decisions made since January following the disbandment of an oversight committee that had previously rejected an unqualified applicant who was subsequently hired. “As a...
The Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA) has announced plans to re-establish an oversight committee for hiring decisions by October 2024, following its controversial disbandment earlier this year. The update comes amid mounting calls from employees...
The abrupt disbanding of an oversight committee, which had just voted against an applicant who was later hired, has sparked growing unease among workers at the Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA) about the fairness of hiring and firing practices....
Four St Andrew homeowners have filed court action seeking to overturn new development rules for Kingston and St Andrew, causing jitters in the local real estate sector. The case stems from the residents’ application for a judicial review of the...
The Court of Appeal has upheld a landmark ruling that companies can sue for constitutional breaches, dealing a blow to the Government, which is in a fight with a firm and a farmer over mining near the Cockpit Country. The unanimous ruling clears...
At least two employees who say they were victims of sexual harassment at the Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA) are challenging assertions made last month by the entity that it has been responsive to troubling findings in an internal survey done in...
Jamaica would not benefit “at this time” from having a directly elected president, according to the Constitutional Reform Committee (CRC), which recommends retaining the Cabinet parliamentary system of government over the executive presidential...
The Ministry of Finance and the Public Service told the National Land Agency (NLA) in May 2023 that it did not approve removing a mandatory international qualification for a post later filled by a former political adviser, an apparent contradiction...
A former advisor to a Cabinet minister benefited from the National Land Agency’s (NLA) decision to remove, without permission, a globally recognised minimum requirement for a job in a senior position, prompting questions of favouritism and...
Public service regulations are being reviewed with consideration for modern human resource demands for a time limit on investigations of public officials suspended from work, the Government says. The disclosure from Finance Minister Dr Nigel...
Taxpayers are bearing the weight of an $81-million and rising salary bill for seven suspended public officials as a result of drawn-out investigations and administrative limbo within government agencies. The $81 million represents the total pre-...
The Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ) says it will be seeking “guidance” from the country’s data protection regulator, which has contradicted its claim that the law blocks the release of the names of owners of two properties it is leasing. The TAJ...
A fight involving private investors, who are accusing the Government of breaching a nearly 30-year-old agreement for the development of Port Royal, including through a cruise port, is now at the Court of Appeal. In a major decision last month, the...
A government agency is refusing to disclose the names of two entities with which it has entered into contracts costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, claiming that the Data Protection Act prevents it from doing so. The situation raises...
Dr Gene Leon’s return to his position as president of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) appears unlikely in the near future, as concerns persist regarding the bank’s handling of whistleblower complaints against him. Tensions escalated in...
Almost two years after the Government offered $700 million in loans to players in the transportation and entertainment sectors hit by the COVID-19 crunch, only just over $1 million of the funds has been disbursed. The low take-up of the offer has...
The National Housing Trust (NHT) reportedly recommended abandoning plans to fund Phase Two of the controversial upscale Ruthven Towers project to make way for it to be undertaken by any interested private developer. The recommendation was...
His family, teachers, and alma mater Charlemont High School are celebrating the fulfilment of a promise – Dr Kevin Blake, the punctual boy who excelled in agriculture and information technology, becoming the head of Jamaica’s 156-year-old police...
A company is seeking the intervention of Prime Minister Andrew Holness in its push to convert a New Kingston residential lot into a parking lot for a proposed multimillion-dollar business, hoping that he will overturn a state regulator’s “tainted”...
The former head of enforcement at the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), whose alleged “gross dereliction” reportedly facilitated construction breaches by the National Water Commission (NWC) president, has been permitted to challenge...
Months after sections of Kingston’s maximum security facility were declared an “immediate danger to inmates and staff”, prisoners are still being housed in the compromised areas. The situation has raised fresh questions about the push for a modern...
The Cabinet last year approved a $15-billion emergency contract to a Chinese firm for the Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) rehabilitation project despite Jamaica’s chief procurement agency saying the health ministry led an “irregular” process. But...
The National Housing Trust (NHT) signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) that blocks it from telling taxpayers about a settlement with a developer from whom it is reclaiming $650 million in a botched deal, leaked documents suggest. “The parties...
The former head of enforcement at the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) is pushing for the Supreme Court to strike out an Integrity Commission (IC) finding that “gross dereliction” on her part facilitated alleged construction breaches...
The National Housing Trust (NHT) has reached a settlement with Dexim Holdings Limited, the developer it sued for allegedly not delivering any of an agreed 200 houses despite paying over $650 million under a $2.5-billion contract. “There was a...
