Black Immigrant Daily News

The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) has issued Government of Jamaica (GoJ) email accounts to justices of the peace (JPs) to improve the public’s access to justice services.

The GoJ email addresses went live following a virtual launch recently, and thereby allows members of the public to contact JPs using the address format: firstname.lastname@jp.gov.jm.

In encouraging JPs to buy into the digital age and to not be left behind, Minister of Justice, Delroy Chuck, explained that the new email addresses will increase access to the services they offer.

“The more means of communication JPs have, the better, but more importantly, if JPs use this new email address, there will be greater communication between the ministry, custodes, JPs and the citizens of Jamaica. It will increase accessibility, as there will be one email address everyone will know,” said Chuck.

Also speaking at the launch, Minister of Science, Energy and Technology (MSET), Daryl Vaz commented on the Justice Ministry’s efforts to increase access to justice.

“This email system is directly aligned with our efforts to facilitate digital access and inclusion for a better Jamaica. The inclusion of technology into the Jamaican justice system further enhances the streamlining and digitisation of the services of the Government for effective governance, transparency and accountability – essential pillars for our advancement as a society,” said Vaz.

Additionally, Vaz highlighted the partnership with MOJ and MSET through the National Broadband Initiative that has resulted in the provision of internet connectivity in almost all parish courts across the island.

The Government Official Email Account initiative is intended to increase accessibility to, and communication with, JPs, as well as to strengthen their capacity to manage their communication to increase productivity in their functions.

Custos of St Thomas, Marcia Bennett, encouraged JPs to utilise the email services, and spoke optimistically of the expansion of services JPs will be able to offer by using the new communication tool.

“This (medium) will facilitate improved communication between justices and the people of Jamaica. JPs will now be able to reach places where some of us can’t go, and link with organisations and communities we interact with,” said Bennett.

“I encourage all JPs to log on to this new tool, as it will help to manage time, save more on resources, and propel and expand the services (that are) offered by justices of the peace,” continued Bennett.

There are over 9,000 JPs commissioned island-wide who are constituted, empowered and governed by the Justices of the Peace Act, 2018.

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Three Barbados Community College (BCC) students pursuing studies in tourism are recipients of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) Tourism Development Scholarship.

The trio include: Ana-Melissa Roach who is pursuing an Associate Degree in Applied Science – Culinary Arts, Hannah Benjamin, who is an Associate Degree in Applied Science – Hospitality student and Chrisana Williams who is studying an Associate Degree in Applied Science with a specialty in Tourism and Travel.

The $10, 000 scholarship which was launched this May, in partnership with the Jean and Norma Holder Hospitality Institute of BCC, is accessible to students pursuing further education in hospitality and tourism.

While congratulating the recipients in a ceremony at the Hastings, Christ Church institute, BHTA chairman, Renee Coppin spoke about the importance of investing in the human resources of the tourism sector, especially following the tumultuous COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are excited because a lot of you know that right now the industry coming out of COVID is suffering from a number of deficits in terms of business coming in. We have lost good people and we may not have people coming at the pace to replace them.

“It is especially important to us that we invest in the future of this industry and this industry is people-driven and people-centric and so you are very important. The role you are playing now in pursuing these studies [and] the role you are going to play in this industry in ensuring that it continues to be a major economic driver for this island are very, very critical,” Coppin remarked.

Students able to apply for the scholarship include those studying an Associate Degree in Applied Science and Culinary Arts – they will receive $3, 500 per year over two semesters. Additionally, students pursuing an Associate Degree in Applied Science with a specialty in Hospitality Studies will receive $3, 000 a year over two semesters, this also applies to those studying the Associate Degree with Applied Tourism or Travel .

The scholarships will cover books, petty fees and uniforms.

Students applying for the scholarship will be required to be studying full-time or part-time with a minimum GPA of 3.0.

BCC principal Annette Alleyne, thanked BHTA for the timely collaboration. She noted that although the programmes offered at the Jean and Norma Holder Institute were “world-class”, it featured some of the more expensive programmes offered at the BCC, which deterred cash-strapped students from continuing their studies.

“The offer of these scholarships is not only timely but is one that would allow any prospective students who mainly have financial challenges to aspire to becoming enrolled in the training of these programmes.”

“The programmes here are already quality programmes but that financial assistance, especially in this current economic environment will be critical to allowing students to continue their studies, or as one of the recipients said ‘hassle free’.”

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Black Immigrant Daily News

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Vidéo Grand JT des Territoires

Retrouvez, chaque semaine, le « Grand JT des Territoires » de Cyril Viguier, diffusé sur TV5 Monde, en partenariat avec France-Antilles.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Tourism in the Caribbean has recovered faster than any other destination in the world and has actually sprung into growth mode, experts say.

President of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourist Association (CHTA), Nicola Madden-Greig gave an update on the region’s performance at the latest Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC) quarterly report on Business and Consumer Confidence held last month.

“The Caribbean has recovered faster than any other destination in the world. For Q3, we were up three per cent over the 2019 numbers for the same period – and 2019 was what we called a record year in tourism,” Greig told the meeting.

The third quarter under review is from July to September.

While total international inbound for Q3 was still down 39 per cent with the Americas down 24 per cent; the United States (US) down 31 per cent; the Middle East and Africa down 19 per cent and Asia Pacific down 72 per cent – the Caribbean was up 3 per cent,” Madden-Greig stressed.

The projections for the last quarter of 2022 are also looking quite good, she said.

“For Q4 projections on the books, we are pacing quite well. It is looking like we will be up 15 per cent in the Caribbean over 2019. So, we have shifted from recovery into growth and that’s really quite significant,” Madden-Greig, who is also a director at the JCC, said.

Some have however questioned whether the region can sustain the current rate of growth, she said.

“The answer we will give is definitely yes,” she said, noting the Caribbean is well-paced to continue on the path of growth and outpace other regions.

“A lot of this growth is being driven by the US market, yes. But we still have Canada, the UK [and] Latin America – which has not fully recovered,” she said.

She continued: “We anticipate that as a region, both the Caribbean and Jamaica, will be able to retain the business that we have gotten out of the US market.”

The addition of new airlift options has supported international arrivals but regional travel is still lagging, she said.

“We do have adequate airlift throughout the region coming out of the main markets but the Caribbean region in and of itself, in terms of inter-regional travel is lagging behind our international arrivals,” she said.

There is, however, “a lot of push now to try and drive for regional airlift,” she said.

The meetings, conventions and business travel segment is also expected to bring a boost for the first quarter of 2023 although that segment currently lags behind leisure arrival, she said.

“We are seeing also that there is potential for growth… we anticipate in Q1 and going forward in all of 2023, we will see a significant uptick in that segment and that will also drive the growth that we are anticipating in the Caribbean,” the CHTA president said.

In addition, while the cruise segment has not fully recovered, the industry will start to see “some uptick.”

“There are still some challenges, there have been some consolidations in terms of the number of calls but we are anticipating that generally, the number of actual passengers will remain the same even though the number of ship calls may be reduced,” Madden-Greig said.

She said some cruise lines have retired some vessels and are working with larger ships.

“So instead of maybe a call with 1500 or 2000, you will [now] have larger calls,” she reasoned.

It is hoped that these larger calls will bring a lift to other niches such as transportation, craft vendors and other tourism-dependent small and medium-sized entities.

The shared economy or accommodations segment is also seeing growth.

“We are seeing that villas, apartments and those segments in terms of the accommodations sector are continuing to grow as well,” she said adding that all in all tourism in the Caribbean and Jamaica, has rebounded quite significantly.

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