Fri | Mar 29, 2024

News Briefs

Published:Saturday | February 23, 2019 | 12:00 AM
Dr Lynvale Bloomfield

Slain MP to be buried today

Dr Lynvale Bloomfield, the late member of parliament (MP) for Eastern Portland, will be laid to rest today.

The funeral service will take place at the Open Bible Church in Folly, Portland, starting at 11 a.m.

He will be interred at Prospect Cemetery.

Bloomfield, a medical doctor and two-term MP, was found stabbed to death inside his home in Passley Gardens in the constituency on February 2.

No one has yet been charged with the killing.

 

 

CLA issues 29 licences

The Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA) has issued 29 licences to 23 persons since its inception.

The licences are for the cultivation of cannabis, processing of cannabis for medicinal purposes, retail and research and development.

“Seventeen are for the cultivation of cannabis, six are in the retailing category, four are for the processing of medical cannabis and two are for research and development (experimental) licence purposes,” JAMPRO Trade and Investment Manager – Logistics and Infrastructure, Don Gittens, said at a JIS think tank on Thursday.

An applicant is granted a licence once all the requirements are met, including paying the licence fee and security bond and establishing a tripartite agreement involving the CLA, the licensee and the downstream buyer.

Citing JAMPRO’s responsibility for the investment and promotion of the medical cannabis industry, Gittens emphasised that the sector’s potential for growth is significant.

 

OUR gets two new deputy directors general

The Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) has announced the appointments of two new deputy directors general, Cedric Wilson and Cheryl Lewis.

They were appointed by Prime Minister Andrew Holness, upon the recommendation of the OUR effective February 1, to serve for three-year terms.

They join Maurice Charvis in the post, bringing the number of deputy directors general at the OUR to three.

 

 

MPs, councillors urged to help residents get land titles

The Housing Agency of Jamaica (HAJ) is calling on members of parliament (MPs) and councillors to encourage residents to get titles for their land.

“I am seeking the help of our MPs, as I think they have an impact. If they are able to corral their communities, then it would help us significantly [to provide titles],” Nakia McMorris, senior manager for community development at the HAJ, said.

The land-titling programme undertaken by the HAJ since 2012 seeks to regularise informally occupied lands by providing eligible residents with land titles.

McMorris said that MPs and councillors are very influential community leaders and can speak to residents and members of their constituency about the importance of having their land titled, and the risks associated with residing on unregulated lands.

“We want them (MPs and councillors) to come in and work collectively and devise a plan within their realm as to how they can support agencies that are trying to get titles out. It is really all about the consistency of the political representatives behind us,” she added.