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News Briefs

Published:Tuesday | April 16, 2019 | 12:00 AM

10-y-o suspected of drowning

The Frankfield Police in Clarendon are investigating the circumstances surrounding Sunday’s death of 10-year-old Maalik Walters of Lampard district in the parish.

Reports are that about 2 p.m., residents found Maalik lying on the bank of the Rio Minho and called the police.

The police responded and he was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Investigations continue.

 

Final design for new parliament building being finalised

The final design of the winning concept for the new parliamentary building to be situated at Heroes Circle in central Kingston is to be completed by next April, Prime Minister Andrew Holness has said.

After a 10-month competitive process, the concept titled ‘Out of Many, One People’, which submitted by the Design Collective Team led by architect Evan Williams, emerged top a design competition last month.

The concept by Design Collective Team features an interconnected building with space to accommodate a football field and an area for outdoor movie viewing.

Described as the most significant structure to be built in the history of Jamaica, the new Houses of Parliament building will occupy a place of prominence at the National Heroes Park in Kingston.

 

Foreign ministry to provide advice to J’cans seeking Windrush compensation

Foreign Affairs Minister Kamina Johnson Smith says her ministry will be providing advice to those seeking to benefit from the Windrush Compensation Scheme established by the British government.

The scheme applies to members of the Windrush Generation - immigrants who arrived in the United Kingdom (UK) between 1948 and 1973 from Jamaica and other Caribbean countries to address labour shortages, and helped to rebuild Britain after World War II.

“In the interim, we will ensure that those Jamaicans who sought assistance from us when the crisis came to attention last year are made aware of how they may pursue their claims. We will also be placing an ad in the papers and on our website, as we did last year when seeking to help persons understand if they might be eligible for re-entry,” Johnson Smith told the Senate last Friday.

Additionally, she said her ministry will examine the scheme in greater detail, in consultation with the Attorney General’s Chambers.

The compensation scheme, which was announced in London by British Home Secretary Sajid Javid, earlier this month, will be open for two years.

 

Minor quake felt in St James, Westmoreland

The Earthquake Unit at the University of the West Indies has reported that a minor earthquake was felt across two western parishes yesterday morning.

The 3.9 magnitude tremor was felt in Montego Bay, St James, and Savanna-La-Mar, Westmoreland, about 8:53 am.

The unit said preliminary details suggests that it was located approximately two kilometres northwest of White House in Westmoreland and had a focal depth of 16 kilometres.

While Jamaica experiences several tremors annually, the last major event was the great Kingston earthquake of 1907, which caused more than 1,000 deaths, damaged numerous buildings and started several fires.