Welcome to Impacting Jamaica
SHARING THE LOVE: Teachers in Western Jamaica gets treated
Five-minute feature on acts of kindness by local or overseas based non-government individuals and organisations that have benefitted Jamaicans.
Written and produced by the Radio Department of the Jamaica Information Service
News for Week of June 05, 2022
We are here to inspire, motivate and uplift.
Electronic diaries rollout for police stations begins
Twenty-four additional police stations will be outfitted with electronic devices over the coming weeks as the Government builds out the programme to facilitate electronic recording of reports, complaints, and administrative entries by the police.
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This is according to the Minister of National Security and Deputy Prime Minister Dr Horace Chang. He said that the Government is implementing a station records management system for the Jamaica Constabulary Force, which will involve replacing the big books now being used at police stations across the island with an electronic records system.
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The 24 police stations will be equipped under phase one of this initiative, which started in April with the Harbour View Police Station in the Kingston Eastern Division.
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“This Government will ensure that we change the entire station management system. Every station has 19 of these things (big books). “This Government is going to give the police equipment (electronic devices), that is change and transformation,” said Dr. Chang.
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‘JamaicaEye’ is reaping success, says security minister
More than 850 closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras have been installed in townships across the island under the ‘JamaicaEye’ programme.
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These include Kingston, May Pen, Mandeville, Ocho Rios, Negril, Montego Bay, Spanish Town, Santa Cruz, and Black River.
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“This year, an additional 300 cameras will be strategically installed across the downtown Kingston and Stony Hill areas,” said national Security Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Dr Horace Chang. “We are currently examining the feasibility and the financial viability of building out the entire system, because it works extremely well and has proved to be a vital tool in assisting the police.”
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JamaicaEye falls under Plan Secure Jamaica, which is geared towards creating a safe, secure, cohesive, and just society, thereby providing an environment for increased and sustained growth and prosperity.
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Jamaicans interested in connecting to JamaicaEye can register online at https://jamaicaeye.gov.jm/.
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UWI targets partnerships with select US universities
Professor Dale Webber, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, is exploring ways to expand collaboration in research and exchange programmes with institutions in the United States.
He is placing particular focus on a group of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the United States, to start the process of creating opportunities for Jamaican students attending the UWI to incorporate a study-abroad experience.
This will entail the creation of exchange programmes for students at UWI Mona and students attending HBCUs to have reciprocal stays of a semester, a year, or two years at the participating universities, while completing their degree programmes.
The framework for the collaboration was laid following a series of meetings organised by Jamaica’s Ambassador to the United States, Her Excellency Audrey Marks, between the UWI and several HBCUs institutions in Washington DC, Maryland, and Delaware in the USA.
Chairman of US President Joe Biden’s Board of Advisors on HBCUs, Dr. Tony Allen, said: “What’s clear to me, particularly for Black students, whether they are in Jamaica or the United States, is that they have the same opportunity for success as we relate to one another and we build capacity for them to seize opportunities.”
The Biden-Harris Administration has committed more than $5.8 billion in support for HBCUs through the American Rescue Plan.
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Consulates in New York, Miami offer scholarships
The Jamaican consulates in New York and Miami are providing scholarships for Jamaican students to study at colleges and universities in the United States.
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Jamaica’s Consul General to New York, Alsion Roach Wilson, informed that 30 scholarships are available for students to register at Monroe College in New York.
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The scholarships cover tuition and housing for undergraduate students seeking to study criminal justice, computer networks and cybersecurity full-time.
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“The application is done through the Ministry of Education and Youth’s website and is currently open until June 30, 2022. After submission, the Ministry will review and respond by mid-July,” she said.
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Mrs. Roach Wilson was addressing the recent ‘Let’s Connect’ virtual town hall with Ambassador to the United States, Her Excellency Audrey Marks.
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Jamaica’s Consul General to Miami, Oliver Mair, who also addressed the session, said that discussions are in progress to provide approximately 30 scholarships for study at the University of Tennessee.
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“They are not full scholarships. They cover approximately US$20,000, so we’re looking at some fundraisers to assist students in getting additional support for accommodation,” he said.
Savanna-la-Mar has diabetes support group
The Western Regional Health Authority (WRHA) has officially launched the Savanna-la-Mar Health Centre Diabetes Support Group in Westmoreland.
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The group was created to offer support and impart much needed information about diabetes to persons afflicted with the disease.
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Health Promotion and Education Officer for Westmoreland, Gerald Miller, said establishment of the group is “pioneering”.
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“This is the first diabetes support group that fits into the chronic care model, which some of us (health promotions staff) would have been exposed to training pertaining to this framework, and so we are happy to know that we are taking an approach which had worked in other jurisdictions, and we are confident that it will also work for us,” he said.
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“We are taking what I refer to as a team approach, because the chronic care model speaks to that… a team approach in managing your condition, and that’s why we have brought members of the team who will provide that kind of support for you in this challenging time. I say challenging, because being afflicted with any medical condition is a challenge, as it involves a changing of the mindset, and with diabetes, how you eat, the cost of medication and sometimes it can render us being dependent; it robs us of our independence,” Mr. Miller said.
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He noted that the health department is pleased to be a part of the establishment of the group, as it is providing hope and taking a client-centred approach.
Crime drives fear in all law-abiding citizens
By Bert Samuels
“What is really needed to stop the crime and moral decay in the society is to start with the kindergarten and basic schools where teachers will have to become more than teachers and play the role of parents.”
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Prominent attorney-at-law Bert Samuels sees the high level of crime in Jamaica as one of the country's greatest problems. He pointed out that despite the country’s rich heritage and although it produces some of the best athletes and performing artistes in the world, crime is driving fear into all law-abiding citizens.
This is what Mr. Samuels has to say on the issue and as he hopes for an end to the crime and violence plaguing the country.
