Your news in a nutshell
- Fitz Jackson, MSMEs support plan to protect bank consumers
- TEF head trying to clear $6m bad debt
- NWC gets 30-day notice from health department
- Contractor general considers probe into Gov’t grass project
- Teachers urged to safeguard student data
- SDC fee still a major issue
1. Fitz Jackson, MSMEs support plan to protect bank consumers
The Micro Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (MSME) Alliance and Fitz Jackson, the parliamentarian pushing for tougher regulation of bank fees, have endorsed the Government’s plan to establish an agency to protect consumers in their dealings with financial institutions. Finance Minister Audley Shaw announced in the House of Representatives Thursday that the Government had requested assistance from the United States to establish the entity during the 2017-2018 fiscal year. See full story on The Gleaner’s website.
2. TEF head trying to clear $6m bad debt
Dr Carey Wallace, executive director of the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF), has admitted that a company he was a director of owes the entity he now has direct control of some $6 million, but he is now taking steps to pay off the loan. In an interview in which he confirmed the information obtained by The Gleaner, Wallace also admitted that the situation did not look good given his position. See full story on The Gleaner’s website.
3. NWC gets 30-day notice from health department
The St Catherine Health Department has served a 30-day notice on the National Water Commission (NWC) for breaches of the Public Health Act. Acting Chief Public Health Officer for the parish, Grayson Hutchinson, says five of the NWC’s treatment plants in Spanish Town have been found to be hazardous to the health and well-being of residents. See full story on The Gleaner’s website.
4. Contractor General considers probe into Gov’t grass project
Contractor General Dirk Harrison says his office is now considering whether to open a formal investigation into allegations that the Agriculture Minister Karl Samuda used his influence to get personal benefit from state resources. “The office is presently in receipt of some documentation in the matter. We are processing that documentation and we will thereafter ascertain our position,” Harrison told The Gleaner Thursday evening. See full story on The Gleaner’s website.
5. Teachers urged to safeguard student data
A local cybersecurity expert wants teachers to take greater care in safeguarding student data, following a recent incident in which hackers stole data for 14,000 Jamaican students from 16 high schools and subsequently demanded a ransom for their return. See full story on The Gleaner’s website.
6. SDC fee still a major issue
More than 11 months after Everald Warmington, chairman of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) Committee of Parliament, warned the Social Development Commission (SDC) that he would bring pressure to bear on the agency if it fails to halve its management fee for implementing education assistance programmes funded by the CDF, the issue remains unresolved. See full story on The Gleaner’s website.
