Business

In the middle of next month, Jamaica will hold its annual diaspora conference. The event ought to be a moment of solidarity as the country prepares for its 50th anniversary of Independence, its likely success at the Olympics, and a positive world image.

The National Housing Trust (NHT) says the J$600 million being set aside for the Government's new foundation to help indigents and upgrade public institutions is from funds unclaimed for at 17 years.

Sixteen years after the takeover, Financial Sector Adjustment Company Limited (FINSAC) has about J$170 million under its control that has not been claimed by depositors of Century National Bank, but interest has ceased accruing on those savings since the interventions.

QUESTION: I am a 23-year-old female and have been working in the tourism sector in western Jamaica from 2008 to the present. I would like to start saving towards my home but I only work for J$7,493 per week.

YAM FARMERS in Southern Trelawny say the failure of the Ministry of Agriculture to make good on its promise to restart operations at the yam house in Wait-A-Bit is severely restricting their ability to market the surplus yam they now have.

SOME HOTELS on the north coast are now showing an interest in produce available at the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries' farmers' markets. On Wednesday, chefs from Runaway Bay Heart Hotel and Breezes Runaway Bay Resort visited the farmers' market at White River, St Mary, which was being held midweek for the first time in the parish.

THE PORTLAND Parish Council is racing against the clock to prevent the Jamaica Railway Corporation (JRC) from removing an old railway coach along with a turntable from a location in Port Antonio. The JRC, which owns the railway carriage and turntable, informed the council of its intention to remove the items, and have them transferred to Kingston for resale in the lucrative scrap-metal trade.

R.Allen Stanford, the Texas-born financier, who is accused of using his Antigua-based Stanford International Bank Limited to run a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme, will go on trial from September 12, according to court documents released in Houston.

The Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) will be swapping out another 35,000 electricity meters for units with digital display, starting Monday.The process will take more than seven months, and should wrap up by yearend.The new meters will be...

Oil rose Thursday in volatile trading to settle near US$99 per barrel, with a weaker dollar offsetting concerns about a slowdown in world demand.Benchmark crude for June delivery gained 76 cents to settle at US$98.97 per barrel on the New York...

WESTERN BUREAU: With the global economic issues still seen as the most significant challenge facing the region's hospitality sector, lenders are now more conservative about backing tourism projects, says KMPG Jamaica's...

United States Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and other regulators gave Congress an update Thursday on their efforts to implement the biggest overhaul of the nation's financial rules since the Great...