Jamaica details JSE micro market framework alongside health, education and agriculture initiatives

The Government has set out the operating framework for a new Jamaica Stock Exchange micro market aimed at helping micro and small enterprises raise capital and expand their operations.

Finance and Public Service Minister Fayval Williams told the House of Representatives on Tuesday that the platform is designed to meet the needs of smaller businesses while strengthening Jamaica's financial sector. She said that by adding the micro market to the existing ecosystem, micro and small enterprises will be able to raise equity capital in the range of $50 million to $100 million to support business expansion, working capital, technology upgrades and job creation.

An initial group of 25 businesses that have completed the Jamaica Business Development Corporation accelerator programme has already been identified as potential listing candidates. Williams also outlined listing requirements, including at least 20 per cent public shareholding with at least 50 new shareholders, including the sponsor. Provisions will allow the listing of micro entities associated with junior and main market companies to promote sponsors' role in building stronger supply chains. Micro market entities must file semi-annual audited accounts within 60 days, 12-month audited statements within 90 days and annual reports within 120 days of year-end, and must transition to the junior market once they exceed the $100 million capital threshold. The JSE micro market was officially launched on June 23 as part of a broader strategy to expand capital access for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.

Officials have also begun developing a national action plan on the women, peace and security agenda, positioning Jamaica to become the 117th country worldwide to adopt the strategic framework established through United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade hosted a hybrid sensitisation session on Thursday to build awareness and engage stakeholders ahead of the plan's development. Ambassador Sharon Miller said the agenda is especially relevant to Jamaica's current security and development challenges, noting that its relevance extends beyond traditional armed conflict to include gender-based violence, community violence, transnational organised criminal gangs, trafficking in persons, disasters and climate-related shocks.

Brigadier Markland Lloyd, representing Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister Ambassador Rocky Meade, said the action plan will require coordinated national effort and a broader understanding of women's role in building peaceful and resilient communities. He stressed that the time is opportune to implement the plan as a whole-of-government project spanning national security, justice and education, and called for women to be positioned as architects of peace, conflict resolution and security rather than seen only as victims.

The South East Regional Health Authority has acquired five new vehicles valued at approximately $44 million to enhance patient care and health care delivery. The fleet, handed over on Friday during a ceremony at the National Chest Hospital, includes one retrofitted wheelchair-accessible coaster bus and four panel vans. One panel van and the wheelchair-accessible coaster will be assigned to the Sir John Golding Rehabilitation Centre, one panel van to St. Joseph's Hospital and two to SERHA's Regional Transport Department to support patient transportation, dietary services, laundry distribution and other essential logistical operations.

Three teachers colleges will be outfitted with smart labs to accelerate digital transformation in education: Shortwood Teachers College in St. Andrew, G.C. Foster College of Physical Education and Sport in St. Catherine and Moneague College in St. Ann. The initiative is being facilitated through memoranda of understanding between the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information and the Digicel Foundation, which will retrofit each lab, provide at least 24 laptops, printers, other equipment and two years of complimentary internet service, along with training for educators. Each lab costs approximately US$80,000, bringing the foundation's total college lab donations to eight.

Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining Floyd Green announced that Jamaica will establish the Caribbean's first centre for agricultural innovation, modelled after the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture digital agriculture centre headquarters in Costa Rica. The facility will serve as a regional hub for advanced agricultural technologies, including robotics, virtual reality and artificial intelligence. Green also announced that the ministry will partner with IICA to host the 20th Caribbean Week of Agriculture in Jamaica from September 27 to October 2. The recent IICA accountability seminar also featured the handover of hurricane recovery supplies, including fertilisers and agrochemicals, to support farmers.

The National Water Commission is advising motorists to prepare for traffic changes along the Rose Hall corridor in St. James as phase one of the Western Water Resilience Project gets underway, with single-lane travel currently in place and further closures expected in the coming weeks. Acting President Kevin Kerr said phase one includes transmission line replacement from the Montego Bay water treatment plant up to Corinaldi Reservoir in Montego Bay, designed to carry the plant's current production capacity along with future expanded capacity.