A thirty-four year old Cashier employed to the Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ) and assigned to the Constant Spring Tax Office, was arrested and charged on April 8, 2013, with receiving stolen documents and faces additional charges of tendering stolen and forged documents.

The Ministry of Finance and Planning wishes to reiterate that the one-off payments of $25,000 under the Heads of Agreement for 2012-2015 has been programmed into the Medium Term Economic Programme and the amounts will be paid to all full time employees who are permanent, temporary or on fixed term contracts in Central and Local Government and Public Bodies without exception over the period of the agreement.

The payments will be made as follows:

On March 22, 2013, the Government of Jamaica (GOJ) completed a private liability management transaction with leading local financial institutions, involving approximately J$20 billion and US$51 million dollars-worth of bonds held by local financial institutions.  This transaction represents the second and final stage of the National Debt Exchange which, with broad support from all parts of the domestic investor community, has successfully locked in savings for GOJ amounting to 8.5 per cent of GDP by 2020.

Desricka Gordon, a cashier from the Montego Bay Revenue Service Centre was on March 18, sentenced to a fine of $250,000 or six (6) months imprisonment, as well as 6 months imprisonment suspended for two years for breaches of the Corruption Prevention Act.  On the second charge of Conspiracy to Defraud, she was sentenced to twelve (12) months imprisonment suspended for two years.

Today, the Government of Jamaica announced that it will accept and settle submissions in excess of 97 percent of bonds eligible for the NDX, which was announced on February 12, 2013.
 

The Government of Jamaica is thankful for the strong participation from across the country and from all segments of the investor community.
 

In order to process additional instructions and accommodate the remaining non-participants, the Government of Jamaica has announced that it will extend the submission window to Thursday, February 28, 2013.
 

Officers of the Financial Investigations Division (FID) a division of the Ministry of Finance & Planning are investigating a case of breaches of the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) against Dave Anthony Johns a 45 year old Contractor of a Clarendon address.

The Board of Directors of Caymanas Track Limited (CTL) notes with
concern articles published in the Sunday Gleaner of September 2, and again on Monday, September 3, 2012, with comments on the financial status of Caymanas Track Limited which were attributed to an audit report by the Public Accountability Inspectorate Division of the Ministry of Finance and Planning.

Finance and Planning Minister, Dr. the Hon. Peter Phillips left the island today to attend the High Level Caribbean Forum in Trinidad and Tobago from September 2 – 6, 2012.  The conference is being sponsored jointly by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Caribbean Development Bank. 

The conference provides a forum for open and frank discussion on the key challenges and issues facing the region with respect to low growth and high debt.

The Public is being advised that in accordance with Ministry Paper No 32 – Revenue Measures, no tax should be applied to contraceptives.

It has been reported that at present, taxes are being applied to these items as a result of a misinterpretation of the Gazette Order which was published in relation to this matter.

The Public is therefore being asked to refer to Page 2 of the Revenue Measures on the Ministry’s Website for the listing that speaks to the exempt items, and be guided accordingly.