Jamaica Launches Emergency Jobs Initiative

By David McFadden

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) -- Jamaica's month-old government on Wednesday launched the first phase of an emergency jobs program that was the centerpiece of its winning election campaign.

The government formed by the People's National Party said some 700 jobless people will be hired to clear vegetation and trash in the short- and medium-term along a northern coastal highway in the first phase of the Jamaica Emergency Employment Program.