Daraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter

Natalie Neita-Headley, the minister with responsibility for sports, said it is unlikely that Jamaica will ever again have the vast number of positive drug tests results that were returned in recent years.

Speaking in parliament on Tuesday, Neita Headley said that while the allocation to the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission will see its budgetary allocation being lowered from $104 million this year to $90 million, it should not be interpreted that Jamaica is going soft on doping.

"We don't anticipate the number of cases we experienced over the last year. I believe we have spent a great deal on educating our athletes, introducing a new website that provides additional information. Our athletes are more aware as a result of the Anti-Doping Commission embarking on a programme of work that made it far more efficient," Neita-Headley said.

Several Jamaican athletes returned adverse analytical findings in recent years with sprinters Asafa Powell and Sherone Simpson were among those who tested positive for an illegal substance.

Executive Director of the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO), Carey Brown, has indicated that the agency is well to its way to introducing blood testing by the end of the 2014/15 fiscal year and Neita-Headley said that despite the budget cut, the agency will be able to carry out its programme of work.

"We are to embark in this year on the EPO blood testing programme and it will not affect their programme of work. There is expected to be a reduction in a number of areas that were heightened last year, one of which was the hiring of a consultant to assist with the new Anti-Doping in Sports Act," Neita Headley said.

"We have additional drug testing personnel, we have additional personnel in the area of education and communication, we have embarked on the junior educational programme, and we have introduced a new website," the minister said.