The Nurses Association of Jamaica (NAJ) yesterday reached anamicable agreement with the Ministry of Finance regarding outstanding payments to its members. The matter was resolved late yesterday afternoon.

"To a large extent we agreed on some serious resolutions," said Edith Allwood-Anderson, president of the NAJ.

Some of the issues that were agreed on were an understanding on some of the allowances for staff nurses, midwives and public health nurses islandwide, she said.

A June timeline was also agreed on for the implementation of allowances for members of the University of the West Indies, said Mrs. Allwood-Anderson. The NAJ had issued an ultimatum last week for the Government to address the matter. This, however, was withdrawn when the Ministry of Finance scheduled a meeting with the group yesterday.

The association had expressed concern about the Government's failure to make the payments to midwives and nurses on call. The allowances were negotiated last August as part of the 2006-2008 wage and fringe benefits agreement.