Installation Ceremony for Custos Hon. Lennox Anderson-Jackson, Custos Rotulorum of Hanover
Keynote Address
By
Dr the Honourable Andrew Holness ON, PC, MP
Prime Minister of Jamaica
at
Installation Ceremony for Custos Hon. Lennox Anderson-Jackson,
Custos Rotulorum of Hanover
On
July 17, 2025
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Thank you, Madam Master of Ceremonies,
Your Excellency the Most Honourable Sir Patrick Allen, Governor General, and the Most Honourable Lady Allen
Senator Janice Allen, representing the Leader of the Opposition
The Honourable Deroy Chuck, Minister of Justice
Other Members of the Cabinet
The Most Honourable Professor Sir Kenneth Hall, Former Governor General of Jamaica and Mrs Hall
The Honourable Mrs Justice Lorna Shelly-Williams, representing the Honourable Mr Justice Bryan Sykes, Chief Justice
Excellencies
And Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Members of the House of Parliament
Brigadier Elon Clarke, representing the Vice Admiral Antonette Wemyss-Gorman, Chief of Defence Staff
Mr Glenford Miller, Assistant Commissioner of Police representing Dr Kevin Blake, Commissioner of Police
His Worship the Mayor Councillor Sheridan Samuels, Mayor of Lucea
The Honourable Lennox Anderson-Jackson, Custos Rotulorum of the parish of Hanover, and Mrs Anderson-Jackson.
Other Custodes
Justices of the Peace
Other distinguished guests
Members of the media
Ladies and gentlemen, it is indeed a good morning.
Before I proceed, if my voice fails me temporarily, please bear with me as Senator commented I’ve been all over the place speaking quite a bit, so my voice is a bit strained
Today, we are gathered in observance of tradition, but also renewal and recommitment to the values of service and justice. It is my distinct honour to deliver this address at the installation ceremony of the Honourable Lennox Anderson-Jackson JP as Custos Rotulorum for the parish of Hanover.
Custos Anderson-Jackson, this is indeed a proud moment for you and indeed your family, but it is also a proud moment and a moment of high expectations for the people of Hanover as you assume this role at a time of great possibilities for the parish. Your record of service and community engagement and professional integrity has prepared you for this noble office. You inherit a legacy that is both ceremonial and deeply civic.
The Custos Rotulorum not merely a ceremonial role. The office carries immense weight, influence, and responsibility. As the Chief Magistrate and as the leader of the corps of Justices of the Peace you are expected to be a guardian of public order, an advocate for community development, and a moral compass in times of uncertainty.
Hanover is a parish that has demonstrated remarkable resilience and transformation in recent years. Custos, you now assume this leadership role at a time when Hanover stands tall as an example of what is possible when citizens, law enforcement and the government work hand in hand. In May of this year, you boldly and proudly declared Hanover the safest parish in Jamaica. There are a few other parishes competing for that title, but the numbers back you up. Compared to the national context in which we have seen a 41.5% decline in murders as of this week compared to the same period last year, Hanover, has seen a 75% reduction in murders and a 48% drop in major crimes overall.
Let us pause for a moment and reflect on what this means in terms of lives saved, families spared tragedy and communities allowed to breathe freely and grow. It is a major accomplishment and Hanoverians; you should be proud of this.
Now, think about for how long high levels of crime and violence seem to have been intractable, inevitable, and now think of how that has changed. The solution always lay in effective policing backed by adequate resources and robust community engagement. I mentioned this not only to highlight our achievement in this space, but to make the point that with good governance such transformation is possible in all spheres, good government matters.
We also see such transformation happening in tourism. Hanover is not only becoming the safest parish, but one of the most dynamic in tourism development. Earlier this year, Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett declared that Hanover is emerging as Jamaica’s leading tourism parish. We are seeing the rise of nearly 4,000 new hotel rooms being built across Hanover, 2000 rooms in Green Island, 1000 by the Viva Wyndham at Rose Hall, and nearly 1000 luxury rooms by Palladium near Lucea.
In February, the Palladium Hotel Group broke ground on a Euro 500 million expansion of the Grand Palladium Resort, one of the largest single tourism investments in the Caribbean. The project includes a state-of-the-art convention centre and modern eco designs incorporating solar energy, rainwater harvesting, and training for local workers. We are also ensuring that the industry growth translates into community development because at the end of the day, all the economic growth and investment that we are seeing must translate into benefits for the people.
Through partnership with the investors, over 600 homes are being built near the Palladium site to house hospitality workers and their families. At the Princess Resort, which officially opened December 2024, five hundred staff housing units are already operational. That is what we mean when we talk about inclusive growth, ensuring that tourism does not just pass through Hanover, but builds in Hanover for the people and benefit of Hanover. For the communities of Hanover, we have also made a priority of improving access to potable water, the expansion of the Lucea Water Supply System, and the replacement of aging pipelines in rural communities are improving both reliability and quality. These investments are improving the quality of life, improving hygiene and unlocking agricultural productivity.
And speaking of agriculture, Hanover’s farming communities are being revitalized. With support from RADA, we have trained hundreds of farmers in climate resilient techniques. We have facilitated access to irrigation and partnered with agro processors to strengthen the value chain. This has helped young farmers and traditional growers alike to increase yields and incomes, especially in communities like Chester Castle, Cascade and Knockalva.
We’re also investing in public spaces that makes this parish more liveable. On the 3rd of July, we reopen the Lord’s Multipurpose Court in Lucea, restored under the Spruce Up Jamaica programme. Such spaces are instrumental to promoting pride of place, community gathering, and youth expression. Let us multiply these spaces across the parish.
It is in this context that the Office of Custos must function, not above the people, but among them. Custos Anderson-Jackson, you will be called upon to help to ensure the social infrastructure growth in step with the physical infrastructure. Your leadership will be critical in galvanizing the justices of the peace to be more present in their communities whether through mentoring young men, guiding dispute resolution, or supporting restorative justice initiatives; the JP corps must be activated to serve not just ceremonially, but transformatively.
I also urge you to be an advocate for youth development. Our young people in Hanover must know that they are seen, heard, and believed in. Let us ensure they have safe spaces to thrive through sports culture, entrepreneurship, and digital skills training. Ladies and gentlemen, Hanover is writing a new chapter in its history, and I urge the citizens of this parish to follow the example and leadership of the Custos and step-up as JPs, volunteers, caregivers, coaches, mentors. When citizens take ownership of their communities, those communities become unbreakable.
As your Prime Minister, I reaffirm our government’s commitment to supporting Hanover’s growth and development. We will continue to invest in your schools, your roads, your hospitals, your water system, and your safety but development is not complete without partnership, and that is why leadership matters from the ground up.
Whenever I visit any community officially, I am met by the officer in charge of the area, and it has become a very good tradition I would say now, for the commanding officer or the officer in charge to give a report on the safety and security and public order issues in the community, and the officers take great pride in making their report even if the numbers are not heading in the direction that they would want, because they still have plans in place to bring the numbers down. The last time I was here, I was met by the officer in charge, and my recollection was that at that time the murder rate was down 61%. So, since the last time a few weeks ago, there has been a significant improvement. But I note the incident because the officer in charge mentioned that they were not able to achieve this without the support of the JPs and the other stakeholders who have been very active in the community.
Our system of government has several layers to it. We tend only to focus on the layer through parliament and the cabinet. The judiciary is a part of the government, the legislature, the cabinet, but also the functions of the state administered by His Excellency the Governor General, and the persons who carry that authority through communities would be the Custos and the Justices of the Peace. They don’t necessarily have the powers of law to compel, but what they have is the consensus of the society that their word, their character, their morals standing in the community carries weight that people will voluntarily comply, that people will see them as persons holding office that they can emulate.
And when they take this, which is by the way the most powerful form of authority, when they leverage this high level of respect and they use it within communities to broker peace, to redirect youngsters, to help to coordinate the community and the police, to bring other stakeholders together; there is no other powerful force such as that; not even ministers who have the power of law, or even the police who have the power of the law and therefore, though you may see this as ultimately ceremonial, there is power, real power in the civic authority vested in the Custos flowing from the authority of His Excellency the Governor General, the head of the state of Jamaica.
And so, I want you to look at this role as a transformational role in your community. And if all of you here who are gathered representing the civic capital of Hanover decide that you are going to work together to ensure that the 71% decline in murder reaches 100% by the end of the year, and you’re going to hold that there are no murders in your parish, you can achieve it.
The breakdown started when we said we’re not going to respect the JPs and then children say we’re not going to respect the parents, we’re not going to respect the teachers, and once the link of respect is broken right throughout the society, then we create the space for criminals to emerge. What I’m saying to you is rebuild this link of respect going right up to the Custos, through to the Governor General, through to me and through to the MPs and the ministers; let us close off the spaces in which criminal and antisocial behaviour thrives. Let us take back our society, and this is what this installation ceremony is about when we put up to you for your approval and recommittal of respect and reaffirmation of the civic authority, we can make Jamaica the place we want it to be.
God bless you and thank you.