News from the OPM

“Deeply disturbing, and barbaric”, is how Prime Minister Holness has described the killing of 8-year-old Danielle Rowe, while expressing condolences to her family and friends. "My heart goes out to Danielle's family and friends during this period of immense grief. The entire Jamaica must consider this a charge on our collective conscience. Anyone who has any information or knowledge of this incident should immediately inform the police. We cannot be silent or protect those responsible for this gruesome act. The society cannot surrender to wanton violence, and we must be unequivocal when violence is directed against our children. Already since the start of the year, 8 children have been murdered, 3 of whom are under 12 years old. Our indignation and intolerance of fatal violence must be expressed in the highest penalties as a deterrent and the stiffest punishment if the criminal was not deterred. My Government will not resile from using all the legal tools available to us in sending a clear message that violence of any form is unacceptable and in bringing perpetrators of violent crime to justice" - the Prime Minister said. The Prime Minister was briefed immediately on his return yesterday by the Commissioner of Police…

“Our successes against the threat that we continue to face require an unrelenting focus and commitment on all our parts.” -- Prime Minister Holness ________ Prime Minister Andrew Holness says security is one of the greatest challenges affecting the lives of people and the development prospects of individual states across the Caribbean. Speaking on Wednesday (June 7, 2023) at the Caribbean National Security Conference (CANSEC) 2023, the Prime Minister also said a key ingredient in strengthening regional security is enhanced cooperation among the states in the region: “Our successes against the threat that we continue to face require an unrelenting focus and commitment on all our parts. It also requires consistent evaluation and analysis to ensure the effectiveness of our efforts, as well as the willingness to correct force when we assess that the measures, we implement are not bearing fruit. It also requires a regular forum for a meeting of the professional minds so that we can best determine what additional measures may be required to strengthen our efforts from a regional perspective.” In this regard, the unwavering commitment of the security forces remains the most important element in the fight against crime and violence in the region. Concerning the…

  Listing of the reshuffled Cabinet

 REMARKS BY THE MOST HON. ANDREW HOLNESS, O.N., PC., MP PRIME MINISTER OF JAMAICA   “Transnational Organised Crime: Challenges with Small Arms and Light Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean” on  APRIL 17, 2023   REGIONAL SYMPOSIUM TO ADDRESS CRIME & VIOLENCE AS A PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUE, TRINIDAD & TOBAGO     Honourable Philip Davis, Prime Minister of The Bahamas The Honourable Keith Rowley, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Other CARICOM Heads and representatives of Community Institutions Ladies and gentlemen Let me express sincere appreciation and gratitude to the Government of Trinidad & Tobago, the CARICOM Secretariat, and the other regional institutions including CARPHA and IMPACS, for coordinating this meeting. Colleagues, we live in a high violence region. If we use murder rates as an index for violence, the Latin American and Caribbean region would be approximately 15 murders per 100,000 of population while the world average is approximately 6 per 100,000. For the Caribbean, this runs counter to our global image as a zone of peace. In the last 3 decades, the Caricom region has seen an increase in crimes, and in particular, the use of fatal violence. Violence generally in social interactions, and violence in crime…

The leaders of Jamaica's two main political parties, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the People’s National Party (PNP), Prime Minister Andrew Holness, ON, PC, MP and Mark Golding, MP, respectively, participated in the Vale Royal Talks on February 19, 2023. This meeting, facilitated by the Jamaica Umbrella Group of Churches, centered on the important issues of National Security and Constitutional Reform. The discussions lasted for three hours. In his opening statement, Leader of the Jamaica Labour Party, Prime Minister Andrew Holness expressed optimism that the talks will foster greater consensus on challenging national issues. He noted that the previous discussions were successful in achieving some understanding of critical national matters. Pledging to ensure the continuation of these talks the Prime Minister said, “We may not always be able to address these critical issues and ventilate them properly in Parliament, but we can ventilate them here at the political level. These talks have now become a part of Jamaica’s democratic institutional tradition and they have been very useful for the political parties to find space which is created for discussions under the Chatham House rules. It contributes positively to the building of a modern positive political culture and gives us a…

Gazetted Emergency Powers (Parishes of St Ann and Clarendon and Specified Areas of the Parishes of Kingston and St. Andrew) Regulations February 15, 2023

Gazetted Proclamation State of Public Emergency Parishes of St Ann and Clarendon and Specified Areas in KSA February 15, 2023

Rocky Meade CD, JP, PhD, has been appointed by the Governor General, on the advice of the Prime Minister, as Ambassador Plenipotentiary with responsibility for National Strategic Initiatives for Jamaica, effective February 13, 2023. In this role, he will advise the Prime Minister (and Cabinet when necessary) on, as well as co-ordinate, National Strategic Initiatives and Projects across Ministries, Departments and Agencies within Government with a view to ensuring their timely and effective implementation. These include existing and new initiatives that will have a positive long-term impact on the country's development. Ambassador Meade has nearly four decades of leadership experience and has led various significant initiatives with impact at the organizational, national, and international levels. These include the Jamaica National Service Corps, the expansion and regionalization of the JDF, the expansion and improvement of Caribbean regional disaster response capabilities, and the Caribbean Military Academy, which has students from over thirty (30) countries across five continents. He holds a PhD from the University of Amsterdam, a Master of Military Arts & Science degree from the US Army Command and General Staff College, and Master and Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of the West Indies. He has also earned several…

With intense work underway to ensure the parish of St. Thomas has quality road infrastructure that will last, Prime Minister Andrew Holness is empathising with residents who have been inconvenienced or otherwise impacted and is urging patience throughout the remainder of the project as the government works to bring this leg of the Southern Coastal Highway Improvement Project (SCHIP) to completion. The Prime Minister says delivering the best roads for residents will take just a little more time. He said, “I understand the complaints and the dislocation, but we have to start thinking long-term and appreciate that now is a different time. So, we have to build our infrastructure for it to be resilient against the impact of climate change.” Construction on the SCHIP began in January 2017 and is being executed in three parts, with the St. Thomas leg forming two of the three parts. Recent updates from the National Works Agency (NWA) indicate that the first tranche, which includes Morant Bay, Long Road and two roads from Cedar Valley to Portland, will be completed by summer of this year (2023). The Harbour View to Yallahs road, which falls under the second part of the project, is also projected to be completed this summer. Concerning this, Prime Minister Holness underlined resilience as a leading factor behind the extension of the roadworks. The Prime Minister is therefore urging patience by residents and affected commuters as the Government makes the extra investments needed to ensure critical nation-building infrastructure like the SCHIP can withstand disasters and last for generations to come. In this regard, the Prime Minister said, “It has to take a little bit…