Olympic Way Community Cultural Centre | Site Handover & Groundbreaking
Keynote Address
By
Dr the Most Honourable Andrew Holness ON, PC, MP
Prime Minister of Jamaica
At the
Olympic Way Community Cultural Centre
Site Handover & Groundbreaking
On
November 4, 2024
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Firstly, let me acknowledge that the protocols have been established and the protocol officers here have explained to all the participants that they need not repeat the protocols. I start here because Jamaica is a country of ceremony. We stand on ceremony. Nothing is wrong with that, ceremonies are important. It is important that we have an exercise to inform the community of what we are doing. It is more than just sending out a memo, an email, a text message. It’s about gathering the people together and giving an explanation so it is the marking of a milestone by bringing people together, but we shouldn’t spend too much time in ceremony.
If you were to check up the number of hours that ministers spend seated in ceremony, you wonder where they get time to actually do work so I’ve actually given a directive to the Cabinet Secretary that we must review our protocols for ceremony to ensure that our productive people are not spending too much time sitting down in hours long ceremony and not getting the business of the nation done. Even in some of the things we do in going through long salutations, it’s not necessary. Once the protocol is established you acknowledge myself, of course, and move on. So, yes, as part of Jamaica’s pivot to efficiency, that directive has been given. We will review and reform our entire protocol system to reflect the efficiency whilst maintaining the dignity of the government.
Today we are here to launch the construction signing of the contract. I don’t know if you call it a groundbreaking ceremony as well, but to launch the construction of a cultural centre for the entire Olympic Gardens area. To my right, your left my right or rather behind you is a building that I constructed maybe 15 or so years ago, the Olympic Gardens Civic Centre. Now, that building was constructed when Olympic Gardens had no civic facility, no meeting place. It was designed to house some of the activities that will be housed in the cultural centre.
In fact, the idea and driving force behind the construction of a civic facility was because Jamaica had produced a very good boxer, some of you might remember Mike McCallum and his coach. His coach came from this area, a man by the name of Mr Taft aka Mr Teelie who used to live down in that lane. And when I just became Member of Parliament, Mr Taft would always come to me and say, this community has incredible talent in boxing but we are just not harnessing that talent because we have no facilities so inspired by that, we built the Olympic Garden Civic Centre only to be confronted with the fact that the Civic Centre, at one point, housed the marching band, several churches, HEART took it over for training, it housed my office; all kinds of things there and other people telling me other activities that go on in the centre.
The centre became so used, it could not accommodate a gym, a boxing ring, and other such activities. At one point in time, I wanted to put in some martial arts training, chess, it just could not accommodate. We have always had the idea for more than 20 years now to have a cultural sporting centre dedicated just for that whilst the other civic functions, the hosting of church services and other ceremonies would take place in the civic centre.
This piece of land that we stand on here, you will notice it has a civic centre, but you are on a paved court. And as you look under foot, you will see that the surface has deteriorated. This was done as a netball court and a basketball court, this was done almost 10 years ago and so the asphalt, which was used, that has just deteriorated. Not terribly, still functional, still can be used, but it needs to be resurfaced. I’m saying that in the earing of the CHASE Fund and other entities that are here because yes, I will be approaching for assistance in resurfacing the court, but it is in generally good order, lights are in place.
To my left is the playground. Probably the only playground, maybe one of two like that in Jamaica and that was, again, built more than ten years ago. It is heavily used during the Christmas season and it is in need of some repair and we intend to whilst we are building the new cultural centre, which will be in proximity to the play area, we will be spending some resources to repair and refit some of the slides and the swings and so forth to make that play area into what it was 10 years ago.
It is also my intention to still retain a little football area, a scrimmage field in as much as we can because the truth is that our young men though they play on this area, it’s very difficult to play on it because it is a dust bowl. And in today’s world, the scrimmage fields are usually either AstroTurf or paved in some way so once we do the centre, then we’re going to look to create a paved scrimmage field so that our youngsters not only have here because the truth is, this is where they play football most times now so the netball and the basketball is competing with the scrimmage football because of the paved surface. We will have a paved surface for the football so this entire area will become effectively the community sports centre and civic centre, that’s the plan for the entire year.
There are some other things happening in the community. In a couple of days, we will be turning over the homes that we have built in St Paul’s lanes to the beneficiaries, and we will very shortly break ground for the Golden Age home. There are many elderly persons in our constituency that they just don’t have anywhere to live. It is just the kindness of community care, people who say let me look out for Ms Mama, that they have food to eat and somewhere to live. I have seen many of them come to me from time to time, the situation is deplorable, so it is our intention to build a 20-room golden age home that for the elderly who don’t have anywhere to live or anyone to take care of them.
When we build this centre, we will ensure that there is a budget for its operation. Now I’ve toured many of the centres that have been built by CHASE and other areas, and I know the struggles we have had with this centre and with others, that there is no operating budget, so the electricity bill becomes a major problem. The water bill becomes a major problem. Many times, I’ve had to go to JPS to plead with them to forgive and write off.
Now, let’s be clear, there is a place for social water and electricity. Clearly, if this building is to serve the community, there must be some provision in the national budget to ensure that it can be operated. The problem has always been how it is controlled so we have from time to time made provisions for the operations of these entities, but the challenge has always been how it is controlled. Sometimes the entire community benefits from the water and the electricity so it becomes very difficult so I’m going to say to the CHASE Fund that once this is constructed, there now exist feasible technology that can provide reliable off grid electricity so you need to ensure that the building can run off solar for its basic provision of lighting and other functions.
I’m not proposing air conditioning and all of that but certainly security lighting. It is something that we have to consider because the lights here which are used for the night games are not all fully solar and so when we do this facility, I want us to consider when it is completed that we implement an off grid solar system still tied to the grid, but will be able to supply the electricity needs so that the considerations for Operational Expenditures do not become prohibited.
Generally, for the constituency, you would have seen that we have started the repair of Olympic Way and I know there have been many complaints about the condition of Olympic Way, as many other roads in Jamaica and I can understand when you drive on the road and you hit a tyre in one of the potholes, all you are concerned about is to get that pothole fixed and I’m totally understanding, sympathetic, and indeed that is the intention. The challenge, however, is that we could fix that pothole today, and there comes an unexpected show of rain and it’s gone and then we have to fix it again.
So, we have been watching the weather very carefully trying to see when we will have an opening to mobilize, to fix some of the roads. As you can see, we have started but those of you who would observe, you would notice that they started and then they have to stop. Hopefully they are working now, but if it begins to rain, they will have to stop. So, again, I’m not asking for patience or not complaining; I understand, but we need to be mindful of the period in which we are. It’s a different period. I can’t recall when we have had so many days of rain starting from hurricane Beryl right up till now, there’s no break. It is not an excuse by no means, but it is something that we need to be mindful of. I’ve given certain directives which I will explain further tomorrow which hopefully we could see full mobilization towards repairing some of these very treacherous potholes that are emerging.
But for Olympic Way, I want to pick up on something the deputy mayor pointed out, that Olympic Way is a stretch of road within the general communities of Seivwright Gardens, Olympic Gardens, and Molynes Gardens. It has some of the nation’s prime housing stock in terms of its proximity to the centre of business and if the right infrastructure is put in place, you could see rapid investments in improving the housing stock.
Now, I have been a member of parliament here for 27 years so I can tell you that I have seen both the rapid improvement in housing stock and also rapid decline in some houses. I mean, as I look across there, I can see houses that have just popped up, people are investing, but right beside it are houses that are deteriorating persons, not investing. I don’t want the country to feel, even though Olympic Gardens and communities like Olympic Gardens have been described as areas that are inner city and suffer from high crime, it belies the truth of these communities, which is that the people in the community and even persons from outside the community are investing in their communities and what the government policy should be is to make it possible for more people to be able to take an interest and invest in the community.
For example, Olympic Way is going to be the beneficiary of a sewer project. We’re going to lay a sewer line from the top of Olympic Way to connect to the sewer in the three miles area. This is necessary to be done to relieve the problem that exists in Bay Farm Villa where they constantly have sewage being backed up in Olympic Court where they too also have a sewage problem in the Compound area and other areas that are tied into the current sewer. Now, once that is in place, all the properties along Olympic Way and the roads leading off come into play for development because persons now would find it feasible to put up affordable housing in these areas and that is what we need. We need to unlock these communities, the land and the value of the real estate here so that people can come in and make investments for affordable housing.
The deputy may have mentioned that rent in these areas are affordable. One of the challenges we are facing is that even with, and I crave your indulgence for a few more minutes, even with the new highways that we have built, there is still significant traffic coming into Kingston in the day coming from Portmore, coming from Spanish Town and further so the strategy of the government is not just about building new roads, new roads don’t solve traffic. They may make commuting easier, but it doesn’t solve the traffic issue. You have to take a strategic approach as to where are you going to get people to live in proximity to where they work.
And what has happened to us is that the properties that are in proximity to where people work, nobody wants to necessarily invest and live there so we have to reverse that and get people to start to invest and want to live closer to where they work. We have to literally invest in communities like Olympic Gardens and regenerate them, not to displace the people who live there but to give the people who live there, value in the property that they hold. And so, strategies such as putting in sewers in strategic communities is going to elevate the property value, bring interest into your area and bring all kinds of innovative housing solutions into Olympic gardens.
Now, all of that depends on one critical factor, crime. That’s what it comes down to, crime. And I say to the people who are gathered here, this year has been relatively peaceful. We give God thanks for that. Not by accident, but careful work, early intervention, strategic policing to keep the area quiet. We still have a murder rate that is unacceptable, but I use this opportunity to make an appeal to all of you who are here, even though from my view of the audience, the people who should hear it are not here, but maybe you can relate to them that you, the criminal, you are making it bad for yourself and every other law-abiding citizen in this area.
For a moment, clear your mind of your current situation and transport yourself into a future where there is no violence in this community and just imagine what the community would look like just for a moment. That vision of the community can materialize if each and every one of us decided that we are going to act in a way that is supportive of peace. There are some people who benefit from this reality. They get to control space. They get to call your daughter when they’re ready. They get to do extortion, but who benefits? It’s not you, it’s the criminal but for too long in our society we have had this view that somehow the criminal is Robinhood, that they are going to steal money from the rich and come and give it to you.
That’s not what they do, they steal money from you, they are robbing your neighbourhood of its prosperity; that is what they are doing and so I cringe when I hear people who should know better talk in favour of criminals when the government deals with them. Somehow there seems to be no sympathy for the victims. It’s as if the people who have been killed have no rights, nobody speaks out for them. We must change that in our society, and we must be definitive unequivocal in supporting the government when it deals with the criminals.
We have been having some successes in reducing the murder rates and that is as a result of significant investments that have been made in the police force, in the JDF and in the national security apparatus. You notice that as soon as a crime is committed, it’s not going to pass two weeks before we find the perpetrator, that is because we have invested in intelligence and improved investigative capabilities. It is going to take some time for the criminals to get the message that if you commit a crime, you will be found. That message is getting out there but each time that the government acts and somebody jumps up and defends the criminals, it empowers the criminals, it emboldens the criminals so we can’t be seen as a country that defends criminals. Criminals must be dealt with.
The administration is at the point now where we’re going to also pivot on our security posture. We have invested heavily in the security forces, and you can see it, not a perfect force yet. I still want them to have greater courtesy and respect when they are dealing with the citizens. I want them to have a better understanding as to how they use force, and I want them to think a little bit more strategically, but they are on their way. The changes are on their way. Now the pivot has to be to deal with the gangs, the gangs that capture the community. We need legislation and we need the force of law that is targeted at those people.
You have a voters list in Olympic Gardens of over 30,000 people. How many of them you think are criminals? Answer me. Give me a number. How many you think of them are involved in murder? I can tell you that it is not more than 20. You have some ‘jingbang’ that follow around them, that when they’re gone, the ‘jingbangs’ runaway but the real hardcore criminal, not more than 20. And if you were able to target those 20, it would release the 30,000 people who are suffering under them, captured by them, destroying the community; that is it.
We have built out the strategic direction for national security. We have invested in the police force, and we are continuing to invest in them to ensure that they serve you properly. Now the time is to focus on those gangs, the core of the gangs; target them because the truth is more than 80 percent of our murders are gang related. If you get rid of the gang, your murder rate drops all the way down, but I tell you, that as I speak here and I observe some of the faces, there are a lot of people who feel we need the gang for protection. Who is going to protect the community if we get rid of the gang, but my brother is in the gang, I’m associated too; well, take away yourself. Separate yourself from them and whatever mechanism, law and strategy we put in place, we will always give the opportunity for those people who by virtue of their social circumstances are caught up with the gang to extricate themselves from the gang.
Who we are interested in are the masterminds, the people who pull the trigger; those are the ones that we want. A little youngster who gets caught up; you can be reformed. We can make investment in you to divert you from the gang pathway but those hardened ones, they must face the full consequence of the law. So, when I talk about these things, I don’t talk about it from the textbook. Many of you know I’ve been here for a long time, so I know it because I live it. I have the experience with it. I know it and I’m giving you the solutions that will work. Don’t follow those people who get paid to talk for criminals. Don’t follow them. The society must develop an unambiguous, definitive… the society must be clear we do not support the gangsters, get rid of them.
So, as we look forward in the next nine months for the completion of this lovely facility which will host, and I’m making it here as a commitment, that when it is being opened, there will be a boxing match. I’m going to start the arrangements, get in touch with the relevant persons in the Boxing Association. We’re going to start looking for our boxers, so I’ll put a programme in place, start some training, identify a boxing ring, and at the opening you will have a boxing match. We will start to bring our young men and women into this very profitable sport, very lucrative sport.
In terms of the existing civic centre, it is already used quite often for training. We are going to now focus on a different kind of training which is in what we call STEM, (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). We’re going to start some classes in computer sciences, particularly in coding so I want to turn this into the science and technology centre for this area so that our young people can find work in a viable field.
When I speak here, I don’t say constituents, I say my family members because that’s what it comes down to. So, my family, thank you very much for listening. One more commitment that was made years ago fulfilled. We have the police station. We have the Golden Age home. We have what we have done there in St Paul’s Lane in terms of housing. The next housing intervention will be in Lime Tree Lane, where we will do a similar thing to what we have done there. Now you’re getting your cultural centre. We’re going to put in the sewer line along Olympic Way and there are a few other small projects that you will see come to fruition in the next few months.
God bless you and thank you.