So, in 2024, my administration will focus on reducing violence, building our socio-emotional intelligence and human capital, strengthening our families, and promoting peace in our land.

Roads and Traffic
Last year, road conditions, traffic, and public order featured as a pain point for the commuting public; this despite the record number of roads being repaired and highways being built.

We opened the May Pen to Williamsfield leg of the East-West Highway, and many Jamaicans were able to experience the convenience of the well-built road without charge. I am sure you are happy to know that the period to use the road toll free will be extended to March 31, 2024. You will also be happy to know that plans are already in place to extend this highway to bypass Spur Tree. And work is already underway on the Montego Bay Perimeter Road which will transform road and traffic conditions in the western section of the island.

Early this year, we will open the dualized highway from Harbour View heading to Morant Bay along with several segments heading to Port Antonio. We will begin work on Grange Lane in Portmore, along with a new entrance to Portmore, which will ease traffic conditions on the Mandela Highway. We will begin work to widen the bridge on Washington Boulevard and work is far advanced on improvements to Tom Redcam Road and Lady Musgrave Road in Kingston.

You may have noticed that we are laying conduits and fibre optic cables to create a high-speed network, Govnet, which is the backbone on which smart technology can be deployed. As a result, you will begin to see more cameras both for law enforcement under Jamaica Eye and for traffic management. The new Road Traffic Act and the electronic ticketing system will begin to have a significant effect on improving behaviour on our roadways.

There has not been a comprehensive and sustained programme of road repairs and maintenance, possibly since the 1960s.

Of the approximately 22,000 km of roadways in Jamaica, about 50% are in less than suitable driving condition or in need of total rehabilitation. Obviously, we cannot repair and rehabilitate 11,000 km of road in a year, but we must begin to address this decades’ long neglect.

In 2024, your government will begin a direct focus on repairing local and community roads through a JA$20 billion budget allocation. You will have a say in which roads should be repaired first from this allocation and your elected representatives will be tasked to hold community consultations.

More from Tourism 2024
Jamaica’s tourism industry continues to be a powerful catalyst for social and economic transformation of the lives of the Jamaican people and local businesses. The interconnected web of the tourism value chain has great potential for wider and deeper integration into the economy.

Already, the Agri-Linkages Exchange (ALEX) platform, a collaborative initiative between the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) and the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), has generated over $1 billion in sales by small farmers to local hotels and restaurants. I have tasked the Minister of Tourism and the Minister of Industry, Investment, and Commerce to increase structured linkages efforts with a view to doubling the locally-sourced content in the Tourism industry.

Tourism has always been a major employer of labour, and historically, we have built hotel rooms, but no planned housing and accommodations for the workers in the industry. We are now seeing the limiting impact of unplanned developments on the tourism product. In 2024, we will launch a national policy to build homes for tourism workers in partnership with the hotels.  The Ministry of Tourism has already entered into partnerships with the Housing Agency of Jamaica, the National Housing Trust and private housing developers for units in Rhyne Park Estate and Grange Pen, St. James, to be acquired by our hard-working tourism workers.

We also welcome the pledge by four major international hotel investor groups, including RCD Hotels, Bahia Principe and Princess Resorts, who combined, have committed to constructing over 2,000 residential units for industry employees. As our Tourism industry expands, we must ensure that the people get more of the benefits and that we take a longer and more sustainable view of the projects. We will not only build hotels, but we will build the community around them.

Healthcare
The challenges to repair the Cornwall Regional Hospital tell the story of Jamaican infrastructure. The Cornwall Regional Hospital was built over 50 years ago, but did not undergo any major maintenance programme since this Administration decided to rehabilitate the building to extend its useful life. The facility is now close to completion and will significantly improve healthcare in the northwestern region of Jamaica, particularly when the adjoining Western Children and Adolescents Hospital is complete.

This year we will break ground for the major expansion and refurbishing of the Spanish Town Hospital. We will also go to procurement to build the most advanced primary care clinics in Portmore and Old Harbour. We have started the digitization of our health information systems and the May Pen Hospital will be the first facility to go live on this digital health information system.

All ministries, departments and agencies of your government have transformational projects, in development, currently being executed or about to be implemented. I can only mention a few of these projects here, but permit me to also mention that early this year, we will break ground for the Resilience Park in Portmore. This will be a major investment in recreational and urban environmental public space, equivalent to Emancipation Park in Kingston and Harmony Park in Montego Bay.

The Economy
We have been able to undertake these transformational projects and recover strongly from the Pandemic, because we have been good stewards of the economy. Our economy has recorded:

This year the focus will be on increasing productivity. All Jamaica must produce more in 2024. We will seek to gain greater efficiencies in service delivery and output through greater integration of technology and business process engineering in the public service. Performance management must become the mantra for all Jamaica as this is how we will sustain our economic growth.

I urge Jamaicans not to undervalue the importance of a strongly performing economy. There are those who will seek to create social strife and divide the country by promoting the false idea that economic growth and development benefit only some persons, social class or region. As we face a New Year with new opportunities and decisions, let us reflect on the fact that, when our economy was underperforming we could not fix our roads, hospitals, water supply, or pay our public sector workers close to market wages as we have done under the Compensation Review.

I am a student of history, and I am very sensitive to the historic injustices and inequalities of our society. I understand the long struggle of the poor and dispossessed and the unfulfilled promises which have jaded our outlook. The government I lead is committed to ensuring that the benefits of a growing economy reach the people in a fair and just way.

We believe in prosperity for all.