Speeches by the Prime Minister

Remarks by Dr the Honourable Andrew Holness ON, PC, MP Prime Minister of Jamaica at the USS Nimitz Reception on June 2, 2026 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Thank you, master of ceremony. Let me thank our hosts, Rear Admiral Cassidy Norman and Commanding Officer Joseph Furco, and other members of the command team of the USS Nimitz. The Leader of the Opposition, Members of my Cabinet, Chargé d'Affaires Scott Renner, Members of the Diplomatic Corps, Other specially invited guests, All friends, this is a good evening. It is a pleasure to be with you this evening aboard the USS Nimitz here in Kingston Harbour. Indeed, I dare say that this may be the first time that a Jamaican prime minister has stood onboard a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier docked in Kingston Harbour, but I could easily say I believe it's the first time a prime minister of Jamaica has stood on a aircraft carrier anywhere. On behalf of the Government and people of Jamaica, I welcome Rear Admiral Norman, Captain Furco, and the men and women of the USS Nimitz to Jamaica. Every Jamaican knows that Kingston Harbour is the seventh largest natural harbour in the world. Some of us may have doubted whether…

Keynote Address by The Most Honourable Andrew Holness ON, PC, MP Prime Minister of Jamaica at the Ministry of Labour and Social Security Dedication & Naming Ceremony The Portia Simpson Miller Building on May 26, 2026 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Thank you, Auntie Fae. Leader of the Opposition, Distinguished ladies and gentlemen in the audience and listening to us through the various media. Today we gather in a spirit of respect, remembrance, and national gratitude to honour the life and service of a former Prime Minister, the Most Honourable Portia Lucretia Simpson-Miller. We are here to honour a Jamaican whose public life has been defined by perseverance, compassion, courage, and deep connection to the Jamaican people. The Ministry of Labour and Social Security occupies a special place in the life of our country. The ministry stands at the point where work, dignity, protection, and opportunity meet. It deals with the worker seeking fair treatment. It deals with family in need of support. It deals with the pensioner who depends on the assurance that the state will not forget them. It deals with the employer, the trade union, the vulnerable citizen, the person with disability, the seasonal worker, the injured worker, and the Jamaican who simply…

My fellow Jamaicans, Labour Day calls on us to do a simple yet powerful act: to step forward in service to our country, our communities, and one another. It reminds us that nation-building is not solely the work of Government, nor only of those formally entrusted with leadership. It is the responsibility of every citizen. Through the work of our hands, the discipline of our minds, and the generosity of our hearts, we build Jamaica. This year, that call carries special urgency. Hurricane Melissa left deep scars across our nation. While many communities, businesses, and families have recovered to varying degrees, there are still households without proper shelter, social amenities, and stable livelihoods. To those Jamaicans still struggling, I want you to know this: you are not forgotten. Your Government has already committed more than $67 billion towards relief and recovery efforts. Of that amount, $10 billion has been allocated to the ROOFS Programme to support assessed households with grants to restore damaged roofs and undertake essential home repairs. Schools and households are being repaired. We supported JPS through a strategic loan to accelerate the restoration of electricity islandwide. We executed one of the largest debris removal operations in our history across the affected…

Remarks by Dr the Honourable Andrew Holness ON, PC, MP Prime Minister of Jamaica at the Sitting of the House of Representatives Sectoral Debate on May 19, 2026 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  I think it is necessary, Mr Speaker, that I make a brief intervention on this matter. The Minister of Finance would have explained, and it is indeed in her script, that she said we reluctantly seek to extend, because I think for every Jamaican who treasures the NHT and wants to see the NHT fully maintain its statutory mission, that to use NHT funds for anything other than building housing would be of grave concern. And so I want it to be clear for the record that the government is not doing this by virtue of being in any way profligate, in being in any way ignoring the statutory mandate of the NHT or is just doing this because it has the authority to do it. The Minister of Finance explained that this extension was necessary because of the damage that was done by Hurricane Melissa; significant damage, over US$11 billion of damage, more than 50% of our GDP. The opposition argues as if the damage has no fiscal impact, that…

Keynote Address by Dr the Honourable Andrew Holness ON, PC, MP Prime Minister of Jamaica at the Land Administration Capacity Enhancement Project Inception Ceremony on May 12, 2026 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   Ministers Montague and Johnson Smith, Permanent Secretaries, The Korean delegation, Excellencies of the Diplomatic Corps who may be here with us. There are many Jamaicans alive today who have worked the same piece of land, some for more than 50 years, built a home on the land, farmed the land, raised family on the land, and who still cannot provide proof on paper that the land belongs to them. That gap between possession and title is not a bureaucratic inconvenience only, it is a barrier to finance, to security, to inheritance, and to the formal economy. There's a way to write your speeches so that the positive point stimulates the clap. This was written in the negative, but you understood the positive point, that giving title to land, giving formal access improves the economy, and that's the positive point. Land Administration Capacity Enhancement Project is about to change that. Through a partnership with the Government of Jamaica and the Korea International Cooperation Agency, we are strengthening the institutional skills, systems,…

Closing Address by Dr the Most Honourable Andrew Holness ON, PC, MP Prime Minister of Jamaica at the Digital Financial Inclusion and Transformation in Jamaica Launch of the World Bank Report on April 23, 2026 __________________________________________________________________   Ambassador the Honourable Audrey Marks, Minister of Efficiency, Innovation, and Digital Transformation; that's a huge title. We place great importance on what you do, and that we have carved out a section of the government to address this shows the seriousness of the government in these matters. I'm not seeing Minister Williams. Minister Williams should be here, and I don't see the financial secretary here. Well, in their place, let me acknowledge Minister Hill and other members of the government and permanent secretaries who may be here. Mr Harish Natarajan, Practice Manager, Financial Inclusion and Infrastructure, Finance, Competitiveness and Innovation (FCI), World Bank and other members of the World Bank team. Harish, I like your title, Practice Manager; that's the proper term. I've never heard it before, but I like it. I think I will adopt it. Dr Wayne Robertson, Senior Deputy Governor of the Bank of Jamaica, Representatives of public and private sector bodies, Representatives of the media, Ladies and gentlemen, it…

Greetings by Dr the Most Honourable Andrew Holness ON, PC, MP Prime Minister of Jamaica at the NHT’s 50th Anniversary Church Service Webster Memorial United Church on April 19, 2026 ______________________________________________________________   Good morning, church. Pardon me while I get my sermon in order. This is a kind of audience that inspires you to preach because I know you will listen, and you all look so well. Thank you for coming out and supporting the NHT. Allow me to do the formalities. I salute General Astor Carlyle. Forgive me, Reverend, but you know he has another capacity. Reverend Astor Carlyle, Senior Minister of the Webster Memorial United Church, My friend, Senator Professor Floyd Morris, representing the Leader of the Opposition and Mrs Morris, Mr Linval Freeman, Chairman. And I see the past chairman here and other members of the board of the National Housing Trust, Mr Martin Miller, Managing Director and members of the executive and broader NHT family. Thank you for your service. Members of the Webster Memorial United Church and other specially invited congregants, Members of the media, Jamaicans listening here at home and in the diaspora, it is a wonderful morning in Jamaica. Today, we gather in…

Acceptance Speech by Dr the Most Honourable Andrew Holness ON, PC, MP Prime Minister of Jamaica at the American Foundation for the University of the West Indies Legacy Award on April 17, 2026 ____________________________________________   Thank you, Chancellor, Vice Chancellor and Chairman, for this distinct honour. It is indeed a privilege. Before I begin my 20-minute presentation, let me congratulate my fellow honorees this evening. The journeys and the stories are indeed worthy of the recognition and the awards that you have received tonight. Importantly, they have not been about your own successes, but what you have contributed to the success of others. Now, let me say it is always to be carefully considered when awards are offered to serving politicians, because they may send the wrong signals. They may send the signal of mission accomplished, or now the end is near. Let me hasten to dispel any such view. I accept the award not as the completion of a mission, as we view legacy. I accept the award as recognition of hard work in progress, for which there are tangible results for people to see and identify. So, if there are those who are of the view that this…

Remarks by Dr the Most Honourable Andrew Holness ON, PC, MP Prime Minister of Jamaica at the NYU Stern School of Business Lecture on April 17, 2026 _______________________________________________________ Thank you for the invitation to address you this morning. It was such a great pleasure to meet your dean and Professor Statler. I'm looking forward to the conversation. I'm told that we are going to be talking about Jamaica's fiscal journey and exploring some of the experiences that Jamaica has had over the last decade in securing our fiscal future. Now, I want to begin by giving some context. Ten years ago, Jamaica was one of the most indebted countries in the world, moving from a national debt-to-GDP ratio of somewhere in the region of about 140% to today, just before Hurricane Melissa, we were almost cracking the 60% floor, so we have literally cut our debt in half, and for Jamaica, that is a significant achievement. In a sense, you could say that Jamaica's experience could be considered a laboratory for other small developing countries that struggle with debt management, but our fiscal success is not merely about Jamaica being able to balance its books. It's not only about being…