Speeches by the Prime Minister

Keynote Address By The Most Honourable Andrew Holness ON, PC, MP Prime Minister of Jamaica At the Official Opening of the Portmore Resilience Park (Beginnings of an Oasis for Portmore), Portmore Roundabout On January 17, 2024 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you so much. Happy New Year, everyone. Let us all pledge to do more in 2024.  Thank you very much, Madam Master of Ceremony, for your masterful handling of the proceedings so far. Let me thank my good friend, Delford, for the prayers that you prayed for us. Let me acknowledge quite an extensive list of dignitaries.  I am told that in ceremonies like these, I should not merely adopt the protocol, but I should recognize all the nice and decent people gathered here today. But allow me to say welcome to my Cabinet ministers who are here, Minister Kamina Johnson Smith. This matter is so important it could be treated as a matter of foreign affairs. Welcome minister. And we have Minister Matthew Samuda here with us, Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation with responsibility for climate change and water. We have Minister of State, Alando Terrelonge, who is here not because he's a minister,…

Statement By The Most Honourable Andrew Holness ON, PC, MP Prime Minister of Jamaica And Kerensia Morrison, Member of Parliament On the St Catherine Northeastern Road Repairs January 18, 2024 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Kerensia Morrison, Member of Parliament: So, Prime Minister, we are on Moreland Road in Guy's Hill and of course, I need no introduction, Kerensia Morrison, Member of Parliament, and I believe that you will be happy to know that it shall remain so for quite a while because the people of Moreland they are very happy. This terrain, Prime Minister, was not done in over 30 years. Certainly, one of the worst parts of the network that we had here in Northeastern St. Catherine.  The value, or the estimated value, of getting it done would have been over 16 million dollars.  Now, under those 40 million dollars allocated to all Members of Parliament, we have done a significant portion of it. We're looking forward to continuing part two but for what it has brought to the people of Moreland, relief. And why this area is particularly significant is that it connects to Riversdale so in the event that anything goes wrong on the major thoroughfare of the Guy's Hill main…

Remarks By The Most Honourable Andrew Holness ON, PC, MP Prime Minister of Jamaica At the Tour of Hopewell Market On January 19, 2024 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now, this is a relatively small market space, but it comfortably fits 30 persons including people who sell haberdashery goods, that's amazing.  Now, one of our areas of focus as a government is to improve what we call urban townships andparticularly looking at urban townships in rural areas.  Now, Hopewell is one such urban township in not so much rural area, but it is considered to be a rural area. The problem with Hopewell is that, again, it was an unplanned town. It just sprung up  and it is a one town road,  which happens to be the main road that connects the rest of the island to Negril if you're coming from St James and it creates a really a serious blockage and it is a hindrance actually to the tourism industry  because of the delays that it causes between the airport and trying to get to the resorts in Negril and in Hanover.   But aside from that, when I drive through the town, I note the inconvenience of just general commuters because it's…

Remarks By The Most Honourable Andrew Holness ON, PC, MP Prime Minister of Jamaica At the Handover of Indigent Homes, Chambers Pen, Hanover On January 19, 2024 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I don't recall that I have visited Chambers Pen before,  because I generally have very good  recollection of the places I visited in Jamaica and as I look on the map of Jamaica,  and I start to tick off the various communities and places, I believe I've covered close to 60 percent of Jamaica in terms of actually visiting places, districts, and so forth so this is one more place that I have never been to that I have been to. And as your prime minister, it is not only for me to sit at my desk and administer your affairs from Kingston, it is important that I come amongst you, in your community, come to your house even so that I can understand better the challenges that you face locally.  And as I drove on the roads to get here, I know why some persons are upset. I understand. I was in the market today, and a lady who is a returning resident and several other persons who reside here engaged…

Keynote Address By The Most Honourable Andrew Holness ON, PC, MP Prime Minister of Jamaica At the Spanish Town Hospital Groundbreaking Ceremony On January 16, 2024 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Good morning, everyone. We're still in the part of the month which we could consider new.  I suspect that after tomorrow we will dispense with any new year wishes but I would take the opportunity to wish for everyone here health, I’m not afraid of wealth, peace, productivity, and prosperity. How does that sound for 2024? Indeed, the theme and focus of my government, which serves you, the main lines of effort will be to focus on increasing our productivity and increasing peace in our country.  If we focus on those two things, productivity and peace, then prosperity becomes an even greater reality.  In fact, if we focus on this line of effort, we will create what we call a virtuous cycle. More productivity creates more peace. Productivity and peace create more prosperity. More prosperity creates more productivity and more peace.  Two things again create more prosperity, and more prosperity creates more peace and more productivity. Let us all bend our minds to this focus; productivity and peace will create prosperity, a self-reinforcing…

Remarks By The Most Honourable Andrew Holness, ON, PC, MP Prime Minister of Jamaica At Manchester High School On January 12, 2024 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you, Principal Gabriel.  Let me say how happy I am to be here with you today, to be able to share with you today.  Now, I know that there is a little bit of rain coming, so I will be quick. I want to tell you that there are two important things that I want to tell you today.  The first thing is that you are the first generation of Jamaicans that in the last 50 years will be living in an economy that is growing.  That means that the probability of you graduating from high school and getting a job in Jamaica is greater than 90 percent. All of you here have a greater than 90 percent chance of leaving school with all your certification and getting a job.  That's a different Jamaica that you will inherit than the Jamaica that existed for over 50 years ago. It means that you have to prepare for that Jamaica, but it is also a Jamaica where, when you inherit it, you will have to deal with violence.…

God has given us the opportunity to see the sun rise on a New Year. Let us rejoice with gratitude and embrace the 2024 canvas of possibilities; to paint new and better pictures for our future with vibrant colors of our Jamaican creativity, dreams, and aspirations, or complete the masterpieces we have started with optimism and determination. Building Peace We will continue to build out our plan to sustainably secure Jamaica.  The new Firearms Act, Bail Act, and amendments to the Offences Against the Person Act to create realistic deterrent penalties, along with the usage of the Anti-gang Law, and improved intelligence and policing operations, are having a strong impact on reducing crime overall. Murders are down by about 7.5 % - that is approximately 120 lives saved. And serious crimes overall are down 10%, in fact, the total number of reported serious crimes, (murder, shooting, rape, robbery, break-in), is the lowest in 20 years. Since Jamaica passed the 1,000-murder mark in 1997, it has remained above that for 23 years, at three times the regional average.  Separate from the crime problem, Jamaica has a violence problem. While the two are linked, differentiated strategies must be developed to treat with them.…

Remarks By The Most Honourable Andrew Holness, ON, PC, MP Prime Minister of Jamaica At the Townhall in Washington DC on December 4, 2023 ------------------------------------------------------------------------  As I survey the in-house audience, and I look at those who have joined us virtually online, first, let me wish you all a happy season.  Well, let me just say Merry Christmas when it comes. Merry Christmas when it comes. These days you try to be as politically correct as possible but look, we've grown up with saying Merry Christmas when it comes. I am particularly looking forward to Christmas this year. I'm hoping to get a few days break. It may not materialize, but well, I am looking forward to Christmas, but I don't take your presence for granted. It is a pretty cold weather here and you have come out in your numbers to be with me directly, personally, and I appreciate that. And it is always fascinating that wherever I go, wherever I travel, there is a community of Jamaicans who feel that it is their duty, their patriotic duty to come out and represent to identify themselves. You know, you'd be in a sea of foreigners, and you must show…

Update on Water By The Most Honourable Andrew Holness, ON, PC, MP Prime Minister of Jamaica At The Sitting of the House of Representatives On October 31, 2023 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mr Speaker, these documents are normally circulated in a physical copy so the members can be assured that they will have a physical copy of it. Mr Speaker, I rise to provide an update to this honourable House on some matters related to the issue of water. It is to provide an update to this honourable house on some matters related to the issue of water. In the last 12 months, Jamaica has suffered the effects of significant reductions in its average rainfall. This is a result of both our change in climate and the El Nino rainfall, the El Nino phenomenon rather. Members of this House should recall my statement on the drought which I made in February of this year and the outline response of the government. However, I think it's important, Mr Speaker, to remind members of how severe our drought really was prior to the rains we thankfully received in this month, October 2023. In October 2022 to March 2023, Jamaica received cumulatively the lowest rainfall ever…