Speeches by the Prime Minister

The Government of Jamaica from the outset of the COVID19 Pandemic has been exploring ways to safely return home our Jamaican Nationals stranded in foreign countries or on ships overseas. To achieve this, we established a controlled re-entry process which has to date seen over 350 Jamaicans return home in accordance with our quarantine regulations. We want to get our Jamaicans back home to their family and loved ones. We understand the frustration of being at sea for such a long time and now the anticipation of being close to home on the final leg of the journey. Since April 21, the Government has had formal exchanges with the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL) on how best to effectuate the return of Jamaican ship workers while at the same time fulfilling the minimum 14 days quarantine requirement. The last correspondence between RCCL and the Jamaican Government was a request from RCCL made on May 15, 2020 for a conference call with relevant agencies to work out details of the re-entry.  Up to this point, no date for arrival was agreed and no approval was given. I indicated in Parliament last Tuesday, when asked by the Opposition Spokesman on National Security,…

Today on Nurses’ Day I pay special tribute to our hardworking Jamaican nurses who have shown great courage, kindness, and bravery in the face of a global pandemic. It takes an individual with a special heart to devote themselves to a profession requiring them to provide constant care and tend to the healthcare needs of others. Indeed, nurses are invaluable assets in the Jamaican healthcare system and as the world battles against Covid-19, our nurses, are on the frontline, providing life-saving interventions, gentle care, and reassurance with a spirit of kindness, to those who are sick. My administration recognizes the dedication of our nurses; we are proud and deeply grateful that they have chosen to serve their country in this way. As a country, we express our gratitude to our nurses for their sacrifice, compassion, selflessness and commitment to the health and well-being of Jamaicans. They are beacons of hope and towers of strength; working under enormous strain to deliver the best patient care possible, and we salute them wholeheartedly. I use this Nurses’ Day, to remind our citizens, to avoid discriminating against our nurses especially as they care for COVID-19 patients; be kind and courteous to them as they…

To advance further understanding as it relates to the implementation of measures in the public sector to encourage “work from home”, Permanent Secretaries are required to consult with department and agency heads to determine certain functions which could be carried out from home for seven days starting Wednesday, March 18, 2020 to March 25, 2020. The objective is to reduce the level of public travel and interactions. The private sector is also required to implement similar measures of having their staff work from home where possible. It is not the intention of the Government to shut down the economy. Therefore, we expect offices and factories to remain open and continue to produce and offer service with only the minimum staff necessary.

Senator Matthew Samuda has been appointed Minister without Portfolio and assigned to the Ministry of National Security. With this appointment the constitutional requirement for Cabinet level appointment from the Senate would be met.

TOWARDS A DECADE OF GROWTH TO ANCHOR OUR PEACE AND PROSPERITY Honourable Members, we are gathered here at the dawn of a new decade. The seeds we have planted in the previous years are germinating and we commit to making this new decade one of increased growth, peace and prosperity in our land. Honourable Members, Jamaica has much to celebrate. Our emphasis on inclusive and sustainable economic growth has paid great dividends for our beloved nation. In recent years, Jamaica has made an extraordinary economic turnaround. We have experienced nineteen consecutive quarters of positive economic growth. Our debt-to-GDP ratio is projected to be below 92 percent by the end of March 2020 from a high of 147 percent seven years ago. Lower levels of debt accumulation and servicing have resulted in the State being able to redirect resources to invest in areas that will promote social and infrastructure development. Our October 2019 unemployment rate of 7.2 percent is the lowest in Jamaica’s history. Our regulatory reforms aimed at lessening the time and cost to do business have resulted in Jamaica being ranked as the best economy in the Caribbean for ease of doing business. We have trained more than 20,000…

Merry Christmas! To all at home and abroad. As Christians we believe in the Immaculate Conception and birth; the life examples and teachings, and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ to be the fundamental pillars of our faith. Christmas is the time reserved in our calendar to celebrate the birth of Christ, which happened during a time of great suffering and hardship some 2000 years ago. It was long prophesied that a great King would be born to liberate the people from bondage. However, Jesus and his message of personal liberation of the soul, by loving God with all your heart and loving your neighbour as you love yourself, was not the King or message that many expected, and indeed many conspired against him. Today, the world still looks for the hope of liberation from the struggles we face, and the message of Jesus’s birth remains the same. We must love God and believe in Him, and we must love one another as we love ourselves. Simple, simple yet profound guidance that the solution to our problems rest with our spirituality and humanity. The story of Jesus’ birth does not seek to offer us a scientific explanation of the solutions to our problems, rather it is a story of faith, that God manifested in man and that man can know God and have a personal relationship with God. It is a story of family; of Joseph and Mary regardless of their own struggles and poverty, sticking together and caring for one another. It is a story of great fraternity. People from…

Mr Speaker, I returned to the island on Sunday, November 10; following a successful seven-day official working visit to the People’s Republic of China. Mr Speaker, I was accompanied by eight persons: Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade; the Most Hon Juliet Holness; two Close Protection Officers and technical, communications and support personnel from the Office of the Prime Minister.  The cost to the Government for my delegation was approximately seventy-nine thousand United States dollars.  The Chinese Government was responsible for covering my airfare and that of my wife as well as the airfare for the entire delegation for the two domestic flights to other cities as well as the accommodation in China. Additionally, Mr Speaker let me note for the record that a separate delegation led by Minister Shaw and comprising Ms Diane Edwards, President of JAMPRO and other technical support personnel from the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries and JAMPRO were also in China to attend the 2nd China International Import Exposition in Shanghai.  Support as a Guest Country of Honour was received from China and therefore the cost to the Government of Jamaica for the delegation led by Minister Shaw was approximately twenty-eight thousand…

Mr Speaker, following the Government’s decision not to appeal the April 2019 Constitutional court’s ruling concerning the National Identification and Registration Act 2017, the NIDS project team embarked on a rescheduling of the main activities under the contract between the Government of Jamaica and Productive Business Solutions (PBS) Limited led consortium to focus on the ICT upgrade activities until the requisite legislative framework is put in place, which would give effect to the implementation of the National Identification System activities. Mr Speaker let me make it clear that the Government is not abandoning the identification aspects of NIDS. The Government has completed a revised policy consistent with the recommendations of the Supreme Court’s ruling on the NIDS that is now being review by our primary stakeholders. We expect the review process to be completed in the next two weeks after which the Cabinet will consider the revised policy. Mr Speaker, our target is to issue new drafting instructions with strengthened oversight and security provisions by January 2020 with the aim to table a new bill by the end of financial year 2019/2020. Mr Speaker, we have always pointed out that this programme was much more than identification, this programme was…

An Act to Amend the Human Employment and Resource Training Act; to merge the functions of the Human Employment and Resource Training Trust with the National Youth Service Board and the Apprenticeship Board; to repeal the Apprenticeship Act and the National Youth Service Act; and for connected matters The Most Honourable Andrew Holness, ON, MP 29 October 2019 Mr. Speaker, I tabled the Human Employment and Resource Training (Amendment) Act, 2019, in the context of my budget presentation (on 19 March 2019) on “Building a new Jamaica” and addressed the critical element of human capital development in that new Jamaica. Mr. Speaker, former Prime Minister, the Most Honourable Edward Seaga had a passionate mission to provide a meaningful future for those who had fallen outside of the formal education system. The Human Employment and Resource Training (HEART) Trust was conceptualized by him and we saw the great tribute paid to him by persons who were given new opportunities to advance in life because of the HEART Trust. The policies implemented over the past two years with the merger of the HEART Trust with the National Youth Service Board, the Jamaican Foundation for Lifelong Learning Limited and the Apprenticeship Board were designed to return the HEART…