Speeches by the Prime Minister

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…

My fellow Jamaicans, my fellow Jamaicans! Jamaica’s heritage is indeed our greatest legacy. The uniqueness of our people, our language, music, folklore, gastronomy, and traditional practices are undeniably amazing. People from all over the world aspire to live breathe and experience the Jamaican lifestyle and want to identify with the Jamaican brand. In that regard, I am pleased to extend a warm Jamaican greeting to one and all. The legacy of our treasured heritage spans generations. The freedom and privileges that we enjoy today and that some may even take for granted; we owe to the fortitude of our National Heroes. Our heritage defines who we are as a people, strong resilient and assertive. Those who continue to preserve, protect and promote our heritage today are national heroes. This week, we recognize outstanding individuals among us who have been inspirational forces, contributing positively to the growth and development of our community and our country at large. As I salute our National Heroes, I also congratulate all Jamaicans who will be honoured for their contribution to nation-building. This year, I encourage all Jamaicans to reflect with genuine pride on our cultural and material heritage. Let us celebrate “Our Heritage…A Great Legacy”. In…

Mr Speaker, I got to know Ken Baugh when I was just about to leave high school because he established his medical practice in Spanish Town where I grew up and he became my doctor then; I went to him for my check-ups and medicals to go back to school and I try to engage him in political conversations at the time but obviously he had put politics down for a while and was deciding to focus on his medical professions and growing his practice. When I came to Kingston after university, he continued to be my doctor and in fact by then had a practice in Kingston and I joked with him at that time to say when you were in Spanish Town you didn't have any interest but now that you've come back to Kingston, you now have an interest and he pointed out that he was encouraged by friends and I suspect one of them would have been his good friend here, the now House leader, to come back into politics and he decided to take up the seat West Central St Catherine. He was not successful at that time in 1993; he was defeated by Alethia…

Bishop C. Everton Thomas for our prayers The Most Honourable Juliet Holness The Honourable Audley Shaw Honourable Daryl Vaz And other members of the Cabinet Minister Chuck Minister Henry I see here the minister of state in the Ministry of National Security, the Honourable Rudyard Spencer; very alert, who will be planting many trees with us. Mayors and members of the municipal councils Our friends in the diplomatic community who are here You would have heard from Her Excellency Ambassador Wasilewska Ms Marilyn Headley, Chief Executive Officer and Conservator of Forest and other members of Forestry Department Mrs Miriam McIntosh Robinson, Vice President of the Private Sector Organization of Jamaica Other members of civil society and other stakeholder groups who are here And a special acknowledgement to our beautiful students who performed for us from the Jamaica House Basic School and our excellent drummers from Ardenne High School.   The challenge with reading prepared salutations and protocol lists is that sometimes these are prepared beforehand and they leave out very important persons who may be in the audience and then the prime minister gets blamed for overlooking the important people who are in the audience so all the important people…