Speeches by the Prime Minister

Keynote Address by Dr the Most Honourable Andrew Holness ON, PC, MP Prime Minister of Jamaica at the Recover Better Conference Post-Hurricane Reconstruction Forum on April 16, 2026 ________________________________________________________________   You will forgive me if I dispense with formalities. I believe I will make up for the time if I dispense with the formalities, but of course, allow me to acknowledge our permanent representative to the UN, Ambassador Brian Wallace, and our Acting CG, Mrs Bowen, and I want to thank you for filling the gap and standing in the breach for us. You will permit me to just reminisce a bit because as I entered the consulate, I was about to ask for Alsion, and I know that all of you here would have her in heart and mind. She was such a wonderful soul, a force of nature, and she is dearly missed. I'm certain we're moving through with plans to name this hall, this meeting room, in her honour. I think that was the last discussion we had. Of course, we will have to do something more than that for her, but knowing her, she wouldn't want us to delay too long, and she would want us…

Statement on NaRRA by Dr. the Most Honourable Andrew Holness, ON, PC, MP, Prime Minister of Jamaica at the  Sitting of the House of Representatives on April 14, 2026 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Madam Speaker, I now move for the suspension of the Standing Orders to enable me to take a second reading of a bill shortly entitled the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority Act 2026, and to take it through all its concluding stages. My substantive presentation, allow me to join in the expression of happiness and gratitude and celebration of the 100th birthday of someone who served this nation with great pride and indeed great competence as a minister of education and a senator in this parliament serving both sides of the parliament. Dr Mavis Gilmore and I have two things in common. One, we were both ministers of education, and secondly, she's actually Mavis Holness; so yes, we do have some distant relations, so I want to wish her from Parliament, a happy birthday, and many, many more happy returns. Madam Speaker, the Standing Orders of the House helps us to arrange the business of the House such that everything is done orderly and transparently and I urge members to…

Keynote Address by The Most Honourable Andrew Holness ON, PC, MP Prime Minister of Jamaica at Ceremonial Launch of Re-Leaf Initiative Lowe River Forest Reserve, South Trelawny on March 25, 2026 _______________________________________   Excellency, Ministers, Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, Boys and girls, it is indeed a good afternoon. A few hours after Hurricane Melissa struck, I hopped on a helicopter, and I flew across the island, hugged the south coast and turned northwesterly to look at the damage caused by Hurricane Melissa. To best understand the impact of Hurricane Melissa, I draw the image in your mind of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima or Nagasaki in Japan to end World War II. Some of you may be familiar with those images; the younger ones may not. I encourage you to go and research it. It's much easier today to research these things than it would have been during my time and you would see the incredible devastation, not just to buildings and structures, but to our forests. In fact, you could say that there was a trail of destruction from where the storm hit first at New Hope, going across the Cockpit Country and coming out in St James,…

Greetings by Dr the Most Honourable Andrew Holness ON, PC, MP Prime Minister of Jamaica at the Faith Cathedral Deliverance Centre 50th Jubilee Anniversary on March 22, 2026 -------------------------------------------------------------------  Today I will not be preaching about dry bones. I will stick to the script that I've been provided, which is to bring greetings at this very August celebration of your 50th year. Fifty years in the life of anything is a long time and it rightfully should be honoured and respected. Your founder, Bishop the Honourable Dr Herro V. Blair, and Bishop Dr Alma Blair should be specially acknowledged and recognized. I had an engagement on Thursday last and it kind of went a bit too long, and so I was ordered to rest my voice, but I had to be here today. I just had to come. It is indeed a profound honour to join you for this historic occasion, the 50th Jubilee anniversary of the Deliverance Evangelic Association, a milestone that stands not only as a testament to longevity, but as evidence of faith sustained, services rendered, and lives transformed for over five decades. Fifty years is no small achievement. It represents generations of commitment of men and…

Keynote Address by Dr the Most Honourable Andrew Holness ON, PC, MP Prime Minister of Jamaica at the Official Launch of the WIHCON Chester Creek Development on March 3, 2026 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Allow me to establish, again, the formal protocols. Dr Alfred Dawes, Member of Parliament for Southeastern St Catherine, the area in which this project is undertaken. If I were to make a commentary on Dr Dawes, I always knew he wanted to be in politics and in fact, he could have very well joined me in politics, more anon. Mr Renair Benjamin, my schoolmate. Was I before you, or were you before me? I was your head boy. St Catherine High School is the largest single-shift school in the English-speaking Caribbean. From that school, there are many, many Jamaicans all over locally and abroad holding all kinds of positions, and they're doing very well, and so that is my route to commending you, Renair, for doing very well in your role as a councillor. My friend Joseph Matalon, Chairman of the ICD Group, And my other friend, Peter Melhado, Chairman of WIHCON and other executive members of WIHCON who are here, Executives and representatives of the private sector I…

Remarks by Dr the Most Honourable Andrew Holness ON, PC, MP Prime Minister of Jamaica at the Opening Ceremony of the 50th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM On February 24, 2026 ________________________________________________________   Her Excellency Dame Marcella Liburd, Governor General, and the Honourable Dr Terrance Drew, Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis Colleague Heads of Government, Dr Carla Barnett, Secretary General of CARICOM Excellencies Ladies and gentlemen, it is a good evening in St Kitts and Nevis. Let me first extend sincere appreciation for our gracious host, the Government and people of St Kitts, under the able leadership of your Prime Minister, Dr Terrance Drew. I am grateful for the warm hospitality and the excellent arrangements put in place to facilitate this meeting. I also warmly acknowledge my colleague heads who have been re-elected and newly elected since our last regular meeting in July, the Honourable Philip Pierre, Prime Minister of St Lucia and the Honourable Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados, the Honourable Godwin Friday, Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines. Heartiest congratulations to you and best wishes for a successful tenure. Friends, it is a privilege to address this…

Keynote Address by Dr the Most Honourable Andrew Holness ON, PC, MP Prime Minister of Jamaica at the Office of the National Security Advisor 4th Annual Security Seminar  on February 19, 2026 _______________________________________________________________   Jamaica takes national security very seriously. When most Jamaicans hear the term national security, they immediately think crime and violence, and rightfully so. Crime and violence have been our number one threat to life and values. This administration has taken a more deliberate, strategic, and, I dare say, more sophisticated approach to national security. We established the Office of the National Security Advisor, instituted the National Security Council as a committee of Cabinet, instituted various laws relative to security generally, we ensured that all law enforcement and security forces are members of the council, but most importantly, the council covers every subject. Yes, because by definition, national security is everything that makes the nation insecure, every threat. The NSC is data-driven and intelligent in the sense that the organisation is a learning entity, and this is why we have now, for the 4th time, hosted this seminar, and we want to learn from experts, but we also want to share with experts what we have learned.…

Keynote Address by Dr the Most Honourable Andrew Holness, ON, PC, MP, Prime Minister of Jamaica at the Official Launch of UTech Lloyd Carney Foundation IMEK Laboratory on February 10, 2026 ___________________________________________________________ Professor, no need to do further introductions, and I will borrow the general term used by Lloyd. I would normally say all nice and decent people, but I like how Lloyd has dignified the term. He said, all dignified people here, it is not my intention to stand on protocols today. We are opening this lab against the backdrop of Hurricane Melissa. For those of us in Kingston, and the eastern end of the island generally, Hurricane Melissa may seem like a distant memory three months ago, but for others, especially those in the impacted areas, it is still the reality they face. We are recovering, no doubt, and I do visit the impacted areas quite regularly and I can see progress being made, houses are being restored, roofs are being restored, businesses are reopening, the roads are cleared, lots of traffic. There is accessibility, but you still see the tarps on the roofs and there are still persons without roofs at this time and there are people…

Address by Dr the Most Honourable Andrew Holness, ON, PC, MP, Prime Minister of Jamaica at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Foreign Trade Heads of Mission Meeting on February 11, 2026 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2018 to now it's a very long time. Many things have happened in between, but I have had the opportunity to individually interact with almost all of you around this table in some way or form, some more than others. From the very moment of our independence when the Ministry of External Affairs was established as one of the first four ministries, Jamaica understood something fundamental. Small island states foreign policy is not peripheral. For small island states foreign policy is foundational. We understood that as a small island developing state, we must navigate the global system, not by size, but by strategy. We understood that the global order as much as it is clothed by principle, equity and fairness, ultimately it is about power, but we never sacrifice principle and we are always the country that is willing to stand up for what is right and the truth, but we also believe strongly in partnerships. We're not a country that is going to promote rhetoric and…