Government Recommits to Country Achieving Developed Country Status
By: , September 26, 2024
Photo: Adrian Walker
Prime Minister, Dr. the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, delivers the main address at the contract -and ground-breaking ceremony for the Spicy Grove Infrastructure Works Project in Oracabessa, St. Mary, on September 25.The Full Story
The Government is recommitting itself to redoubling its effort for Jamaica to achieve developed country status, Prime Minister, Dr. the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, has said.
Speaking on Wednesday (September 25), at the contract signing and ground-breaking ceremony for the Spicy Grove Infrastructure Works Project in St. Mary, Dr. Holness said that the country is about 60 per cent on the way in meeting its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), based on its National Development Plan.
He explained that the task for Jamaica to achieve developed country status by 2030 has encountered setbacks, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused supply chain disruptions, a fall in growth and a rise in inflation.
“Sometimes the national conversation forgot that the world was struck by COVID and for two years, there was barely any investment that could be made in social development. All of those things had an impact on the pace at which we fulfil the Sustainable Development Goals, but the Government is recommitting itself to redoubling its efforts, so that Jamaica achieves the developed country status,” Dr. Holness said.
The Prime Minister also pointed out that despite the pandemic, Jamaica continues to lead the Caribbean and the world in meeting the targets it has set in areas like education, healthcare, housing, community development, the environment, and others.
“What we have discovered globally is that for most countries, they are only achieving 16 per cent of the targets that they had set under the Sustainable Development Goals and that’s really a challenge. Jamaica is doing much better than the rest of the world and, in fact, Jamaica is the leading country in the Caribbean for meeting the Sustainable Development Goals, based on our national development plan,” the Prime Minister said.
According to the United Nations, the SDGs are a global call to action to end poverty, protect the earth’s environment and climate, and ensure that people everywhere can enjoy peace and prosperity.