Mr. President, Members of the Governing Council of the United Nations, Members of the Secretariat, Heads of States, Excellencies, Ministers, Heads of Delegations, friends. I am honoured on behalf of the Government of Jamaica to address this 14th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and 4th Conference of the...

Mr Speaker, Honourable Members of the House,It is a privilege and honour to report through the Parliament on the activities and strategic plans of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade for the period September 2007 to the end of the financial year 2008/2009. In doing so, I must first place on record my appreciation to the Prime Minister,...

It is very difficult to follow in the footsteps of two outstanding sons of the Region in the persons of the Hon. Owen Arthur, former Prime Minister of Barbados and Dwight Nelson, himself a giant in the trade union movement and now Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, both whom gave the first two...

As the New Year looms before us, and as we face the many challenges that confront us at the national, regional and global levels, it is time for us to make solid and achievable resolutions that will guide our personal and national actions towards the achievement of our stated objectives. Nationally, ours is the task to create dynamic synergies that...

I deeply appreciate your invitation to join you today in commemorating the members of staff who have been recipients of National Honours and Awards. As you are no doubt aware, I am currently just getting my feet wet on the job. But although I am new to the Ministry, I am not new to the portfolio. People have referred to...

I don't know if it's the 'island thing', where we constantly feel that we need to explore beyond our shores or whether it's the fact that we all came from elsewhere to populate our island home, but Jamaicans are definitely an itinerant people. When Barrington Irving decided to fly around the world, he was following in a deep Jamaican tradition....

I am pretty sure that by now you must have heard the maxim popularized by the late American advice columnist Ann Landers: 'Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don't recognize them' The problem with maxims of course is that we fail to maximize the value of the wisdom inherent in them, even though we (often quite...

As Minister with Responsibility for Women's Affairs, I am particularly pleased that the theme chosen by the United Nations for World Tourism Day this year "Tourism opens doors for women" - recognizes the important contribution of women in the tourism sector. Women have played an integral role in the tourism industry throughout its long and distinguished history and have undoubtedly...

My brothers and sisters, I am sure you will agree that Christmas 2005 is an extra special one for all Jamaicans because it gives us the opportunity to celebrate our victories. Christmas is also the right time to recall the strengths of the past, and identify and share the good that exists around us. Unquestionably, this Yuletide Season affirms that...