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,...

Mr. Speaker, Members of this Honourable House, I consider myself privileged to make this contribution to the Sectoral Debate and to outline the activities of the departments, divisions and agencies which fall within the portfolio of the Ministry of Information, Culture, Youth & Sports with responsibility for entertainment, community development and women's and gender affairs. Privileged, because I have the...

I begin my first Budget Presentation as a member of the Cabinet by expressing my gratitude to those who have traveled this journey with me to this point. Some, from the beginning. To some of my friends, that journey started as early as high school when we organized fellow students in activities ranging from visiting infirmaries and children's homes; to...

Members of the House and, indeed, the public at large would certainly have been concerned at the news yesterday afternoon that the Commissioner of Police, Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin, had tendered his resignation. I am to advise the House and the nation that following discussions involving the Police Services Commission, the Commissioner, the Minister of National Security and myself, Rear...

INTRODUCTION Mr. Speaker, Honourable Members, I begin by expressing my appreciation to all who have worked tirelessly in the preparation of this budget. a) To the Prime Minister and the members of the Cabinet who have nipped and tucked their budgets and kept them lean. b) To my fellow Ministers - Senator Wehby and Senator Nelson. (Team work) c) To...

INTRODUCTION Mr. Speaker, Honourable Members, I begin by expressing my appreciation to all who have worked tirelessly in the preparation of this budget. a) To the Prime Minister and the members of the Cabinet who have nipped and tucked their budgets and kept them lean. b) To my fellow Ministers - Senator Wehby and Senator Nelson. (Team work) c) To...

You have assembled today to begin the new legislative session. As you deliberate, please be mindful of the trust that the people of Jamaica have reposed in you and the responsibilities they have placed on your shoulders. Strong and Mature Democracy The general elections last year resulted in a change of administration. The relative smoothness of this change is a...

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...

We have just completed the first Cabinet retreat of the new Government and it was originally scheduled to last over three days. We had to extend it to a fourth because of the volume of matters that had to be dealt with and the weightiness of the issues we had to grapple with. 58 Policy SubmissionsIndeed, in the course of...

"Cuban President Fidel Castro today announced to the Cuban people that he would not be seeking re-election as President of the Cuban State Council and as Commander in Chief of the Cuban armed forces. It is a very significant announcement as it marks the end, not just of an era, but the end of eras; because President Castro remains the...