New 2024/25 Parliamentary Session Commences
By: , February 15, 2024
Photo: Yhomo Hutchinson
Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness (third right), marches down Duke Street in downtown Kingston on Thursday (February 15) flanked by fellow parliamentarians, ahead of the Ceremonial Opening of Parliament for 2024/25. Others (from left, front) are Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Security, Hon. Dr. Horace Chang; Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister, Senator the Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith; Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett; Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Hon. Olivia Grange, and Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Hon. Desmond McKenzie.The Full Story
The 2024/25 session of Parliament got under way on Thursday (February 15) at Gordon House, highlighted by the delivery of the Throne Speech by Governor-General, His Excellency the Most Hon. Sir Patrick Allen, under the theme ‘Towards a Peaceful, Productive and Prosperous Jamaica’.
His address outlined the priority programmes and policies to be pursued by the Government in the new fiscal year, commencing April 1.
On arrival, the Governor-General inspected the Guard of Honour mounted by members of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), after which he entered the chambers of the House accompanied by Chief of Defence Staff, Rear Admiral Antonette Wemyss-Gorman and Police Commissioner, Major General Antony Anderson.
Members of the Senate were the first to take their seats inside Gordon House, followed by the President, Hon. Tom Tavares-Finson.
Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Most Hon. Juliet Holness, then entered the chambers, followed by Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness; Leader of the Opposition, Mark Golding; and Members of Parliament.
For fiscal year 2024/25, the National Identification and Registration Authority will be operationalised to commence enrolment and issue National Identification cards.
Additionally, more government services will be made easily accessible online through use of the electronic National ID card, to enhance productivity and growth.
The new entry to Portmore from Mandela Highway via Municipal Boulevard, widening of the Sandy Gully Bridge on Washington Boulevard, and upgrading of the Arthur Wint Drive/Tom Redcam Drive and Camp Road corridor will also undergo Public Investment Management Systems review, with construction slated to commence in the upcoming year.
The Rio Cobre Treatment Plant project is also set to commence this year under a public-private partnership arrangement, costing US$77 million.
Several pieces of legislation will also be brought to Parliament, including the Tobacco Control Bill, Nurses and Midwives Act and the Pharmacy Act, Amendments to the Immigration Restriction (Commonwealth Citizens) Act and Aliens Act, the Customs Act, Private Sector Pensions Act, Income Tax Relief (Large-Scale Projects and Pioneer Industries) Act, and amendments to the Financial Services Act.
Ground will also be broken to construct the Westmoreland and St. Catherine North Divisional Headquarters, a major milestone in the national security reform agenda.
Later in the afternoon on Thursday, the Lower House had its first official sitting for the new fiscal year, where the proposed Budget for 2024/25 was tabled by Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke.