Mr President, Excellencies, Colleagues, On behalf of the people of Jamaica, I thank the Governments of the United Kingdom and the Italian Republic, for their strong commitment and leadership in hosting this COP 26 within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, and for the excellent arrangements that have been made to keep us safe. The message is clear - climate...

National Heroes Day Message - October 18, 2021 National Heroes Day is set aside as a public holiday each year to honour those great Jamaicans, who by their work and often ultimate sacrifice, revolted against slavery, secured our freedom, fought for equal rights and justice, guided our Independence, resisted oppression, and in so doing inspired a revolution and an awakening...

Greetings Jamaica! It is with great sense of honour and humility that I join with you in celebrating National Heroes Day for the first time as Leader of the Opposition. We have been nearly two years with the Covid-19 pandemic. Over 2,000 Jamaicans have lost their lives to the virus. Our normal way of life has been disrupted, as we...

Good Evening.   As we begin the 2021-2022 school year,  we do so with the collective knowledge that our decisions today will determine whether we remain mired in the pandemic for another school year or we begin to see our children carefree again and back in classrooms all across Jamaica.  Let’s make the decision to get vaccinated today.   On...

Based on the latest report from this morning, Jamaica recorded 555 new cases of COVID-19 and a test positivity rate of 41.9%. Three additional persons died yesterday from the pandemic. I offer my sincere condolences to all who have lost a loved one. Yesterday, we also had official confirmation of the presence of the delta variant in Jamaica. This is...

Fellow Jamaicans at home and in the diaspora, greetings on this the 59th anniversary of Jamaica’s Independence under the theme, “Come mek we celebrate online”. Over the past 59 years, Jamaica and Jamaicans have made great strides and overcome many struggles to become a sovereign nation with an admirable legislative framework and a unique culture, which is globally recognized. Our...

My Fellow Jamaicans, as we did last year, we are celebrating the anniversary of our nation’s Independence in the midst of a pandemic.  While the pandemic has dealt a severe blow to our lives and livelihoods, we have, as a nation, done well together in managing the crisis.  We have been able to do this through the hard work and...