Madam Speaker, based on the information received from the Ministry of Health and Wellness, I wish to report that, as of yesterday, February 8, 2021, Jamaica recorded 17,701 cumulative cases of COVID-19.  359 persons have died due to the pandemic representing a 2% fatality rate currently. I offer my sincere condolences to all who have lost a loved one. We...

Madam Speaker, I wish to speak on the issue of our policy on the effective maintenance of our roads and infrastructure, which will lead to the improvement in the quality and standard of works being  undertaken by the National Works Agency, going forward.  We will also re-examine, the approach to the patching and repair of our roads. There are some...

Securing Our Citizens   Madam Speaker, Two days ago, every Jamaican citizen and friend of Jamaica witnessed firsthand the callous, brazen, irreverent, and heartless, character of violence producers in our country. The national shock and outrage that resulted from the horrendous manner in which Mrs. Lowe-Garwood’s was gunned down signals that even in the face of these heinous crimes, the...

Madame Speaker, It has almost been a year since Jamaica had its first positive case of COVID 19. Like the rest of the world, we have been experiencing significant fall out in our economy as a result of the pandemic. This has dealt a huge blow to many of our sectors including our productive sector, our micro small and medium...

Madam Speaker, in keeping with the Ministry of Health and Wellness’ commitment to keep this Honourable House and the people of Jamaica informed of the latest developments on COVID-19, particularly on the availability of vaccines, I rise to share the latest information on the deployment of COVID-19 vaccines in the country. Update on Vaccines in COVAX Facilities We have been...

Murders, mysterious deaths, suicides are things we often see in movies but not the imagery one wants to have when thinking about the realities of children. Sadly, this has proved the experience of some families in Jamaica as they hollered over the graves of toddlers and teenagers who should have outlived their parents. The Child Protection and Family Services Agency...

Madame Speaker, I will now provide the House with an update on face-to-face operations as well as suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19 in schools.  Madame Speaker, as of January 25, 2021, there were 292 schools approved for face-to-face operation – 11 Infant, 177 Primary Level and 104 Secondary Level institutions.  Of the total number of approved schools, 216 schools...

Madam Speaker, I rise to update this honourable house and the people of Jamaica on the National COVID-19 Deployment and Vaccination Interim Plan. The Cabinet has approved a National COVID-19 Deployment and Vaccination Interim Plan as the strategy and authority on the deployment of COVID-19 Vaccine(s) in Jamaica. The Plan outlines the overall strategies for the deployment, implementation and monitoring...

1)   Jamaica’s mutual evaluation report against the International Standards on Combatting Money   Laundering   and   the   Financing   of   Terrorism   and   Proliferation   (“FATF   40” Recommendations)  was  done  in  2015  by  the  Caribbean  Financial  Action  Task  Force (“CFATF”)  and  published  by  the  CFATF  in  2017.  The  report  reflected  a  substantial number of deficiencies in Jamaica’s legislative framework (also referred to as “technical compliance” ...