More Speeches

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...

Mr. Speaker, I stand before you today humbled by the great task that the Nation has placed in our hands. There was a time when some public affairs commentators promoted the view that the JLP did not have the people to be able ministers of government. Those commentators must now be amazed at how we have taken up the gauntlet,...

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...

As Minister responsible for the grant and revocation of cable licences, it has come to my attention that one of the major cable operators in Kingston and St. Andrew, Entertainment Systems Limited, has suddenly ceased operation and that its cable business has been acquired by island-wide operator, Flow. I am aware that the thousands of customers affected by this change...

Today I visited the house where five young men were killed. Let me make it quite clear, the security forces have the authority to conduct operations as their intelligence determines that they should. And nobody, not the residents of Tivoli Gardens, not the Member of Parliament, not me as Prime Minister..none of us can prevent them from conducting those operations...