Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to again rise in this esteemed house to speak to the direction and developments in inarguably our nation’s foremost sector in driving job creation and prosperity – tourism. It is an even greater honour and also quite timely to have the opportunity to open the Sectoral Debate this year as this new administration, ably...

Fellow Jamaicans; In my Budget Presentation on March 21, 2017; I committed to making an apology for what has come to be commonly referred to as the Coral Gardens incident; one which occurred at a time in our history when our society was more reflective of the colonial era. Violence flared up at Coral Gardens leading to the death of...

You may recall that the most recent land revaluation exercise was completed in September 2013 and reflected the values of properties as at July 1, 2013. The last one prior to this was completed in 2002. Although the revaluation exercise was completed in September 2013, property taxes continued to be calculated on the old 2002 Valuation Roll. This Government took the...

I wish to once again thank the staff of the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service and other agencies for their assistance in the course of preparations for this Debate. I also wish to thank the Prime Minister, Opposition Leader, and the Opposition Spokesman on Finance for their contributions. Mr. Speaker, there will be more opportunities to do so...

Mr. Speaker, on rising I give all praise and Honour to the Almighty Father for bringing us here together and for sparing us, individually, as a Parliament and as a Nation, so that we can all gather here once again to recommit through public service to building a better Jamaica. Mr. Speaker, let us not forget that we are here...

Mr. Speaker, My heart is overflowing with gratitude to my Maker for the opportunity to rise once again to contribute to a budget debate. I first entered this Honourable House in December 1976 after the historic General Elections of that year. I remain very grateful for the many blessings which have sustained me over the years. There is no greater...

Introduction Just over a year ago, the people of Jamaica sent a clear message that they wanted new and better leadership after years of little or no economic growth, social stagnation and decay. By endorsing our proposals to take Jamaica from poverty to prosperity under the leadership of Prime Minister Andrew Holness, the people have placed their hopes and dreams...