St. Ann North Eastern By-Election Set for Sept. 30

Residents of St. Ann North Eastern will go to the polls in a by-election on September 30, Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, has announced.

This has become necessary following the resignation of the former Member of Parliament, Marsha Smith.

Nomination Day is slated for September 11, Mr. Holness, further informed.

He made the announcement during Wednesday’s (September 4) post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House.

Mr. Holness also advised that Matthew Samuda has resigned as Senator and Government Minister to facilitate his nomination as the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) candidate for the constituency.

The Prime Minister further informed that, at a later stage, he will announce a new appointment for Marsha Smith, who has excellent skills and experience in industrial relations.

Regarding vacancies in other constituencies and divisions, Mr. Holness said within the restructuring that is taking place, all outstanding seats will be addressed.

“North East St. Ann is not being singled out. As I have said, we are at a stage where we are now ready to do all the by-elections, and all of them will be done. It is just that this one is going to be done first… but all the by-elections will be done,” he indicated.

Meanwhile, Mr. Holness informed that September 3 marked the fourth anniversary of his Administration’s victory in the 2020 General Election.

He stated that the Government’s mission is to continue the journey of Jamaica’s development towards a productive and prosperous economy, and a just and peaceful society.

The Prime Minister noted that there have been unexpected shocks along the journey, which have threatened “to throw us off course”.

“In fact, our journey, as a nation, has been characterised by frequent, multiple and overlapping crisis. The difference with this Administration compared to others, is our stellar performance in preparing, withstanding and recovering quickly from shocks, whether it was the worst pandemic in a hundred years, a supply chain shock, a global inflation shock or a shock caused by a weather event such as Hurricane Beryl,” Mr. Holness said.

He noted that Jamaica has been able to absorb these shocks, largely “from our own resources”.

Mr. Holness pointed out that the country has managed to continue the downward trajectory of the national debt, increase foreign reserves, keep the Dollar stable, lower inflation, and continue the capital investment in critical public infrastructure such as water, security, hospitals and roads.

The Prime Minister said Jamaica has institutionalised strong fiscal management to secure economic certainty, resilience and stability.

“The next step in our journey is to focus on achieving high growth. While we have been achieving some levels of growth, we are not satisfied with the anaemic levels of growth that we have been achieving,” he stated.

“We are not satisfied that the level of growth that we have been achieving will be sufficient to deliver the increases in public revenues needed to drive investments in the things that matter to you, like your roads, schools, social security and pensions,” he added.

Mr. Holness noted that low growth and the growth trajectories are easily wiped out by events such as the hurricane and the global pandemic.

He pointed out that, over the forthcoming months as the Government moves to structure itself for greater focus on growth, efficiency, peace and productivity, which will deliver benefits such as better wages, better education and healthcare, and better roads and water, “we have planned certain changes to put the Administration in a position to refocus and better deliver these well-deserved benefits to the people of Jamaica”.

“These changes are occurring at all levels of the Government… they are not only limited to the Cabinet level,” Mr. Holness added.