JISTV| Post Cabinet Press Briefing , June 10, 2026

Good morning, Jamaica. It is Wednesday, June 10, 2026, and we're here for another postc cabinet press briefing. and I have brought out the heavyweights this morning to be with you and it is going to be a very good press briefing. I'm just reminding you that we do have a official funeral, an official funeral um that's coming up right after this and so we have to keep um the post cabinet press briefing tight. But that doesn't mean that you're not going to get a lot of very important information this morning. And let me start by acknowledging those who are here with us today. Starting with the honorable Favl Williams, Minister of Finance and the Public Service. First woman in that role doing an awesome job in that role. Um, we know the hurricane season is coming up and she's had to be working really hard to ensure that we continue to have the kind of insurance coverage that is necessary for this country. And we are very happy to have her here. I can tell you everything I've asked her for in education in terms of funding to rebuild schools she has given us. And so we're very happy to have you here, Minister Williams. We also have Dr. to the honorable Christopher Tuftton, our Minister of Health and Wellness and Having More Babies. It's good good to see you here, Minister. Um, and he has a lot of updates to give you today. Um, and we're looking forward to them, right, Minister?

I'm sure there's some in the audience. All right. Uh, we also want to acknowledge the honorable Pernel Charles Jr. or Minister of Labor and Social Security. And I want to add something onto it, but I'm trying to be diplomatic today, but the person who has really been implementing that roof program. We know so many people in the West have lost their roof and their homes, and he has been working tirelessly with his team to ensure that the funding gets to those who need it the most. Also want to acknowledge Mrs. Dion Jennings, the acting permanent secretary in the Ministry of Labor and Social Security. We are supposed to also have Dr. Jacqueline Bisa McKenzie, the chief medical officer. Dr. Kirk Benjamin, acting commissioner of the Jamaica Customs Agency, Mrs. Terry and Thomas Gail, Chief Education Officer, Professor, the most honorable Denise Elder Sher, we've never had you here and it's so good to see you here this morning when we have persons like you at a postc cabinet press briefing. We know it's going to be a special morning. So, welcome and it's great to have you here. Also want to acknowledge the senior technical teams from our various ministries that are here. We have some student leaders who are going to be here with us. Brian Anderson um who is the president of the National Student Council and other members of his team. As always, members of the media, Jamaicans watching at home and abroad, good morning again to you all. Given how many ministers we have this morning, we are going to go straight into their presentations. Um all of them will be around a theme um of how we have been spending after Hurricane Melissa in terms of what we have been prioritizing and how the funds that the government has has been used. But each of the ministers will also update you on other issues that are important in their portfolio. And so we're going to get started with our wonderful Minister of Finance and the public service. So please welcome the Honorable Faval Williams.

Good morning everyone. I know in the interest of time I'll observe the pro protocol but just to say colleague ministers PSS um my acting commissioner from customs uh members of the media Mrs. terra students Jamaicans all. I'll speak to three issues this morning. And the first has to do with what has been circulating in social media about $100,000 Jamaican. Um whether or not you can bring that into Jamaica. And I'm here to say that that information on social media um from someone who purports to be a lawyer is incorrect. Persons traveling to Jamaica uh can bring cash in excess of $100,000 Jamaican dollars. um you have to declare if you are bringing in US 10,000 or the equivalent you have to declare it on your enter Jamaica um electronic form when you fill that out. So then you know if we're saying to you coming into Jamaica you can declare if you have US 10,000 or higher or equivalent then we're also saying to you you could bring in less than US $10,000 without declaring it. So how how did this Jamaican 100,000 come into being into the conversation? It is it does exist in law but it is uh um security uh threshold. So, our security, including customs, uh can if they suspect someone to be coming into Jamaica and they are they believe them to be carrying whatever, they can question that person, they can um you know investigate and the 100,000 comes about because the law says uh you know that's a threshold. So if somebody's coming in with less than a 100,000 in their pockets, you wouldn't necessarily go after them, right? Assistant commissioner. So that's where the 100,000 comes in. It's just for law enforcement and it's a threshold so that they're not wasting their time pursuing somebody who's coming in with less than $100,000. So I hope that's clear. Clear everyone. All right. Good. All right. So the next of the three issues, the next would be the Melissa allocation. I know that that has been uh circulating in social media as well, the 67 billion dollars. Um so I'm here to just walk through pretty quickly um where that went to what ministries and um how it got there. You will recall that during the last fiscal year we did a third supplementary and we did a fourth supplementary in order to allocate funds to ministries. And in the third supplementary to the office of the prime minister 189 million and you can tally along and see if you get to 67 billion. Ministry of tourism 3.4 billion to support the tourism sector. You know that that sector had a lot of damage to support the workers in the sector as well. Ministry of Economic Growth and Infrastructure Development, $7.5 billion. Um, there's a lot of roads to be repaired, uh, lots of debris to be cleared and and so on. Ministry of Finance, 57 million. Ministry of Water, Environment, Climate Change, 3.2 billion. Ministry of Labor and Social Security. and the minister is here. Um got um to start with a billion dollars and then there were additional sums totaling all together with the billion dollar $1.2 billion and I'm just reading through the allocations during the third supplementary. Ministry of Education 2.3 billion, Ministry of Health and Wellness 1.965. If you want to roll that up or round that up into two billion, that's what that is. Belleview got an allocation of 35 million. Ministry of Culture, Entertainment and Sports, 280 million. Ministry of Agriculture to help in that sector. Farmers Fishers um $3 billion. Ministry of Industry Investment and Commerce, $20 million. And you'll recall that Minister Hill helped um businesses uh in border if I recall to put their shops back together. Ministry of Energy 1.5 there was quite a bit of damage at Petetrojam, Ministry of Local Government and Community Development 4.6 billion. Uh that's a total of 29.4 billion. Then you add to that the 24 billion that was loaned to JP JPS and that brings you to 53.6 billion in the third supplementary. In the fourth supplementary um there was three billion um at the Ministry of Finance um Ministry of Labor 10 million sorry 10 billion right and that was for all the roofs um the roof program Ministry of Health and Wellness 400 million which takes us to 13.4 four when you add those two numbers with 67 67 billion. All right. And then my third topic has to do with the um the issue that came up in parliament around FSC. But before I get to that, I want to say that I'm pleased to report significant progress on the regulatory reforms that I announced in my budget speech to mobilize long-term local capital for productive investments. Our objective is clear. Unlock patient longdated resources while preserving financial stability. on pensions. We will proceed with the first phase to relax private asset limits from 5% to 7 and a half% on July 1, 2026. So, in a matter of days, releasing meaningful long-term capital for corporate and project financing and we remain on course to reach 10% on April 1, 2027, subject to any regulatory review. We're also updating insure investment eligibility to broaden access to sound domestic corporate debt. Uh the FSE has indicated that the proposed amendments are expected to be with the drafters by uh end the end of this week. And I want to thank the financial services commission for its diligence and the elacrity with which they took this up. We will continue to consult the central bank and stakeholders to implement these reforms in a calibrated stability preserving manner and together we will channel savings into productive inclusive growth. Um and then as to the specific question that came up in parliament, you will know that from time to time and based on government's revenue requirements, the financial sector may request distribution of surpluses, reserves or financial investments in excess of requirements for working capital from self- financing agencies. Such requests are generally made after an assessment of the agency's financial position to ensure that any distribution will not undermine the entity's viability. Based on the strength of the FSE's balance sheet and based on the projections of the institution, both the FSE and the ministry had a joint understanding that the 500 million distribution would be granted. Additionally, the ministry had committed then to ensuring um that we remain in close contact with the FSE. Of course, we always will and in the case of any financing needs from the FSC, uh we stand ready and we did uh put that in writing to the FSC. So, uh, there is no risk to the viability of the FSE from the $500 million distribution. Thank you so much.

Thank you very much, Minister. You heard the her outlining how much money has been allocated to various ministries and it has been a lot of money that has been allocated for hurricane relief related efforts and we want to thank her and the ministry and she also went into some details on a few other important things that are in the public domain. Um we will take some questions after all of the ministers are finished. Um and remember we do have um Jamaica Customs Agency here too. So you can um direct questions in that direction also. So up next is the wonderful Minister of Health and Wellness and other things who is going to come and give you his update. Welcome Minister. Thank you very much Madame Minister. And just to be clear, I'm not on the market. Okay. Um but I am encouraging it. That's for sure. Okay. So good morning to you all. So many of you here uh just to recognize my team who are well populated in the audience. Um I want to just single out professor elder sharer who uh is here as part of the team even though she's an independent um professional but I'll I I'll get back to her role later and if if there are questions I'm sure she'll take the rest of the team. Who are you Dr. Dawkins? Right. and um my other team members. I want to recognize my colleagues of course um my minister of finance and the public service who has a little sniffling and so on. So please um treat her good. Okay. And of course um the man with the plan for those who have been impacted Charles Jr. um from Goodtos I want to recognize him and their teams. So my my my intervention was is is primarily around what we have done to date and I I really want to pay tribute to the healthcare workers um during this this period of hurricane Melissa in the immediate aftermath indeed prior to and then in the immediate aftermath and then what's happening here uh now if you really think about it we didn't have a lot of complaints as it relates to health response And hospitals were damaged, health centers were damaged. Over 100 health centers, all the hospitals in the zone were damaged. Many had to be abandoned. Black River for example. And healthcare workers were were impacted. So the National Health Emergency Operations Center was quick on the draw certainly before the hurricane as we normally do to to actualize the plan and to mobilize the center. We deployed some 604 um international medical personnel along with our healthcare workers well over 500. These are those that went into the zone and the zone meaning of course the five parishes from St. Elizabeth through to uh Hanover and including West Milan of course and Trilani and um which other one? Well, parts of Saintan and and a little piece of Manchester also. So we we quickly were in touch with the NOS's with the external support and we were able to give them credentials to come in. So we had a a real army supported by that team and it took some effort and resources in some instances. We rescued some 96 Jamaicans from life-threatening injuries. Many had to be airlifted uh with the help of the JDF. 10 persons and an additional eight in the first 72 hours. and and so we saved lives the team and we attended more than 8,900 persons in our makeshifts A&E and temporary posts that were established taking care of some 3,000 patients who were in hospital along that belt in the first 24 hours even with leaking roofs rearranging ward space moving people out and in um providing them with meals when cafeteria you know it was a site when you visited Trilani Falmouth Hospital and saw the cooks outside under the elements preparing meals for the patients literally while rain falling them out there because there was nowhere to the kitchen had lost its roof. um we attended we we so we took care about 3,300 patients that were already admitted and the first week we deployed a field hospital um and catered to about 42 NOS's many of them coming into the country uh you may recall that within 5 days we had a full-fledged hospital at the Black River High School because Black River Hospital had to be abandoned and it's and it wasn't a tent It was a high-tech hospital that was flown in, transported. It had A&E, it had an operating theater, it had a pharmacy equipped, it had ward space, and it had doctors. And again, that took a lot of organizing. Um, we never had a deni outbreak, which you know, again, we underestimate that, but it is normally automatic after such a weather storm to have waterbornne illnesses. We had leptospirrosis, but it was short-lived because the team was deployed. 177 public health inspectors and we controlled that. It could have been a lot worse uh in places like St. James, Montego Bay, Katherine Hall where the mud and the dirt and everything came down with the flooding. And we had 1,100 vector control workers to visit homes to spray, to treat water. and we did not have a deni outbreak which is which is phenomenal uh in the positive and then we had 3,000 healthcare workers who were themselves victims. One of the dilemas we had to confront was that there were workers who were marooned in their communities or trapped in the hospital. They didn't know what was happening at their homes. They just heard by the way and we had to coordinate that communication in terms of the response. Um since the passage we have three phases that we we have worked on. Um relief, rehabilitate and to reconstruct. The phase one of the program focused on restoring essential services in the primary, secondary and tertiary levels uh to protect the population from outbreaks which are normal normal risks in these times. Phase two is to organize into four integrated components designed to restore infrastructure, strengthen resilience and advance the health care system reform. So we saw in the disaster an opportunity not just to restore but to build and we went to cabinet early and the cabinet in their wisdom led by the honorable prime minister gave us permission with a plan that the team constructed even before the hurricane but certainly refined after uh to establish a unit. We have a couple members of the unit here uh Mr. Pam and Mr. Chin who is now built out similar to the narrow establishment although everything will fall on the narrow but we were quick on the draw because of the sensitive nature of health and the fact that lives depended on it despite the inconvenience of everybody if you don't have a functional hospital or health center people will die and the cabinet gave us the quick go ahead with the support of the ministers minister of finance to move that so the phase is one we have been able to put in place and restore these facilities where they can be restored. I must say that it's not perfect and maybe even not so comfortable. So, for example, repairing a roof, a zinc roof on a on a health center going into the summer, it will get hot until we can properly restore and the team is looking at doing some things there. Phase two, we focus on the modernization of Sablamar Hospital um and other entities that we have been working on. Uh Sablamar Hospital had a plan. We're casting out the plan to build a new A&E and that will you will see groundbroken on that soon. And then phase three using the PAHO smart health facilities we have invested and have started to assess 101 health centers in the zone 41 facilities under the primary healthcare reform agenda to expand service capacity improve patient flow and enhance infrastructure and those have commenced. We have engaged engineering firms. I think it's about four or five of them and they're in the field working now. And component four is to estab would have been to establish the the project execution unit which I spoke to earlier. So the current situation quickly with much effort and some resources was is is as follows. We are in receipt of 64 briefs of the 101 health centers to be repaired under the phase um of building back and building back stronger. Design firms are working to complete the remaining as we move to reviewing and validating the design briefs and respective regional and parish health teams. The next steps will be to move the construction drawings and tendering process for these health centers. So we have we we did temporary makeshift restoration but then the team went in to check the walls the integrity of the wall to see if the building should be abandoned should it be rebuilt and also in the case where we need to do some expansion recommendations were made according to that still some process to go. Some of the health centers are not owned by the government. So we have land issues to sort out, space issues to sort out, but the team is on the ground and working. The long-term view is to move to address with these work waterproofing and leak control, power continuity and life safety, ventilation, cooling and um IPC upgrade across the clinical areas. The governance and risk management we I want to advise that the program will be governed by a program steering committee. This program it is being governed which provides strategic oversight and accountability approve plans and scope changes review progress risk oversee procurement strategy uh to ensure that under the smart facil facility there is a sort of regulatory oversight uh arrangement. So we have a project steering committee that is chaired by engineer Mr. David Chung and includes the chief medical officer Jacqueline Bisa McKenzie chief program officer in the office of the permanent secretary Miss Kadian Burch chief technical director Dr. Paul Wright technical director for health infrastructure and project management and Miss Devita McLaren of the Western Regional Health Authority RD and Mr. Michael Bent of Sierra the two regions that have been impacted. That team is supported by exopicio members Mr. Ian Stein of the Paho who WHO headed in Jamaica here um and Mr. Carl McKenzie Chin who is here in the audience uh you probably won't recognize him by his name um right Carl right but um he's the program director right so uh he is the man driving the the coordination of the unit okay now in terms of expenditure the government through the ministry of finance has has extended some $3.82 82 billion dollars in repair works at the affected health centers and hospitals which has positively impacted a number of services and indeed Jamaicans. It is estimated that some 300,000 Jamaicans would have been served from the initial expenditure and it was bad. I mean you you've heard the news on Cornwall where large sections of the roof had gone. we had to replace those. Um, we lost the maternity ward at Noel Holmes and the staff accommodation and I could go on and on. Uh, so 3.8 billion so far. Uh, 300,000 Jamaicans we feel have been impacted. The staff welfare, some 2,600 healthcare workers were assessed as needing support with the majority from western and southern regions and we have had a multi-dimensional approach to giving them psychosocial support. some funding support, you know, basic materials and so on to help them to risk be restored both mentally and and materially to continue the important frontline work that they do. Some of the tangible efforts we've organized a series of healthcare workers fair which gave healthcare workers opportunity to replace lost or damaged documents including passports, birth certificates, land title, TRN. We arranged with different agencies to meet because many of them lost some of their important personal documents, supported workers, counseling and human resource management provision through employee assisted program, coordinated the distribution of care packages uh through the regional authorities and cleanup activities in major health sites. Um what was heartening about this is that we bust people from the unaffected areas into the affected areas and had work days and that was quite heartening because people came together to help each other. Phase three quickly is we'll focus on strategic reconstruction which is a more long-term so we're looking at site analysis consultancy that has been signed supported by the interamerican development bank. We're now doing a ecological study on Black River, Falmouth, Trilani No, sorry, Noel Holmes in Hanover to determine even while we repair for services to be resumed whether the long-term strategic direction should be relocating those institutions which are right on the coastline. Uh the IDB is supporting that. I think they have allocated um maybe 100,000 US or something like that, I'm not sure to that study and that study is now taking place. That will become now the basis on which we determine where we go in terms of some of that relocation. Um and that is in keeping similarly with the secondary care reform that will take place. So in summary on this I think and again I'm probably not the best person to judge ourselves. You have to be the determinant of that. But I'm not going to speak for myself. I'm just a servant. But I'm speaking for the people who are on the ground and I must say that the team under the circumstances did very well and we need to celebrate them for the efforts because lives many more lives could have been lost um if it weren't for the immediate response and yes we had to spend resources but that's the nature of an emergency. I think maybe the COVID experience also sharpened up our emergency response and we will keep the public informed in the next few weeks. My intention is to report from a parish by parish basis as to the extent of the final assessment of health centers and hospital. So Black River for example is now putting on back the roof. The operating theater is finished. uh they're going to be working on the admin ward now wing or area, but we should be able to move back patients in the two male and female wards within weeks and it's looking very nice and they're slabbing the roof, so hopefully no more hurricane damage and I could go on and on. So, we're going to be doing that kind of reporting over the next couple of weeks uh as we go along. I want to turn quickly to Ebola. Um since the release of the ministry's public service announcement on Monday, May 25th, ministry can confirm that nine passengers from several flights into the country had a travel history associated with the affected countries. The these individuals had received counseling from the airport health desk placed under mandatory self quarantine and are being monitored by the respective health departments. Importantly, all nine passengers have not manifested any symptoms associated with Ebola. Therefore, transmission is not likely and there is no risk as it relates to the other passengers on these flights. I think that second part is very important. I don't want a rumor to start that nine people in Jamaica have symptoms of Ebola. That's not the case. It is the precaution that is necessary in keeping with our international obligation. They are coming from countries that are impacted. They have been vetted by port health as is the customary uh practice particularly when we're on alert as we are and they are engaged in self quarantining. And don't worry about the self quarantining. You may ask how we know. We have 23,000 health workers throughout the country at the level of parishes and they will be visited. I can guarantee you that. So we will monitor that but there is no symptoms and indeed no suspicion or suspected case except for the precaution that's necessary. So the risk to Jamaica remains low. The scale and trajectory of the outbreak warrants enhanced preparedness measures in accordance with our WHO recommendation for countries assessed as having low risk of importation. So in keeping with the WHO temporary recommendation issued to countries at low risk, we have intensified preparedness activities aimed at ensuring the early detection, reporting and safe management of any potentially imported cases. The ministry has adopted a riskbased approach as we normally do um enforcing the first line of defense which is the points of entry and the measurement for containment of persons who may be infected to include the following enhance vigilance in the surveillance system. So you may have to be stopped and interrogated at the airport or at the ports, the ship, the cruise ships and we have the authority in law so to do and and persons should be prepared for that if they are at a risk. Enhance coordination among border agencies, sensitizing frontline personnel, reinforcing standard infection prevention and control measures, assessing readiness at the designated points of entry and isolation. As part of these preparedness efforts, assessment and sensitization activities were conducted at Jamaica's major ports of entry, including the two international airports, the historic Falmouth cruise ship pair and Port Authority of Jamaica. In addition, preparedness meetings and sanitization sessions were held. key stakeholders including medical officer of of health, senior medical officers, regional technical directors, immigration officers, islandwide senior management representative of the Port of Jamaica, Port Authority, and other crucial public health and border management personnel. To date, we have sensitized some 1,100 key personnel from these institutions and agencies have been and have been sensitized and reminded the role and functions regarding the current Ebola outbreak and Jamaica's preparedness arrangement. Uh we have a good emergency response team. I think our health team and I think I think they deserve again recognition. Um, previously announced, uh, keeping with our port entry surveillance protocol, the health team in Jamaica's at Jamaica's ports of entry have ramped up surveillance and travel to transmitted from countries which are affected by Ebola to last 21 days, sorry, who have traveled to transited through Ebola affected countries, you are likely to be quarantined. So those who have intentions to travel, you know, we know because the flight itinerary is communicated to us. You don't need to declare. We know um and you are going to be quarantined. So maybe you should avoid it or be prepared for the consequences after the fact in the interest of yourself and the country. So we're urging you to review your travel plans and avoid traveling to trans or transiting through affected country. Um again I repeat in closing of this section that Jamaica remains Ebola free. Jamaica remains Ebola free. Knockwood and give God thanks and ask for guidance. All right. The final point I want to raise is on the community arrange response efforts which is why Profer is here. So if you have questions she's the best one to ask after. So you may have heard the the sectoral where we announced a social determinance of health agenda. the care agenda and we have commenced in earnest to do a few things. Um we have outlined a community arrange response um that looks at a number of areas in keeping with the primary community healthcare approach. It's one thing to build hospitals and health centers but that's curative. we have to prevent and so we have to attack the supply and the demand side and some of the obvious things that we ignore are the major causes of us hospitalization but in this instance we're pleased to announce that we began work in the area of around healthy aging we have an aging population um numbering some 200 and 35 275 375 and in another 20 years or so we're going to go well over 400 500,000. It it's by the way it includes some of us right so we have a direct interest in making sure we take care of our aging and we don't say old people by the way we say aging okay the right protocol so on Tuesday I attended and participated in a series of training of trainer workshops looking at the role of caregivers for older persons or aging persons. This initiative is led by as I said professor El Demaya Sher and her team at the Muna Aging and Wellness Center with the support from the University of the West Indies and the Interamerican Development Bank. Um and you know the the approach here in the first instance is to train unpaid caregivers. I want this to register. There are about a 100 to 150,000 Jamaicans in Jamaica who are aunties, uncles, cousins, neighbors, church brother, church sister who look after their neighbor, who are their brother's keepers. And it's it's a fundamental feature of community and family that we need to preserve and enhance. They are not paid even if they're given a stipen without them. Those persons who are stroke victims, autistic children, you know, people who have had heart attack, people who are just old with multiple chronic illnesses, can't turn, can't cook, can't clean up the house, who just want company because they're lonely and they need someone to talk to. We have to get to the point where we encourage a more compassionate society, a gentler society. As a country, we have become very individualistic. It's just about me, myself and I. And these unpaid caregivers are actual heroes that often times go unnoticed. So we are tackling that by helping them to be more effective and recognizing them in the process. and Profer who is a geriatric physician is driving that and we're training trainers first and in due course we're going to be issuing a call across the country through the faith-based organizations and others to participate in these online training. I should mention we're coordinating with the Ministry of Education to use their facilities whether heart or schools and want to thank the minister. She has been extremely supportive of the effort. Um and we will be coming to a location near you and of course how can I forget the ministry and minister of labor who has a welfare social welfare component to supporting the aging. So it's a truly collaborative effort. involving all of us. I saw a minister there working out in Montego Bay recently with um you know he looked like the younger one there but a because of his hairstyle. I'm not sure but he was having a good time with a senior's walk and workout in Montego Bay and that's something that we're going to do a lot more of. We have to come to terms with taking care of those who took care of us pretty much and more will be said on that. But the aging process is approaching 400,000 Jamaicans and will continue and we want to help them and help those who are helping them. Uh as I said, international estimates suggest that almost 75% of long-term care is provided by family members and community caregivers. quietly, selflessly supporting their loved ones each day. And um you know, with an estimated 150,000 or so, we we're we have to help them so they know the meals to prepare, purchase food and medication, transportation to clinics, help with bathroom, dressing, feeding, mobility, manage appointments, and offer emotional support and companionship. And that's the the approach to this um um care agenda training that we're going to be embarking on. Uh the principles of it and I'm almost finished will be to launch in a more systemic way a pilot geriatric clinic in Saint An and St. Katherine. We have identified two sites. We're working those. So when you go to those geriatric clinic it will have all the supporting ecosystem for people to go up without stairs bathroom friendly seating arrangement plus the doctors are trained to support geriatric care and the idea is to roll those out across the country and indeed to give support through the community health aids in homes in preparation for an aging society. So it's a fundamental thing that you'll hear more about. So we're launching those. We're training the workers to support it. Strengthening the partnerships with the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, National Council for Senior Citizens, local authorities, faith-based organizations, community groups to create an integrated approach. And that's going to be the care fund, 500 million. There's a call for proposal on the 15th of June. We're going to be hosting an event in Kingston. And I think they're moving around the country where non-governmental organizations can actually apply. We're teaming up with the friendly societies, cooperative friendly societies. You have to be registered and governed as a NGO and you can access funding with an appropriate proposal to be part of the outreach around the the wider agenda of the social determinance. Um, and that's through the care fund. Uh the the only final thing I'll say is that we are moving on a number of other things under this social agenda. Uh in another two weeks we'll be unveiling a study which is almost complete on the impact of social media on our population and gauging the public sentiments around the possibility of restriction um for age cohorts up to 16. uh we're doing a national survey both quantitative and qualitative. I do intend to take that to cabinet the results with some recommendations and that's a conversation that we hope to promote in communities as part of the discussion. The same is to be said for studies being done on special Roman energy drink. Um other paraphamilia paraphernalia that are not typical drugs, new emerging drugs, the Mallay and the other stuff, vaping, um all of those things are going to be part of the agenda going forward as we seek to engage communities. Thank you very much. Wow, that was a lot. The minister is working really, really hard. Your your sectoral presentation was very good, minister. There was a lot that was in there and um wherever we can help, we know in the Ministry of Education, we will help because um the work you're doing is really important, extremely important. Um I'm going to move very quickly to Minister Charles and he's going to be very quick. he said um because he's been here a lot lately and so he's going to just give you an update on what's happening with his spend and then um we'll go into the questions. Thank you minister. Good morning everybody. Good morning colleague ministers permanent secretaries professor elder sher and all. Just to indicate since I'm here, I think it's important to note that the Ministry of Labor and Social Security was represented well at the International Labor Organization Conference in Geneva recently. We still have uh some of our uh representatives there continuing in the drafting of the platform economy standards that should be now for all of the members of the ILO. But in synopsis, uh Jamaica took a leading position in terms of representing not only uh the position through our national statement but also representing CARARCOM leading on the areas of social dialogue and tripartism which relate to the way government, employers and employees, workers come together uh to ensure that the labor lab market and the workforce continue to be strong. We also led in discussions relating to labor migration, just transition um and specifically the platform economy when we met with the director general um and asserted the position of the Caribbean to to get more resources as we continue to develop our environment to be able to confront the uncertainties, climate change, technological transformation, including artificial intelligence and other things that will impact positively and negatively the workforce. So just to indicate that in relation to the ISO conference, it was successful on our behalf. Uh in relation to the hurricane Melissa, I want to announce that today we launch minister uh HARP. HARP is the humanitarian assistance relief platform that has been developed by the ministry. And let me use the opportunity to to give particular acknowledgement to Miss Lana FY and to the other members of the MIS team and our permanent secretary um and others who have worked very hard night and day through all the frustration and calls from their minister to get this done. Um and we really want to say a big thank you to them. Again the work that we do um is sometimes not fully understood. Uh we have been working on the ground since hurricane burial when it comes on to the accelerated pace at the ministry and it has not stopped and so I want to acknowledge that team. So today we begin uh the pilot phase of HARP which will be uh the tool utilized by the ministry to organize phase two which is the phase where we are validating those persons who could not be verified earlier because of whatever the issue is whether it's TRN issues or phone number wrong or a building cluster issue or a duplication issue whatever the issue is through HARP We will have our team members out or we have them out already uh to gather that information um and it is designed to drive the authorization and authentication and to support user validation and to really now assist us in rectifying the issues and getting people their money. Remember in phase two it is direct deposit. Um and if persons don't have banking information or don't have any bank account we will be encouraging them working with the banks to assist them in any way possible. And if they choose not to then we'll find another methodology to get them their funding. So we are well ahead in that regard. We have a little under 5,000 uh of the remaining amounts that have been cleaned and are ready to be paid and so we will be contacting uh using a number of mechanisms to get the banking information and get those persons their money. So in that regard I want to make it clear we will be in the field as we've said the team will be out we will publish a schedule to advise earlier we will collaborate with the members of parliament with the counselors with the community leaders to ensure that all persons are aware of where we will be when we will be there. So you can come, you can be able to bring your identification information, rectify your issue and get yourself validated to receive your funds. We will also be in the communities which means there are some persons who because of the nature of the issue for instance a building cluster issue that cannot be rectified by us simply seeing you at a location. we have to come directly to the um to the location where the residence is or was um and that is also being done. We also have persons who are coming into the parish offices particularly if they have a simple issue for instance a tearing issue where the ter number was wrong or the the name was wrongly spelled or you have lost your phone. U many many thousands of persons fall into those categories. you you'd be surprised to know how many um I give you a number for instance persons who have only meaning no other issue but just tear in almost 9,000 okay so those persons will have the opportunity to come into the parish office um and rectify your issue there um and of course if it is that you'll be receiving through direct deposit you'll be asked to sign a client authorization form which will give the approval to the ministry. And lastly, we will have persons from the ministry's team contacting some of the household representatives by phone. No one will ask you going forward for your banking information over the phone. Uh if someone from the ministry calls, and please, this is very important to be clear. If someone from the ministry calls, they will provide you with the instructions of how to receive your your client authorization form and you will uh be guided to provide that information to us uh via email to an official email that will end with mlss.gov.jm. So that's the update in relation to roofs in relation to the spend minister which I know you wanted me to speak on. uh Minister Williams really spoke to it which was that the Ministry of Labor and Social Security received more than 10 billion um and in terms of allocation and to date we have expended um exactly the figure over 10 billion 10 billion 31,441,855 and very important 22 cents. Uh that includes the 9.5 billion on on the roofs program. It includes the prepositioning of food supplies, post hurricane food procurement and distribution, emergency response operations, administrative expenses including bank fees, administrative costs incurred, the cost to procure um support and resources, vehicles to facilitate staff in in assessing the affected persons and also 152 million that was received uh through UNICEF for grant support to PATH households and persons with disabilities. You'd also recall that there is there are sorry additional amounts that were related to Hurricane Melissa um that were connected to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security and I give you an example uh being the World Food Program funding which is not in this because it's not related to our budget but there are several other churches um stakeholders and partners as well that have allocated through their budgets, millions, I'd say up into the billions um that come together to be part of the comprehensive support that was given to the several persons impacted by Hurricane Melissa. This represents one of, if not the largest social protection, humanitarian assistance and disaster recovery intervention ever undertaken uh by this ministry. And so as we move forward again, we remain focused on completing the validation and payment process for those persons who remain outstanding. Um strengthening accountability and oversight mechanisms and to ensure that no eligible Jamaican is left behind in this recovery effort. Minister, record time. Thank you very much, Minister. Um, you know, you've been coming here a lot because a lot of Jamaicans want to know what's happening with repairs and or social outreach to those in the West. And I want to thank you and the team for everything that you're doing. One of the good things about Postc is that you have ministers here who can address issues as they come up. And one issue has come up while we're here in post CAB relating to NHF. And so, Minister Tuftton is going to come and just give you a quick um update on that and then we'll open for questions. Remember, we have an official funeral that we'll need to close off quickly for. Right. Thank you very much, uh, Minister. So, um, there is a something circulating about uh um a breach of the database at the uh the the National Health Fund. uh uh there there there has been some communication um from some deviant uh around this breach. So the NHF has confirmed receipt of a threat from a hacker group claiming to have access to some of the data. It's not yet confirmed even though they have indicated some of the data that they say they have. It's not yet confirmed. Moreover, enough evidence was gathered to require an a the agency to report the incident to to the office of information commissioner. That's a an area falling under Minister Wheatley's portfolio. Additionally, the team has reached out to Mocha to update them on their on the situation and they'll engage with the relevant agencies further for support with the investigation. uh just to assure the public that the immediate steps have been taken to reinforce security protocols and hardening of the organization security posture is ongoing. Um what's this data? This data is about medication and you know maybe who benefits from what type of medication. It's confidential data. We don't reveal our history of medication administration and um we do get attacks on a daily basis just as the banks do and so on. But I I just wanted to raise this to the public because something is being circulated in this space. Thank you. All right. Thank you very much minister and I'm going to take the questions from the media now. I'm going to just take all the questions given the issues we have with with time um from from the media. Good morning. Morning everyone. Mahiri Stewart Nationwide News here. Question for Minister Morris Dixon. State Minister of Finance Xavier Maine told a JTA forum I believe yesterday that the government due to fiscal constraints can't by itself fund the education sector and he suggested something of a layered approach in terms of fixing that issue. From your standpoint as education minister, what do you think needs to be done to plug that gap that the government can't fill? Okay. All right. Do you have anything for Minister Tuftton yet? We're just taking all the questions. Okay.

Sarah Burton, good morning. 18 degrees north. This message, I mean this set of questions, excuse me, is for Minister Tuftton. I wanted to ask regarding the CEO of the University Hospital of the West Indies. what role you had in supporting the appointment of Fitzgerald Mitchell. two, there was a PAC hearing where the former chairman of the board of the University Hospital of the West Indies suggested said that you overturned a decision that they made to essentially move on from Fitzgerald Mitchell and that you were responsible for reinstating him. Is that true? Do you continue to support Carl Bruce as the chief doctor of the UHWI despite senior doctors and nurses complaining about his management style? All right. Thank you. So I'll start with the education one and that's a a complex one in terms of funding of education and through the education transformationation oversight committee that is actively being looked at and I'm actually working on some new arrangements in relation to funding. So in another couple weeks you're going to hear how we're funding schools and it's really interesting and very very different. So please tune in and come to Postc. I'll probably do it here. Um but you know there there different views on it because you know Capri did a study recently and their view is largely that um it's not really a matter of under spend. It's really a matter of are we getting the results from all the spend that we do. Um, and so there are different ways to look at it. And when I talk to a lot of parents, they feel that there are issues in the system that's not leading to the results that we want and that we need to address some of those and it's not really a matter of funding. And so through the education transformation oversight committee that's being looked at but also right now in the ministry we're actually moving around budget so that we can fund in a different way fundamentally different than we've been doing it in in the past and I think that will address some of the the issues too but again that one is going to be based on results because you can't just keep putting money at um an area and not get the results that Jamaica needs to see. So sometimes it's not more money, it's really efficiency of that spend. So tune in for more information on that one. Um, Minister Tuftton, you have the floor.

Thank you very much. Um, okay. So the the answer to the first question is quite simple. ministers don't appoint CEOs and any cursory investigation will reveal how CEOs are appointed. Um, and that hopefully should address any concern over my involvement. Secondly, ministers don't appoint chief medical officers either. Um, I think that's his title, Dr. Bruce, either chief medical or medical chief of staff. Um, and I believe he held that position before I became minister. So um again that should clarify that. The third question about the chairman, the former chairman's uh statement at the PAC. I believe if you had followed the PAC matters, the subsequent meeting after that, uh there were evidential documentation read out at the PAC that um made it very clear that the board at no point took any decision either around recommending an appointment and something as significant as that I would imagine would find its way at the board level. I'm not on the board. I can only go by what is read and um therefore that should to overrule something that never took place. Clearly there's an issue there. But you know as I said it may have been not remembering exactly what happened. I gave the former chairman the benefit of the doubt. I'm not one to condemn people but I think clarity is important and I believe clarity was had. Thank you. All right. Thank you very much, Minister. Uh Minister Williams had to leave because um she had a meeting with um another group. Negotiation time. And so we have to close out because of the official funeral this morning. And so just um just as a reminder, 67 billion spent across ministers. Minister Tuftton would have gone into Ebola. There is no Ebola here in Jamaica. Um we also have um our minister of labor and social security talking about new initiatives. So even though they've gone so far with the um roof program and all of the work there, he was announcing the new HARP program um which is their their new database that they are they're also launching and system that they're launching. Um you also got an update on the NHF issue in terms of uh data breach. Um there is also just to note we have some students here and other members of the media. When we close you do have the customs agency here you have the ministers here you have Dr. Elder Maya Sharer here you have people from the ministry of education. So there are many people here who can answer additional questions that you may have. Um as we close out today we're having the official funeral for the honorable Hugh Hart and for the young people here. He served in the Senate on two occasions from 1972 to 1976 and again from 1983 to 1989. He was also appointed to the cabinet as Minister of Mining and Energy and he also served at the same time as Minister of Tourism. Very interesting um portfolios. And then last week, Saturday, we had the official funeral for former senator and he was a minister in the Ministry of Economic Growth, Leslie Campbell. And so we're losing a lot of or stalwarts, you know, persons who've served a lot. And as you young people are here, I ask you to look on the lives that these persons lived, lives of service. And I'm hoping that some of you will one day take on that baton and move forward in terms of governance. That's why you're invited every week. So we have young people here every week because we want them to aspire to be Minister Tuftton, Minister Charles, and we also have Minister Roda Moy Crawford. That's what we want and that's why you're here. And so as we close out today and as we celebrate the lives of those who have served this country so well, as always, I say may God continue to bless Jamaica, land we love. Thank you all.