Holness Tells Diaspora Efficiency and Cultural Shift Will Shape Jamaica's Next Phase

Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has said Jamaica's next stage of advancement will need more than stronger growth figures and public-sector investment alone.

Addressing members of the Jamaican diaspora in Guyana, he contended that sustained progress will turn on how the country handles work and the fight against crime.

Holness maintained that Jamaica's long-run prosperity rests not only on disciplined economic stewardship, but also on a broad reset of national culture, workplace discipline, and output.

He laid out his administration's aim of building a Jamaica that is sturdier, safer, and more economically buoyant.

"There is a particular resource. It is natural but it is not naturally occurring. It is not in the ground. It is not in the air. It is a resource that we create by how we act. And that resource is called efficiency. Jamaican people – very efficient because yes when we go abroad and people see us they say, 'Jamaican people hardworking' that's a cultural thing isn't it so what is wrong with getting efficiency as a cultural identification of Jamaicans that's what we need as a resource."

The Prime Minister said improved fiscal standing has given the government room to channel substantial funds into public safety.

"The dividend from good economic management, we then used it to pump into security. We tripled the national security budget. We transformed the JCF and the JDF. The JCF is the premier law enforcement institution in the English-speaking Caribbean. No, no one can contest that. Countries are calling us asking us to come and assist in policing in their jurisdictions, and we are we're helping."

Holness also said the next leg of national development will lean heavily on updating the education system.

"So, we're building new schools with the upfront understanding that we have to turn these into academies with a system that is quite different from the current education act, to ensure that we get the best quality school leaders in these institutions."