Holness Urges Jamaican Diaspora in Guyana to Embrace Efficiency as National Resource

Prime Minister Andrew Holness addressed members of the Jamaican diaspora in Guyana on June 26, opening with praise for President Irfaan Ali as a visionary leader whose approach to Guyana's resource wealth, he said, could secure that country's future for decades.

Holness contrasted Guyana's oil-driven transformation with Jamaica's own path. Jamaica has not found commercial oil, though exploration continues and official briefings describe a promising offshore petroleum system. He cautioned against banking national hopes on hydrocarbons, noting Jamaica once relied on bauxite for decades and that development depends less on what a country is given than on how leaders and citizens manage it.

The prime minister argued that efficiency—not minerals—is Jamaica's most important resource. Citing Singapore's rise from a similar starting point roughly 60 years ago, he said no efficient country remains poor and that sustainable growth requires a capable public bureaucracy. He urged Jamaicans, including students in the audience, to treat respect for time, structure, and disciplined effort as core national values, and acknowledged Jamaica ranks among the least productive economies in the region.

Holness described Jamaica as in an early phase of economic recovery after 15 years of austerity that cut debt, stabilised the exchange rate, inflation, and interest rates, and freed resources for social priorities. Security spending has tripled; Jamaica Constabulary Force strength has risen from just under 11,000 to its 14,000-member establishment, with recruitment now outpacing attrition. He said the murder rate has fallen from 54 to 24 per 100,000, though he noted El Salvador's rate is now roughly three to four per 100,000. Policy now targets organised gang violence while a new Peace portfolio in the Ministry of National Security addresses social violence, including intimate partner abuse and conflict fuelled by corporal punishment.

Dividends from economic management, he said, are funding hospitals and schools neglected for decades. Plans include rebuilding Cornwall Regional, adding a new wing at Kingston Public Hospital, expanding Spanish Town Hospital, completing the Chinese-funded Western Regional Adolescent Hospital, and rebuilding Black River, Noel Holmes, and Falmouth hospitals under NARA. Seven new schools—one arts-focused and six STEM academies—will be built outside the standard Education Act framework to ensure strong leadership and modern facilities.