Holness tells Guyanese-based Jamaicans efficiency must drive Jamaica's next phase of growth

Prime Minister Andrew Holness told members of the Jamaican diaspora in Guyana that national development depends less on mineral wealth than on disciplined choices about how resources are used, as he outlined Jamaica's economic recovery, security gains, and planned investments in health and education.

Speaking alongside Foreign Affairs officials and Senator Orin Hill, Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Holness praised High Commissioner to Trinidad Natalie Rodriguez Campbell for handling diplomatic and consular matters affecting Jamaicans overseas. He noted that many in the audience were medical students, with others working in oil and gas, hospitality, and administration.

Holness contrasted Guyana's management of its forests and offshore oil and gas with Jamaica's history of bauxite revenues, saying President Irfaan Ali showed visionary leadership in structuring wealth for the long term. He said Jamaica was exploring a promising offshore petroleum system but was not betting its future on oil, arguing that efficiency in public administration was the resource that separated prosperous countries from poor ones with vast minerals.

Holness said Jamaica had stabilised its economy after years of debt and austerity, with steady exchange rates, interest rates, and inflation. Dividends from that management, he said, had funded a tripling of the national security budget, expansion of the Jamaica Constabulary Force to its 14,000-member establishment, and tools including body-worn cameras and CCTV. He said the murder rate had fallen from 54 to 24 per 100,000, with focus shifting from organised gang violence to social conflict and intimate partner violence through a new peace portfolio and restorative justice programmes.

On health, he said no major hospital had been built for decades until recent work at Cornwall Regional, Kingston Public Hospital, Spanish Town Hospital, and facilities under the National Asset Recovery programme. On education, government plans seven new schools, including six STEM academies and one arts institution, operating outside the standard Education Act to secure strong leadership and modern facilities.

The gathering also recognised Sister Marie Harper, a Jamaican Ursuline nun and founder of Georgetown's Marian Academy, for decades of contribution to education in Guyana.