Holness outlines plans for local roads, urban renewal, crime, informal settlements

PRIME MINISTER and leader of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Andrew Holness says his government is working to further reduce crime, deliver improved community roads, provide more dignified housing for more Jamaicans, and implement a widescale urban renewal programme.

In making these remarks, Holness said his approach has always been to listen and respond to the needs of the Jamaican people.

“If roads are the people’s concern, then the government must pay attention to that,” he said.

In this regard, the prime minister called attention to the multibillion-dollar Shared Prosperity Through Accelerated Improvement to our Road Network programme to address local road infrastructure.

He said, for the first time in a long time, through effective economic management, the Government is in a position to respond to the needs of the people as they have articulated them, including making budgetary allocations to address local roads.

“The only way we could credibly address Jamaica’s road infrastructure was to address our economic condition,” Holness said.

Noting that many roads have not been repaired in over 30 years, with many even longer, the prime minister said there is an extensive plan to address some of Jamaica’s long-neglected roads.

However, he said that having gotten the country to this point where it has recorded economic stability, there are opportunistic calls to spend without regard by those who failed in their time to create the fiscal space for social and infrastructural development. In their time, Holness said, they could not make those investments and would have had to borrow to do it, and even so, they still failed to deliver for the Jamaican people.

Nevertheless, Holness said he remains focused on spending in the best interest of the people and will be turning his attention to community roads and related infrastructure that directly impact citizens. He said while many Jamaicans are happy with the massive investments being made in major roadways and infrastructure, many feel they are being bypassed in their local jurisdictions.

The prime minister also said that the decades-old problem of informal settlement as a consequence of historical land distribution disparities is being addressed. He pointed to a pilot programme now under way that will identify lands for the construction of subsidised housing for Jamaicans who live informally on lands. He spoke to the mandate of the National Housing Trust (NHT), which he noted since its establishment, has not delivered 150,000 houses for Jamaicans. He said it is the JLP administration that has put the NHT to work to build more houses and make housing more affordable and more accessible to more Jamaicans.

Meanwhile, Holness discussed improving Jamaican towns in rural and urban areas to increase ease and convenience for citizens. He promised to ensure effective town planning and eliminating what he described as hodgepodge developments, which make many of Jamaica’s towns chaotic and dysfunctional.

Regarding crime, Holness enumerated the massive investments made in human resources, infrastructure, technology, and other crucial resources. He highlighted the gains realised in the fight against crime, and noted that Jamaica began to record significant increases in crime around 1989, topping 1,000 murders a year since 2001 and remaining that way.

The prime minister said that while he is hesitant to draw comparisons, there’s a certain hypocrisy when it comes to crime, especially when the historical data is taken into context, adding that domestic violence, by its nature, is difficult to police. Notwithstanding, he said that inroads continue to be made in tackling crime, including the arrest and prosecution of several criminal gang members. Holness added that as the country works to defeat the crime monster, additional systems to support conflict resolution, mental health resources, and an entity for the promotion of a peaceful and harmonious society are being considered for implementation.

Holness further affirmed his commitment to fulfilling the hopes, aspirations, and expectations of Jamaicans. He said that having demonstrated its effective management of the country, the Jamaican people continue to hold the JLP to a high standard, and as its leader and prime minister of Jamaica, he will keep delivering on their behalf.