Holness pushes for peaceful Jamaica

Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has boldly declared that Jamaica is entering "a decade of peace", signalling a dramatic shift from simply controlling crime to actively crafting a society defined by safety and harmony.

"I am determined that this will be the decade of peace in Jamaica," Holness said, during a recent address to Jamaica's Heads of Mission at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade in downtown Kingston.

"We must take out violence as an element of Brand Jamaica. When people do the word map of brand Jamaica, violence must not appear as one of the words associated with Jamaica," he emphasised.

The Prime Minister warned that for decades, a shadow of violence has crept into Jamaica's world-renowned brand. He said that Jamaicans who are involved in crime, who use and organise violence, are destroying brand Jamaica and the country's economic prospects.

"You see it mostly when we get a downgrade in the travel advisories, which has immediate economic impact on tourism revenues and other activities," Holness pointed out.

The prime minister insisted that the tide is turning. Citing three consecutive years of declining homicides, he highlighted the government's commitment to drastically reduce violence even further, aiming to make Jamaica a beacon of safety and prosperity.

We are going to focus on getting an even more significant reduction this year, and we are going to keep pushing that number as far down as we can get it," Holness said.

Last year, Jamaica recorded 673 murders in 2025, marking the lowest annual homicide tally in 31 years. Prior to that, murders fell by about 19 per cent, with the total number of homicides dropping from around 1,393 in 2023 to 1,141 in 2024.

As of February 14, the police have recorded 70 murders on the island, a 25 per cent decrease when compared with the corresponding period last year.