Jamaica PM Moves to ‘Correct a Historical Wrong’

Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller

The Jamaican Government on Thursday undertook to do what Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller described as “correcting a historical wrong”.

Delivering the keynote address at the contract-signing ceremony for the relocation of 486 current and former sugar workers, Simpson Miller declared that the time had come to redress the squalor and deplorable conditions these Jamaicans had endured for decades.

“The intention is to build wholesome communities, remove the stigma associated with living in barracks, and thereby correct a historical wrong that has persisted for far too long,” Simpson Miller told the audience during the groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday.

“The time has now come for a fundamental and sustainable transformation of the way sugar workers live. I was determined to see this happen as part of my contribution to national development and the positive transformation of the lives of our people,” she added.

The prime minister acknowledged that it would have been irresponsible of her government to ignore such social ills that have persisted, with the relocation project in line with its plans for taking economic transformation to new heights as part of the national growth strategy.

Read More: Jamaica-Gleaner

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