A season of gratitude and reflection – PM’s Christmas Message

The following is the 2024 Christmas message by Prime Minister, Andrew Holness

‘We don’t have no snow we don’t have no sleigh, but fun we do have in Christmas JA’. This is a first line of a Christmas song by renowned broadcaster, Neville Willoughby, in 1972. Jamaicans have always added our own meaning and culture to the celebration of Christmas. Sorrel, Christmas Cake, Christmas Dinner, Community Christmas Treats and all other kinds of festivities.

Yes, Jamaicans are celebrating Christmas in our own way, by our own means. However, there are some core themes about Christmas that never change.

As a largely religious country, Christmas is about the birth of Christ. And in churches across Jamaica, the biblical story of the birth of Christ is being told. That Jesus came into the world to show us the way. That he came in humble circumstances, born in stable, to show that his salvation was not only for the rich, but for the poor and disadvantaged. Christmas is, therefore, a time of hope.

This hope is realised as we reflect on the passing year. The struggle and disappointments that we may have encountered, and equally our achievements and successes. As the year draws to a close, reflection is natural, but the outcome depends on your frame of mind. Will the outcome of reflection depress you or will it motivate you? If you adopt the right frame of mind, you will be on a solid track to face the New Year. The message of Christ’s birth is a solid spiritual framework to adopt, to help you to make conclusions and resolutions from reflections.

The message of giving thanks for what you have, counting our blessings – no matter how small they are. For as difficult as we think our personal struggles have been, there are worse situations; our lives have been spared. We must put ourselves in a positive mindset to receive the blessings and the good happening around us. Don’t blind ourselves with negativity.

The message of family, spending time with loved ones, is important. In today's high paced, virtualized and individualistic world, simple familial and social contact is oftentimes overlooked and undervalued. Look for mama, reach out to family and friends overseas, and as we do this, be prepared to forgive and unburden yourselves of the baggage of old grievances and vexations.

Now, as you move about to visit loved ones and to participate in the festivities, please, please, please drive carefully on our roads. Every Christmas we see a spike in road fatalities. Take it easy on the road. And as we are talking about roads, we have had unusually high rainfall for the past few months and this has had serious impact on our roads. I have directed the NWA to patch as many roads as possible throughout the Christmas season to ensure that traffic is not unduly delayed on our main road network for the New Year. Please look out for the patching teams as you traverse the town and city areas.

Another important theme in the Nativity story is that Jesus was born in a stable. Shelter is an important theme for Christmas, it’s the time of year when we seek to do a little fixing up and painting up of our homes. As I move about the country, aside from road repairs, the most frequent request I get is for assistance with housing repairs, mainly roofing. Again, the heavy rains have wreaked havoc to roofs across the country. While we will not be able to assist every private dwelling, we will be examining ways in which we can quickly assist those households most in need of roofing repairs. While we don’t have no snow, given the climate change factors, we are certainly going to have more intense weather events. Your Government will design and develop a programme to help you adapt and mitigate the impacts of the changing climate.

So let me be the first to wish my Jamaican family a very Merry and God-centered Christmas. And in the spirit of the season, may you have the best Christmas yet:
1.    May you be surrounded by friends and loved ones
2.    May you have a lovely Christmas dinner the best tasting sorrel and eat the best Christmas cake
3.    May you share warm hugs and sweet smiles with those you love.
4.    And may you be blessed enough to help the vulnerable, where possible, so that all Jamaicans can have a warm Jamaican Christmas time.

As we celebrate this Christmas, I urge you to embrace the values that bind us together as a nation— faith, family, and unity. Let us cherish the simple joys of life; let us renew our commitment to each other and to Jamaica.

To all Jamaicans, wherever you may be, I wish you a peaceful and joyful Christmas. May your homes be filled with love, and may your lives be blessed with health, happiness and abundance.

God bless you all, and God bless Jamaica, Land We Love.

Merry Christmas!