Golding hopes Jamaicans learn from the lessons of 2020
OPPOSITION Leader Mark Golding is wishing good health, success and happiness for Jamaicans as we embark on the journey of yet another new year.
“On behalf of the People’s National Party, I would like to express best wishes to Jamaicans at home and abroad for 2021,” Golding told the Jamaica Observer.
“We all hope that in 2021 Jamaica will make substantial progress in overcoming the tremendous challenges experienced in 2020, a year in which the vulnerabilities of many sections of the society have been exposed, with resulting increases in unemployment and poverty, and worsening inequality,” added Golding.
He argued that Jamaica’s recovery in the new year will require the support of Jamaicans at home and abroad.
“Here in Jamaica we must continue to help and support one another in these difficult times, showing the true Jamaican spirit of caring and sharing,” said Golding, as he added, “we owe a particular debt of gratitude to our Diaspora, who have been such a tremendous source [of] support in 2020, without which our circumstances would have been much worse”.
Golding noted that the Jamaican economy will take some time to rebound from the ravages of COVID-19, and underscored that the pace of recovery will depend, to a considerable extent, on what happens globally.
“Jamaica must learn the lessons that this extreme epoch is teaching us about the need for greater sustainability and resilience in our socio-economic arrangements.
“We must make strategic decisions that lay the foundation for our longterm recovery, building a more balanced, inclusive and just society where the poor and vulnerable are not left behind,” he added.