Holness: Be more morally responsible

JAMAICANS HAVE been urged to be more responsible in their actions and to engage in greater social discipline to enable the country to develop.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness, in his inauguration speech at King's House on Sunday, said it was his generation that must chart new pathways for national success.

He said his colleagues in Parliament are the best ones to start this change by demonstrating respect for each other.

"One of the most difficult questions I was faced with as minister of education and leader of government business was how can I ask the teachers and students to maintain certain decorum in school when our parliamentarians do not maintain that decorum in the Parliament?

"Parliamentarians must lead in this national call for responsibility, it is our moral duty," the new prime minister said.

Witty barbs and uncouth behaviour has characterised parliamentary sittings, especially in the House of Representatives. But Holness' call for national change was not limited to legislators. He pointed at the creators of music, as well as the family, as being critical agents in the shaping of the social fabric of the nation.

"Music is a powerful tool in influencing our youth. Our artistes must take responsibility for their lyrics, lest we lead our youth astray," Holness said to thunderous applause.

And in focusing on the family, for which he was also warmly applauded, the prime minister said fathers should start taking responsibility for their children, and parents deciding only to have children they can afford to maintain and educate.

"Let us be responsible for the education of our children. There is no reason why in a modern Jamaica a child should leave school illiterate. Each parent and teacher must work together to take responsibility for the literacy of our children," the new prime minister said.