It’s not too early to assess the first-year performance of the Andrew Holness Administration, despite the fact that it didn’t actually begin functioning fully as a Government until March 7, 2016 when all the Cabinet ministers were sworn and set to work immediately.

There are, of course, myriad areas to analyse, but easily the most critical, we believe, are the economy and crime. Indeed, most of us believe that the two are intrinsically linked.

On the former, the Government has done well, maintaining and indeed improving on the economic programme that it inherited. The upshot has been the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) earlier this month reporting real value-added growth of 1.4 per cent for the calendar year 2016, compared to 0.9 per cent growth in 2015.

According to PIOJ Director General Wayne Henry, “The industries estimated to have recorded the largest growth during the year were agriculture, forestry and fishing, up 12.8; electricity and water, up 3.8 per cent; hotels and restaurants, up 2.1 per cent; and transport, storage and communication, up 0.6 per cent.”

Add to that the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce business and consumer confidence indices released in January showing that confidence among Jamaican firms was more favourable in every quarter during 2016 than at any time during the prior 15 years and you get the picture of an economy set on a firm foundation for greater levels of growth.

We are particularly heartened by Prime Minister Holness’s assurance to investors that the political environment will not affect their investments and that good fiscal behaviour is now a hallmark of the Jamaican Government, regardless of which political party forms the Government.

“We’re building a long-term political trajectory so that when investors come they understand that policies will transcend governments, that they will be long-lasting, and that you will be able to recoup your investments within the horizons that we’ve planned,” Mr Holness told guests at the ground breaking for a US$50-million investment on Lady Musgrave Road in St Andrew spearheaded by Sandals Resorts, Marriott International, ATL Automotive and BMW/MINI.

That, we believe, is an extremely important signal to entrepreneurs that the country is serious about protecting their investments. Our hope is that the Government will continue on this path, as that can only redound to the benefit of the country and the many Jamaicans who are still in need of employment.

On the area of crime, the Government obviously has a lot of work left to do. However, we acknowledge that the Administration is putting in place improved mechanisms to deal with the problem and has acquired vital equipment, including a fleet of Damen County Class vessels and a maritime patrol aircraft to strengthen border security.

Other initiatives have been announced by National Security Minister Robert Montague, all of which, we accept, will take some time for the country to reap full benefits. However, we urge the Administration to maintain a strong focus on this problem, just as we encourage all law-abiding Jamaicans to accept that fighting crime is a responsibility for us all, not just for the Government and the security forces.