MINISTER of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Olivia “Babsy” Grange says that the Government is pursuing the issue of reparations for slavery.

Grange also said Tuesday that the Government remains committed to transferring $102 million to establish a Rastafari Trust Fund.

She said that her ministry has already transferred $12 million of the amount to the administrator general.

“And, we are committed to transferring $30 million annually, over the next three years, to ensure the sustainability of the fund,” she informed the House of Representatives during her contribution to the sectoral debate at Gordon House on Tuesday night.

“In the same way we take action in this House to clear the names of our national heroes and freedom fighters, we must also take action to ensure that reparations are paid for all that our ancestors endured under the evil system of slavery, having been brought to this island in chains and branded like animals,” Grange told the House of Representatives.

“We must pursue reparations. The great wrong must be set right. To those who would say slavery was a long time ago, and we should simply move on, I point them to the debilitating impact of slavery even today. More than 300 years of oppression and brutality haS left lasting scars,” she stated.

She said that this was evident in the low self-esteem reflected in some behaviours within the population, such as bleaching or high levels of violence and crime, as the residue of slavery persists.

She said that the National Council on Reparation, which is located in her ministry, is reviewing the evidentiary basis of the demand for reparatory justice from Britain for native genocide, African enslavement, deceptive Indian indentureship, other colonial injustices, and the continuing legacies of colonialism.

“At the same time, we are building a strong grassroots movement, including our young people, which cannot be ignored in our determination, that reparations must be paid,” she noted.

Grange said that she takes “very seriously” the responsibility given to her by Prime Minister Andrew Holness to carry out the programme of reparations and relief to the Rastafari elders who suffered in the Coral Gardens incident of 1963.

“Since the prime minister’s apology on behalf of the Government of Jamaica in 2017, we have built a positive working relationship with the Rastafari community. We are committed to national support for the 21 elders so far identified by the Office of the Public Defender,” she said.

“I am in discussion with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information to create three annual scholarships at primary, secondary and tertiary levels to provide benefits to the wider national Rastafari community. I am also setting up a mechanism to more effectively manage communication with the Rastafari community,” she said.