PRIME Minister Andrew Holness and the Reverend Astor Carlyle both admitted on Sunday that Jamaica is facing a major challenge to address the myriad problems facing its people.

The two were addressing a worship service at Webster Memorial United Church in St Andrew which was used to celebrate the 79th anniversary of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) that Holness now leads.

In his address Holness stressed that there are several crises which have impacted the physical and mental health of Jamaicans since the formation of the JLP.

“Seventy-nine years later we gather here again in a time of global crises. Whether it is a crisis in our climate, a crisis of war and geopolitics, or a crisis of a pandemic, they have all had an impact on us externally, they have created shocks for us. We didn’t create them but we are impacted by them and they exacerbate, they make worse the crisis that we create locally amongst ourselves and others. So there is no question that, for many, the last two years would’ve affected our mental health,” said Holness.

“We are struggling to make sense of what is happening around us. When you see the news — which these days [is] more often than not bad news, extreme, outlandish, strange — it challenges our outlook on things. The world, as we know it, is no longer certain and our outlook has become increasingly pessimistic,” added Holness.

The fourth leader of the JLP, Holness said the sudden changes in mood and outlook affect social behaviour as people try to make sense of the world and are looking for certainty. He said sometimes people end up in deviant and anti-social behaviour.

“They are seeking meaning; they end up being guided by mischief-makers, purveyors of falsehoods, false prophets; they end up being misdirected. But the uncertainty does not only threaten our social behaviour, but it threatens our economic behaviour as well.

“When people are pessimistic about the future they don’t take long-term decisions about investments, they [instead] start to look for immediate gratification and therefore the sacrifice for saving to build up capital is affected — and that is the precursor of a recession,” argued Holness.

In the meantime, Carlyle linked the Bible scripture St John 4 — which points to a well built by Jacob, for the benefit of generations — to the issues that need to be immediately addressed by using State resources to secure a better future for the country.

According to Carlyle, those in the business of national development, social transformation and spiritual direction are being called to build for the ages.

“The well was a needs-fulfilling place. What do you get from a well? Water. Nothing lives without water. Water is the most basic and most-needed resource for existence, and what Jacob did was organise his resources in a way to ensure that the people of the land could access that which would sustain life,” said Carlyle.

“I wonder if this could be a challenge to the Church, as one of the institutions that still benefits from the regard of the citizenry? We position ourselves as the go-between agencies of Government and communities to ensure that well-needed resources are properly channelled to the people there,” he continued.

“Could this be a challenge for us to leave the hallowed halls of comfort and really get our hands dirty in the realities of people’s lives in the trenches, connect with misguided unattached youths who have been targets for gangs?”

Further, Carlyle said he wondered if the Patterson Report (The Reform of Education in Jamaica, 2021 report done by a committee led by Professor Orlando Patterson) could be brought to life and leaders offer their skills and time to partner with stakeholders in the Ministry of Education and Youth to ensure that the “water of learning flows into the taps of children’s lives as heavily in Tivoli Gardens High School as they do in Immaculate Conception High School”.

“Could this be a challenge to the ruling Jamaica Labour Party to dig deeper into youth abilities? To meet the groans of our nation’s workers such as nurses and teachers who are breaking under the load of a highly taxed economy? Civil servants who must work miracles daily with meagre resources when it seems as if in other quarters ample amount of resources go missing?”

Carlyle argued that Jamaicans have faith in the prime minister in using the resources necessary to solve the current issues in the country.

“Yours is a significant weight of trust — for we who struggle to make ends meet are waiting to see if you will dig that well that will bring us relief from these unfair bank charges. Yours is a significant weight of trust — for we who struggle to secure our homes and our families from hoodlums are waiting to see how serious you are in digging a well that will bring us relief from the rampant criminality and the corruption that exist,” Carlyle said to applause from the congregation.

“I know that is a heavy load, Prime Minister, but yours is a significant weight of trust because, like Jacob, you have the resources that we don’t have and we trust that your [effort] will match your resources,” declared Carlyle.

Earlier, Holness had also turned to the Bible as he referenced Jeremiah 29:11.

According to Holness, Jamaicans need to repeat this scripture everyday as we go through difficult times.

“The plan for the children of God in Jamaica is to prosper you, not to harm you, to give you hope and a future. And that is our wish, our prayer as we gather here in the tabernacle asking for God’s grace, God’s guidance, God’s protection, God’s endowment of wisdom as we hold our hands steadily on the ship of State — going through very difficult waters and strong headwinds — but we will, as we have done in the past, steer the ship of State into our safe harbour.”

In celebration of the JLP’s 79th anniversary, Holness announced that five scholarships would be offered to youngsters in honour of those who have served the party.

The five scholarships will be in the areas of transformation or data science, criminology, journalism or languages, urban planning and law or legal drafting.