PRESIDENT of the People’s National Party (PNP) Mark Golding says the policies of his party have been designed with the needs of young people in mind.

Addressing a PNP Youth Organisation rally at Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex in his St Andrew Southern constituency on Sunday, Golding said the needs of Jamaica’s young people include being able to own an affordable house, finding a decent job that pays a liveable wage, and access to an education system that offers better outcomes.

Golding, who is seeking to become Jamaica’s 10th prime minister and the fourth from the PNP, is banking on the youth vote — and he used the rally to highlight the party’s plans if it is elected to form the next Government.

“Our mission is upliftment, it’s [about] making a better life for the people — that’s why the programmes and policies we have designed have young people very much in mind,” said Golding.

“We know that… the education system is letting down our young people. The training system is also letting down our young people because the jobs that are being created in the country are not jobs that are paying our young people a living wage.

“That is why we have to fix the education system and raise standards. That is why we are targeting absenteeism from schools for parents who’re struggling with lunch money,” added Golding.

He declared that under the PNP parents will no longer have a reason not to send their children to school, “because we have the EASE (Ensuring Adequate Sustenance for Education) programme where we are going to spend an additional $9 billion a year to ensure that there’s a hot, nutritious meal for every needy child in primary and secondary school”.

According to Golding, for struggling families in rural Jamaica who cannot find the money to send their children to school in the absence of a bus system, the PNP will introduce the Rural Initiative for Delivering Education (RIDE) programme.

“We have the RIDE programme where we will be providing a subsidy of $500 per day or $10,000 per month to help cover the cost of getting children to and from school safely,” said Golding.

He also reminded the Comrades of a promise he made during his contribution to the 2025/26 Budget Debate in March that $1 billion will be set aside for young people, 35 years and under, to be gifted $500,000 as a downpayment on a National Housing Trust (NHT) house should the PNP form the Government.

According to Golding, the $1-billion fund will be replenished annually and beneficiaries must be contributing to the NHT for at least two years.

He said lands not suitable for agriculture have already been identified to construct the 50,000 low-cost houses, as he had promised in his budget presentation.

“We’re going to ensure that we do not include the value of the land in the price of the house. So when you buying that house you getting it at a discount of its real value,” said Golding.

The Opposition leader also reminded the Comrades of the PNP’s rent-to-own policy for people who may not be in the formal economy and as such don’t receive a payslip.

“You could be a taxi operator, you could be a hairdresser, you could have a little shop, you could be a farmer, you could be a social media influencer and you can’t prove yuh income and yuh can’t qualify for a mortgage. Our rent-to-own scheme is designed for you,” added the PNP president.

“You can go into possession as a tenant of that house, pay the rent for a reasonable period of time equal to the mortgage and, after that time — we have in mind six months — we will treat those payments as proof of income. You don’t need nuh pay slip; you will qualify for the mortgage, you can draw down the loan, you can buy the house, and you move from being a tenant to a homeowner wid yuh own door key,” added Golding.

He also pointed to the PNP’s proposed first in family programme under which the first person in any family to attend university will receive a full scholarship funded by the Government.

“Your duty is then to your brothers and sisters to uplift them as well, because we want to stop the inter-generational poverty and we know that education is the antidote to poverty,” Golding said.

According to the PNP president, a Government led by him will also introduce more flexible loans for people who receive student loans, including longer repayment periods plus no obligation to pay during periods of unemployment.

He added that young people in the creative sector will benefit — by way of financial support — from a $1-billion fund which will be replenished annually.

“These are some of the things that we are putting forward to ensure that our young people have the best possible chance in life,” said Golding.

Several young speakers who addressed the rally on Sunday night all pledged their support for Golding and the PNP while urging other young Jamaicans to vote PNP for a better future. They included PNPYO President Senator Gabriela Morris, who is set to contest the St Ann North Western seat; Danishka Williams, who is running in St Ann South Western; and president of The Patriots Dr Paul Blake who delivered a fiery sermon.