Holness to assess performance of members one year after victory at polls.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Feb. 26, CMC – One year after being elected to office, Prime Minister Andrew Holness is preparing to assess the performance of members of his Cabinet, stating that they have six more months to prove that they deserve to keep their jobs.
Holness told the Jamaica Gleaner as he reviewed the performance of his government one year after the general election, that while the ministers were not given the job descriptions as promised in the lead-up to the polls, they are all aware of their targets.
“The job descriptions are actually being prepared…..after one year the ministers are settled in, there is no question and I have been evaluating each and every one. The challenge that I had is that we started in a year where they couldn’t really say they had the opportunity to plan out that year’s programme,” Holness said, adding that the Cabinet members are aware of their tasks.
“So basically, I would give one year and six months for them to truly achieve the things that they have set for themselves to achieve. And the ministers are well aware. They know what their tasks are and the commitment still stands. After this year they are fully in charge of their portfolios.”
The Prime Minister also said several legacy issues were left over by the previous administration that his ministers had to address in the first year.
“The legacy issues that this Government has had to deal with have seen us spending time trying to resolve issues that were just left unresolved. Issues going back to even when we were in government the first time .”
“Not to make a criticism of any government but simply to say the process of government must be not to leave any negative legacies but to solve the problems in the term,” added Holness.
One year ago on February 25, Holness led the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) to victory over the People’s National Party (PNP) that was seeking a second consecutive term in power under the rule of Portia Simpson Miller.
In his congratulatory speech, Holness then said that the JLP carried a message of hope to Jamaica and reminded supporters that “this is not the end of a journey, it is the beginning of change Jamaica.
“We have a message that Jamaica can be a better place, it is a young message,” he said, adding “I make the commitment to you your new government will not be a government as usual, we are going to change the way in which we operate”.
“We are under no illusion as to the ability of all Jamaican to hold this government to account. We have a team…and all members of this team is committed to serving you,” he then said.