Governor General, His Excellency the Most Hon. Sir Patrick Allen, has said that the contribution of young people is critical to the nation building process.
He was addressing the Governor General’s Youth Consultative Breakfast for the county of Cornwall held yesterday (May 20) at the Wexford Hotel in Montego Bay, where the participants, including students, used the opportunity to share their concerns, aspirations and vision for Jamaica.
Speaking under the theme: ‘I Believe’, the Governor General said that despite the challenges, Jamaica has a bright future. He stated that “there is nothing wrong with Jamaica that cannot be fixed by what is right with Jamaica.”
“Despite the challenges and the uncertainties of the day, we all must believe that we can truly play our part in building our nation and advancing the welfare of the whole human race. We must continue to believe that things will be better; we must always have hope,” he stated.
The Governor General said that through the series of consultative meetings, which are being held across the island, “we will establish templates for continued youth conversation and participation in the discussions and issues, which are critical to the building process”.
“I believe that through these breakfasts we can identify meaningful pathways to excellence and I want you all to express yourselves freely. We want to hear from you, we want to hear your ideas and we want to engage you and hopefully, get you to commit to a life of service to your country and to your God,” he noted.
The Governor General, in a statement issued at the meeting, stated that as a nation, we “must return to a value system, which ensures that no one is deprived of their God-given rights, where the measure of a real man is not the number of guns he slings, the number of persons he kills, nor the number of children he sires, but the extent to which he cares for and supports his family”.
“I believe that the decent, dedicated and hardworking members of our society are in the majority, despite the violence, vulgarity, declining values and economic vicissitudes that confront us . I believe in Jamaica.
“I believe in the people of Jamaica. I am committed to doing my best as I carry out my responsibilities . as I uphold the dignity of this office and the confidence, which has been placed in me,” the statement said.