Kingston, 4 August 2025 – The Government has transferred land to members of the Rastafari as part of its internal reparations programme, according to the Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange.

Addressing the land transfer ceremony at the Office of the Prime Minister on Monday (today), Minister Grange said “Today marks a significant milestone in our nation’s journey towards healing and reconciliation. I thank members of the Rastafari community for their willingness to engage with us as we make amends for a past wrong.”

Minister Grange said the transfer of two plots of land in Albion, St James to establish an elder care facility was part of a broad programme of reconciliation with the Rastafari community. That programme started in 2017 with an official apology by the Prime Minister, Dr the Most Honourable Andrew Holness, to members of the Rastafari community for historic state abuse stemming from the Coral Gardens Incident of 1963.

“There is no doubt that what happened in Easter, 1963 at Coral Gardens to members of the Rastafari community is a stain on Jamaica’s development,” said Minister Grange, reflecting on the more than half a century that members of the Rastafari community have lived with the physical, psychological and emotional scars of that incident and “the feeling that successive governments had let them down by not sufficiently acknowledging what they had been through.”

The Minister said, “That changed in April, 2017 when Prime Minister Andrew Holness decided to do the right thing by taking responsibility and apologising for what happened in Coral Gardens in 1963 — before he was even born.”

Included in the Prime Minister’s apology was a commitment to establish a Trust Fund of not less than $10M for the benefit of survivors of the Coral Gardens Incident, which was established by the Administrator General’s Department as Trustee with funding from the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport in 2018. Since that time, the Ministry has contributed $122 million dollars to the Trust Fund.

Minister Grange pointed out that during the last seven years, the Trust Fund has been administered to the benefit of more than 30 survivors.

In addition, the Ministry has funded the operations of an interim Elders Home, providing shelter, medical care and general support to members of the Rastafari community.

The Ministry working alongside the Coral Gardens Benevolent Society and the Member of Parliament for St James North West, the Honourable Dr Horace Chang, identified the plots of land at Albion for establishing a permanent care facility for Rastafari elders.

Dr Chang said: “I am proud to have been a steadfast supporter of the reparatory justice programme championed by the Government of Jamaica, including the establishment of the Trust Fund and the provision of these lands in Albion…. This is more than a transfer of property; it is a restoration of respect, a critical step in redressing historical wrongs, and a foundation for the growth and empowerment of Rastafari culture and community.”

The Commissioner of Lands, Cheriese Walcott, and Chairman of the Rastafari Coral Gardens Benevolent Society, Ras Gerald Taylor, signed the documents for the formal transfer of Crown Land to the Benevolent Society.

Dr Chang said he looked forward to the permanent Elders Home and praised the Benevolent Society for its “efficient, orderly, and caring operation” and for “prudently spen[ding] the funds provided by the Ministry of Culture to make the interim Home fully functional”.

Minister Grange described the land transfer as the “latest step in the journey that is reparatory justice.” She said the new facility would provide “care for Rastafari elders for generations to come and serve as a reminder to our people of the covenant between the State and Rastafari — a new relationship characterised by respect and dignity.”

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