Doha QATAR, 5 October 2019 – The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, has hailed the Jamaican women’s team which won the 4x100 metres relay at World Championships in Doha on Saturday.

Minister Grange said “the victory showed the depth and determination of the Jamaican team” which was hit by the withdrawal of the double Olympic champion Elaine Thompson.

In Thompson’s absence, Jamaica had to call on the 400 metres bronze medalist Shericka Jackson.

Minister Grange said:
“It’s a great statement that even without Elaine, we were able to win in such a fine style with the world leading time (41.44). I send heartiest congratulations to Natalliah Whyte, Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce, Jonielle Smith and Shericka Jackson on this tremendous achievement. Well done, ladies!”

The Jamaicans won the sprint relay ahead of Great Britain and the United States.

Minister Grange also commended Shanieka Ricketts who took the silver medal in the Triple Jump with a best mark of 14.92 metres. Kimberly Williams was fourth with a personal best of 14.64 metres.

Minister Grange said she was “pleased with the performance of the team” and was “excited by the great progress that Jamaica’s athletes are making in the jumps and throws.”

At the close of Saturday’s penultimate day of the Doha 2019, Jamaica were third on the medal table with nine medals: three gold, four silver and two bronze. Four of those came in field events.

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Kingston, 4 October 2019 – The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, says National Heritage Week — October 13-21 — will be celebrated under the theme ‘Our Heritage… A Great Legacy.’

Minister Grange has urged Jamaicans across the world to join the celebration.

Minister Grange said:
“Let us seize this opportunity to remind ourselves of the rich heritage left to us by our ancestors and the great legacy that it has become. Let National Heritage Week be a time to inspire our people to play their part in building the Jamaica that we all desire while advancing the welfare of the whole human race.”

The main activities for National Heritage Week will take place on Heroes Day, Monday, 21 October 2019 when the nation will “pay homage to its seven National Heroes as well as to our everyday heroes who follow in the footsteps of the seven by dedicating their lives to, and giving great sacrifice in service to others."

On Heroes Day, more than 100 people will be honoured and awarded for their service at the National Honours and Awards Ceremony at Kings House.

In addition, there will be a Heritage celebration activity in each parish capital on Heroes Day beginning at 7pm.

Other activities for National Heritage Week include:

• the Heroes of Reggae Vintage Concert at the Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre on Saturday, 19 October 2019 beginning at 7pm;
• the Unveiling of the statue of Veronica Campbell Brown at Statue Park at the National Stadium on Sunday, 20 October 2019 beginning at 4pm;
• Revival Time Music Festival at the Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre on Sunday, 20 October 2019.
• National Heritage Week will begin with a Church Service on Sunday, 13 October 2019 at the Calvary Gospel Assembly, 129 Sundown Crescent, St Andrew.

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Kingston, 29 September 2019 – The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, has described Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce as nothing short of a phenomenal athlete, a wonderful mother and great daughter of Jamaica.

Minister Grange’s comment came after Shelly-Ann won gold in the 100 metres at the IAAF World Championships in Doha, Qatar, today making it her fourth 100 metres gold medal at the World Championships.

Minister Grange said:

“It is phenomenal that at 32 and after motherhood, Shelly-Ann shows no sign of literally slowing down. To have so comprehensively beaten the quality competition she faced today and clocked the time she did, she showed us that she is in a class by herself.”

“And it was so heartwarming to see Shelly-Ann cap the performance with her son Zyon in her arms as she took her victory lap.”

Minister Grange said Elaine Thompson and Jonelle Smith can also feel proud to have been in the race, making it three Jamaicans to reach the finals of the women’s !00M in Doha.

The Sport Minister also had much praise for “our athletes who ran in the Mixed Gender 4x400m Relay, creating history in reaching the finals of the inaugural staging of the race and taking the silver medal.”

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Kingston, 28 September 2019 – The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, has said that long jumper Tajay Gayle was “simply great” in winning the long jump gold medal at the IAAF World Championships in Doha, Qatar today, creating a record for Jamaica.

Minister Grange said:
“By becoming the first Jamaican man to win a field title at the World Championships, Gayle, has demonstrated in no uncertain manner his class and it is only fitting that his good performances have been capped by a gold medal at the Championships.

“I wish to let Tajay know that entire Jamaica is thrilled by what he has accomplished in Qatar."

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Kingston, 19 September 2019 – The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, has given the following statement on the compensation of victims of the Coral Gardens Incident of 1963.

Minister’s Statement:

As representatives, we have two main obligations: to do what is right and to do it in the right way. I returned to government in 2016 on a mission to do the right things for culture, gender, entertainment and sport.

It was in this spirit that we started and completed the process of clearing the records of our National Heroes and other freedom fighters. It was the right thing to do. It was in that same spirit that we began a process of reconciliation with our Rastafari brothers and sisters.

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. For 54 years, our Rastafari brothers and sisters 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.

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.

Doing the right thing is not always simple, popular or expedient; reconciling with our Rastafari brother and sisters is none of those things. It is, however, the right thing to do and we must do it in the right way.

Included in the Prime Minister’s apology in 2017 was a commitment to establish a Trust Fund in the amount of J$10M to the victims of the Coral Gardens incident. The amount was recommended by the Office of the Public Defender, which had started an investigation into the Coral Gardens incident in May, 2011. The Public Defender proposed a Trust Fund of no less than J$10M subject to review if further analysis suggests the need for a greater sum. By the end of the 2017/18 financial year — in keeping with the Prime Minister’s commitment — my Ministry forwarded, not only the promised J$10M, but an additional J$2M to the Administrator General’s Department as Trustee to establish the Fund.

We needed a fair mechanism to determine how and to whom compensation should be paid and turned again to the Office of the Public Defender to continue its work at locating survivors and getting information on their current socio-economic and living conditions. In its earlier report in 2015, the Office of the Public Defender said it was “unable to find a yardstick by which to recommend individual monetary compensation.” However, at our request to continue its work, the Office of the Public Defender underwent a careful, detailed and lengthy search and compilation of data (since 2017) and finally submitted a report to the Prime Minister in April, 2019.

While the Office of the Public Defender was conducting its comprehensive survey of socio-economic and living conditions of the survivors, my Ministry had been working with the Administrator General’s Department and Jamaicans for Justice, which represents the Rastafari Coral Gardens Benevolent Society, on establishing the terms which will govern the Trust Fund. We anticipated the report of the Office of the Public Defender to finalise the Trust and move to begin making payments.

However, in its 2019 report the Office of the Public Defender concluded: “Even after our survey of socio-economic and living conditions of the survivors, the material gathered still fell below that which was sufficient to allow us to make any reasonable estimate of damages.”

Therefore, the issue of a fair mechanism to determine compensation continues to occupy our attention in light of the conclusion of the Public Defender. I recognise that the survivors of the Coral Gardens incident have waited a very long time for acknowledgment, an apology and compensation from their government and I am determined to work day and night to expedite the process so that they will not have to wait much longer.

The official apology and the establishment of the Trust Fund are part of a broader programme of reconciliation with the Rastafari community.

The Government alongside the Rastafari Coral Gardens Benevolent Society has identified land that will ultimately be used to house a permanent Elder Care Home for the victims. In the interim, we are taking steps to make ready temporary facilities to serve as the Coral Gardens Elder Care Home. Through the efforts of my Ministry, wheelchairs, furniture and furnishings have been provided to survivors by Food for the Poor, the Ministry of Labour & Social Security, and private donors.

Additionally, my Ministry has pursued making other provisions for the welfare of the survivors and the Rastafari community in general, in consultation with the Rastafari Coral Gardens Benevolent Society and Jamaicans for Justice from time to time. At our last meeting at the end of August, 2019 we agreed that we would work towards actioning additional initiatives in October, 2019.

I have also appointed a Cultural Liaison with responsibility for Rastafari Affairs. The Liaison is Mrs. Barbara Blake Hannah a known expert in Rastafari heritage and matters relating to the welfare of the community.

I want a new, improved relationship with I and I Rasta brethren and sistren and with the team, including the directors of the Rastafari Coral Gardens Benevolent Society, I am working hard to achieve this new I-nity.

We will see this reconciliation process, including compensation for the Coral Gardens incident, through to conclusion. It is the right thing to do.

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Kingston, 12 September 2019 – All is now set for the installation of the statue of the Jamaican Olympic and World Champion sprinter, Veronica Campbell Brown.

On Thursday (today), the Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, received the all clear from Campbell Brown.

Minister Grange said:
“We’ve been in discussion with Veronica and the sculptor, Basil Watson, about the design, but today when Veronica saw the maquette she said, ‘Yes, this is it!’. She loves it!"

The statue in tribute to Campbell Brown — to the scale of one and quarter life size — will be mounted at Statue Park in the National Stadium and unveiled during a special ceremony on Sunday, 20 October 2019.

The Campbell Brown statue is the third of four statues in tribute to outstanding Jamaican athletes that are being designed by the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport as part of its Jamaica 55 Legacy programme.

The first two statues of Usain Bolt and Shelly Ann Fraser Pryce were unveiled in 2017 and 2018 respectively. The statue of Asafa Powell, the last in the series, is being finalised.

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Kingston, 11 September 2019 – The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, said today the statue of Veronica Campbell Brown, one of Jamaica’s most celebrated track athletes, will be unveiled at Statue Park at the National Stadium on October 20, 2019.

The Minister made the announcement as she addressed the press conference called by the Jamaica Amateur Athletics Administration to announce Jamaica’s team to the 2019 IAAF World Championships in Doha, Qatar between September 27 and October 6,

“Veronica’s statue will join those of Usain Bolt and Shelly Ann Fraser Pryce with the customary the Unveiling Ceremony at Statue Park.”

Minister Grange added that the athlete is now visiting Jamaica as guest of UNESCO and the Jamaica National Commission on UNESCO, of which the Minister is the Chairman.

“You will recall that Veronica Campbell Brown was the first UNESCO designated Champion of Sport in the Americas, that designation having been conferred on her in 2009.
“VCB’s focus has been on women and girls in sports, advocating for equal treatment for them and for clean sports,” Miss Grange said.

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Kingston, 11 September 2019 – The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, announced today that a group of investors from Canada that are “standing by” to build an ice rink along with a bob-sled practice track and an 800-room boutique hotel on Jamaica’s north coast.

Minister Grange spoke at the press conference called by the Jamaica Amateur Athletics Administration (JAAA) to announce Jamaica’s team to the 2019 IAAF World Championships in Doha, Qatar, later this month.

“At this time, I will not say exactly where on the North Coast but will do so soon. The ice rink will facilitate tournaments and pre-season training. The investors are ready right now to sign a memorandum of understanding to get the activity going. They will be visiting Jamaica shortly.”

The sport Minister said Jamaica became a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation in May 2012, the first Caribbean nation to do so. “But in order to compete at the Winter Olympics the country must have at least one ice rink and a development programme,” she said.

The Sport Minister also congratulated Jamaica’s Senior Men’s Ice Hockey team once again for creating history by winning the AmeriGol-Latam Cup on Sunday in Coral Springs, Florida in the USA.
“It was a splendid performance as Jamaica continues to show the rest of the world how good we can be in sports which are not traditional to us.”

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Kingston, 10 September 2019 – The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, has met with stakeholders in the entertainment industry to discuss several areas of concern, including provisions of the Noise Abatement Act.

Minister Grange discussed some proposals to amend the Noise Abatement Act to enhance the social and economic value of entertainment in national development.

Minister Grange told the stakeholders that in discussion with the Minister of National Security (who has responsibility for the Noise Abatement Act) she has put forward proposals regarding the days and hours that would be approved for entertainment events, extension of hours, the establishment of entertainment zones, and other relevant matters.

The Minister said while the discussions on amending the legislation are progressing, she was also working hard to find solutions to address the ongoing conflict between the police and the Dancehall fraternity, including sound system operators.

Minister Grange told stakeholders that any lasting solution would require a balanced approach from all involved.

Minister Grange said:
“I am advocating for a well reasoned and fair approach that allows for good order and sustainable management of entertainment as an industry and an economic driver. Amending the legislation and the development of entertainment zones will make a difference in arriving at a solution.”

The Minister gave a commitment to consult with the relevant government agencies and individuals including the Minister of National Security and the Commissioner of Police and to report back to the group on a recommended way forward.

Minister Grange also asked the stakeholder to document the issues they are facing and submit them to the Ministry as those reports would form the basis for meaningful engagement with government agencies.

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Kingston, 7 September 2019 - The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, has congratulated the Jamaica Senior Men’s Ice Hockey team for “a splendid display in which you created history by winning the AmeriGol-Latam Cup in Coral Springs, Florida in the USA.”

The Jamaica team beat Colombia 2-0 on penalties in the final today after the match was tied 2-2 at full time. The other teams in the competition were Venezuela, Mexico, Chile, Brazil and Argentina.

Minister Grange said:

“Jamaica continues to show the rest of the world how good we can be in sports which are not traditional to us and I really want our Senior Men’s Ice Hockey Team to know how proud we are of what they have accomplished on the ice.”

Miss Grange said the Jamaica Ice Hockey Federation must also be highly commended for the fine showing of the team.

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