Prime Minister Says Church Must Be Able To Regulate Itself

Prime Minister Andrew Holness says he is hesitant to put regulations on churches, despite recent cases being linked to congregations in the religious institution. He made the statement while speaking at the Lucea Seventh Day Adventist church in the parish of Hanover, on Saturday.

“I will tell you upfront that I am very reluctant to place regulations on the church because I believe the church has the ability and the moral duty to regulate themselves. I believe the church has been doing a very good job on this,” he shared.

Since the Covid-19 outbreak in Jamaica, there have been several breaches of Covid-19 protocols linked to large gatherings. The most recent in Clarendon where a community is under lockdown and several church members testing positive for Covid-19.

However, just a few days ago, the Prime Minister announced at a virtual conference the Government’s decision to ban church conferences and conventions. He had also indicated that the church conferences and conferences would be placed under the disaster risk management act and breaches of the order to attract a penalty.

“In every population, in every group, in every society, there are those who for some reason decide to act outside of what is the accepted way and then out everyone else at risk and in danger,” Prime Minister Holness said. ” You might have heard what transpired this week where we’ve had outbreaks in two parishes and we are now seeing cases generally spread that can be traced back to congregations so the Government has decided that we have to specifically prohibit conventions and crusades.”

His current statement appears to be the opposite of what he stated on August 6.

“Most of the churches especially the larger established churches that I have interacted with -they have been proactive. They are not waiting on the Government. They have decided to take steps even over and above what the Government has out in place,” said Prime Minister Holness.”