Sir Patrick Allen | A New Year of resilience, responsibility and unity

My fellow Jamaicans at home and abroad, as we welcome the New Year 2026, I extend to you and your families my best wishes for peace, strength, and renewed hope.

We enter this New Year with deep gratitude, thankful for the gift of life, thankful for the care that has surrounded us, and thankful for the compassion and solidarity shown to us over the past year by Almighty God, by Jamaicans at home and abroad, and by friends across the world.

2025 tested our maturity as a nation – We navigated a general election, embraced the democratic process with maturity, and observed as a new administration settled into its responsibilities, plans, and programmes.

These are important steps in strengthening our governance and our national confidence.

Then came Hurricane Melissa, an unprecedented disaster that altered lives, damaged homes, disrupted families, and left deep scars all across the nation, leaving every one of us directly or indirectly affected.

And yet, even in that devastation, we saw courage, generosity, and unity rise to meet the moment.

As we stand at the threshold of 2026, we must reflect honestly on where we are, and look forward with determination to where we must go.

This New Year calls for a renewed ethos: one of resilience, responsibility, cooperation, and shared sacrifice.

Recovery will not be easy, but it is possible, if we dig deep within ourselves and give our very best in all situations.

We are blessed as a nation with faith in Almighty God! Blessed with belief in one another! Blessed with the support of our families, our friends, our diaspora, and our regional and international partners!

But above all, our greatest strength lies within us – our willingness to work together, to stay the course, and to build back better for generations to come.

Our motto is "Out of many, one people": Let us live these words not only in speech, but in action, and as one people, let us recover. As one people, let us move forward as we have done since Independence.

Jamaica has overcome countless challenges, and we have never given up, and we must not give up now.

Let us stay together, work together, and build a stronger nation together, for ourselves, our families, and those who will come after us.

May God bless you, and Jamaica, land we love.

- Sir Patrick Allen, ON, GCMG, CD, KST.J, is the Governor-General of Jamaica. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com