House resumes Sectoral Debate with focus on technology, agriculture and digital policy

Jamaica’s House of Representatives resumed sitting on Tuesday, June 2, 2026, with the Sectoral Debate continuing after members agreed to suspend regular agenda items to accommodate three presentations.

Speaker Juliet Holness welcomed members and visitors, including constituents from St. Catherine South Central, St. Mary Southeastern and Westmoreland Eastern. Students from Annotto Bay High School, St. Mary Technical High School and Marymount High School were also recognised in the gallery.

Dr Andrew Wheatley, minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for science, technology and special projects, opened the debate under the theme “Growth through Research, Innovation and Technology.” He outlined a proposed “House of Innovation” framework, which he said would guide Jamaica’s research, science and technology agenda.

Wheatley said the plan would focus on food security, climate resilience, biotechnology, the creative industries, the circular economy, digital transformation, artificial intelligence and innovation ecosystem development. He also said Jamaica’s research and development spending stood at 0.07 per cent of GDP and announced a target of US$350 million in blended financing over 10 years, with the aim of raising investment to 1.5 per cent of GDP.

He further addressed nuclear energy readiness, data protection enforcement, cybersecurity legislation and AI governance. Wheatley said Jamaica was not building a nuclear plant at this stage, but was developing the institutional, legal and technical groundwork needed to assess small modular reactors responsibly.

Opposition spokesman Dr Dayton Campbell, MP for Westmoreland Eastern, used his agriculture and fisheries contribution to call for “a harvest the people can eat.” He criticised the country’s rising food import bill, urged a national import-reduction plan and proposed a permanent agriculture and fisheries disaster recovery fund.

Campbell also called for stronger investment in irrigation, farm roads, storage, agro-processing, fisheries infrastructure, women in agriculture, youth participation and praedial larceny prevention.

St. Mary Southeastern MP Christopher Brown closed the main presentations with a critique of Jamaica’s digital transformation pace. He called for faster action on cybersecurity law, AI policy, digital skills, research commercialisation and protections for Jamaican cultural intellectual property in the age of artificial intelligence.

After the debate was suspended, several reports were tabled, including documents from the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority, Spectrum Management Authority, University of the West Indies Mona campus, Integrity Commission, Bank of Jamaica and Auditor General’s Department. The House was later adjourned to a date to be fixed.