The Andrew Holness-led administration in Jamaica is moving full speed towards transforming the island into a republic, says the prime minister.

Noting that while the process is something he inherited Prime Minister Holness said he never expected it to be a straight line

“It is time that Jamaica become a republic. For us, the process is not simple, and we have known this from we started on this journey, and we are making sure that we check every box as we move deliberately in that regard,” he said.

Holness made these remarks when he addressed Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett’s 25th Anniversary Scholarship Programme, in St James.

He  Holness said he was urging Legal Affairs and Constitutional Affairs Minister Marlene Malahoo Forte, to move ahead with speed and alacrity on this matter.

“Jamaica must become a Republic,” Holness said, adding that whatever obstacles the process might encounter, his administration will be in for the long haul and will do whatever it takes,” he said.

The opposition has been under heavy opposition criticism, for the failure to name the high-level committee on constitutional reform.

The People’s National Party (PNP) is accused of holding up the start of the process of Jamaica’s move toward becoming a republican state.

However, Opposition Leader Mark Golding defended the opposition’s position on the situation.

He said noting “the circumstances were not that simple as Malahoo Forte had only recently replied to a letter which he wrote to her in June 2022 requesting information on the intended amendments to the Jamaica Constitution and concerns regarding the Privy Council remaining as Jamaica’s final appellate court”

Jamaica gained independence from the United Kingdom on 6 August 1962.