Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator the Honourable Kamina Johnson Smith is today encouraging Jamaicans to remain calm in light of recent events in the United States.

According to the Minister, “It is very important in these matters that we remain calm and responsible. It is extremely unhelpful that people are inciting panic on matters that are very complex and very technical and subject to a lot of uncertainty even in the issuing state. The Ministry is making every effort to ascertain what the scope of these orders and it is important that we not conflate them, because there is more than one order and they deal with entirely different things. I would ask the Jamaican community overseas and public to remain calm and to be assured that the Ministry is examining these issues”.

“We are in contact with the US Embassy here, and we are in contact with the State Department overseas through our Missions there. As soon as we are clear on the advice we can give to the public on any impact on the Jamaican community, we will do so. Please be assured that we are monitoring these issues closely with your interest at heart”.

Minister Johnson Smith says the Ministry and the Government will maintain open communications channels and provide updates as matters become clearer, and the circumstances evolve.

“I think it’s important to make the point that the Jamaican Government cannot afford to rely on media reports and websites for information, so we have requested documentation on the Executive Orders from the US Embassy here and our missions in the (United) States. So we are very much doing the work that is necessary to ensure we do not inflame or give inaccurate positions or speculate as I believe is being done quite broadly now. We are making sure we have the right information to give the Jamaican people the correct advice which they need to guide them in their actions”.

Source: Press Release – Ministry Of Foreign Affairs And Foreign Trade