Four months ago, Jamaica was hit by Hurricane Melissa, the strongest hurricane ever to make landfall in the Atlantic. It was a hard time for our country. Many families lost roofs, communities lost power and water, and lives were disrupted. But in that moment, the Caribbean stood with us. I want to sincerely thank my colleagues across CARICOM for the supplies, financial support, field hospitals, desalination plants, and personnel you sent to help us recover. Some of you came in person to visit affected communities. That meant a lot to our people. It showed that CARICOM is family. We are deeply grateful. At the same time, we must be honest. Climate change is making storms stronger and more frequent. We cannot only respond after disaster strikes. We must prepare better. That means strengthening our regional systems, pooling resources, and protecting our economies so that every storm does not set us back. As we mark 50 meetings of CARICOM, we must focus on what matters most to our people, security, resilience, jobs, and economic growth. Jamaica remains fully committed to CARICOM, because our future is tied to the strength of the region. Now more than ever we must move from words to action.(Andrew Holness)