Jamaica’s main opposition political bloc, the People’s National Party (PNP), is pushing for a full parliamentary review of the draft National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA) Bill, calling on ruling legislators to halt all progress on the legislation until a cross-party joint select committee can examine its text thoroughly.
The bill, designed to establish a new government body tasked with overseeing billions of dollars in disaster recovery and infrastructure investment, is already drawing sharp criticism for major gaps in its governance framework. Opposition Senator Cleveland Tomlinson, deputy spokesperson for the party on issues of productivity, government efficiency and national competitiveness, laid out the opposition’s core concerns in a recent address, noting that the NaRRA will be responsible for managing massive public capital flows while streamlining approval processes for private sector investment in recovery projects.
Under the current draft of the legislation, Tomlinson argued, far too much unchecked authority is concentrated in the hands of the cabinet minister charged with overseeing the new agency. He pointed out that the bill fails to include critical foundational governance requirements: it does not mandate the creation of a formal governing board for the authority, makes no provision for an independent audit committee, does not require a dedicated internal auditor to monitor spending, and omits any framework for institutional risk management.
“This cannot be the right way to structure an agency holding this much public responsibility,” Tomlinson stated. “Any authority granted such enormous financial oversight must have basic internal governance structures enshrined in law from its inception. As currently written, this bill is missing the essential pillars of accountability that any public institution must have to operate ethically and effectively.”
While Tomlinson acknowledged the urgent need to speed up reconstruction and recovery work in the wake of Hurricane Melissa, which caused widespread damage across the country, he emphasized that legislative speed cannot come at the cost of proper oversight and transparency. He proposed that the joint select committee be given a tight, limited timeline to complete its review, suggesting a window between 60 and 90 days to balance the need for urgent reform with the need for robust deliberation.
Tomlinson added that the drafting process for the bill has so far excluded meaningful input from groups outside of government, and a cross-party parliamentary review would create space for key stakeholders and members of the wider public to contribute to shaping the final legislation. “A joint select committee is the only way to ensure that the final law balances the urgent need for post-hurricane reconstruction with the non-negotiable requirement of good, accountable governance,” he said.