Senate approves NHT drawdown extension after heated housing debate

The Senate on June 5 approved amendments to the National Housing Trust Act, clearing the way for Government to continue drawing up to $11.4 billion a year from the NHT for budget support through March 31, 2031.

The debate centred on whether the transfers should continue while many Jamaicans, particularly in western parishes, remain in need of housing assistance after Hurricane Melissa. Opposition senators argued that NHT resources should be kept closer to the trust’s core housing mandate, with Senator Floyd Morris proposing that the provision be limited to two years and that the money be used specifically to build houses for citizens affected by the hurricane.

That proposed amendment was defeated after a division, with eight senators voting in favour and 10 against. The bill then passed committee stage without amendment and was later read a third time and approved.

Government senators defended the measure as necessary fiscal support at a difficult economic moment. Senator Keith Duncan argued that the NHT remains financially sound and that Jamaica faces pressure from disaster recovery, public-sector wage costs, global uncertainty and projected fiscal deficits. He said the housing constraint is not mainly financing, but land, approvals, labour, construction capacity and infrastructure.

Opposition speakers, including Senators Lambert Brown, Damion Crawford Tomlinson and Donna Scott-Mottley, challenged that position, saying contributors’ money should be used more directly for affordable homes, repairs and hurricane recovery. Brown urged the Government to reserve $4 billion annually from the drawdown to build starter houses for people in Westmoreland, St. Elizabeth, Hanover and St. James.

Leader of Government Business Kamina Johnson Smith closed the debate by saying the administration was taking a planned approach to recovery and reconstruction, while maintaining that the NHT transfers would not damage the trust’s ability to deliver housing. The Senate also later dealt with a regulations committee report on insurance fees before adjourning to a date to be fixed.