Calder Warns NaRRA Bill Risks Weakening Public Oversight in Jamaica Rebuild

Jamaica Accountability Meter Portal (JAMP) Executive Director Jeanette Calder is cautioning that the legal and governance failures highlighted by the recent Constitutional Court decision in the Dry Harbour Mountains matter could surface again if stronger transparency and accountability measures are not built into the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA) Bill.

NaRRA was established to coordinate rebuilding after Hurricane Melissa, which struck in October. Calder raised her concerns on Tuesday in an online presentation to the Kiwanis Club of Kingston titled “Trust, Power & Public Funds: Understanding the NaRRA Bill”.

Her warning comes days after the April 29 Constitutional Court judgement that struck down the 2020 environmental permit issued to Bengal Development Limited for a proposed mining operation in the Dry Harbour Mountains, St Ann. The court ruled the permit unconstitutional, void and without legal effect after Government proceeded despite objections from the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) and residents, who said the ecologically sensitive area faced irreversible damage. On Wednesday, Information Minister Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon said the Administration plans to appeal.

Calder rejected the idea that NaRRA simply allows agencies to continue their roles unchanged. In her view, the structure gives NaRRA authority over regulators rather than removing them outright. “It doesn’t bypass them but it controls them,” she stated.

She explained that where agencies such as NEPA are reviewing approvals for projects like roads or bridges, deadlines can be imposed by the NaRRA chief executive officer. If the deadline expires, she said, the Bill’s stepping mechanism can move the process forward without waiting on the regulator’s determination. “If the deadline passes, there is a stepping order which allows for the bypassing at this point, of whatever it is that regulatory agency would have said, and the decision on that permit and that planning approval can now actually be issued by NaRRA,” said Calder.

She further argued that if the CEO disagrees with technical guidance, the Bill allows that decision to be replaced, while requiring no public notice when such advice is overridden. “If there is a disagreement by the CEO with what the regulatory agencies are saying, not bypass them, but if you disagree with their decision, you can replace that decision entirely. There is no requirement under this legislation if there is a decision to bypass the technical/planning advice of any agency – there’s no requirement to let the public know that is the case”.

Calder also said the legislation does not clearly guarantee affected communities a right to be heard, and she flagged what she described as no express provision for judicial review. She argued that, taken together, the stepping framework could legally entrench conduct the Dry Harbour judgement said should not have occurred.

Another major concern she raised was Section 26, which removes NaRRA from the Public Investment Management System (PIMS), introduced in 2019 to improve value-for-money controls on large infrastructure spending. “One of the things that NaRRA will not be subjected to is this process; Section 26 explicitly says that NaRRA will be exempted from PIMS… no prepayment appraisal before funds are committed or spent.”

Calder said that exemption is especially troubling because NaRRA’s remit extends beyond hurricane-related works to include broader national strategic projects. She said debate can continue over whether PIMS slows delivery, but stressed that the accountability issue is central to preventing waste and poor project selection.

She also questioned why the authority is designed without a governing board, despite being expected to manage about US$6.7 billion, roughly J$1 trillion, in what she described as a low-trust environment. Citing Jamaica’s 2012 Corporate Governance Framework, she noted that boards are intended to strengthen transparency, probity and effective decision-making in public entities.

Calder asked why an agency with such large responsibilities and funding would not have that level of formal oversight. Instead, she said, NaRRA places executive control in a single CEO appointed by the prime minister, supported by an advisory committee that may be appointed by the minister.

According to Calder, the advisory committee has no binding authority over decisions made by the CEO. “The advisory committee has no legal power; it cannot block, it cannot reverse any decision. It never has to meet because nothing in law demands that it does so and if its advice is ignored no law has been broken,” she said.

While underscoring the urgency of reconstruction after Hurricane Melissa, she maintained that urgency should not become a reason to dilute safeguards around public money and state power. She noted the storm caused US$12.2 billion in damage and erased 56 per cent of gross domestic product, but insisted Jamaica must still protect accountability while rebuilding.