Holness urges business sector to back Jamaica’s reconstruction and productivity drive

Prime Minister Andrew Holness told the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce on June 11 that Jamaica’s recovery from Hurricane Melissa must be used to rebuild the country in a stronger, more competitive way, not simply to replace damaged infrastructure.

Speaking at the Chamber’s 41st annual awards banquet, Holness said the organisation, founded in 1779, had endured through colonial rule, Independence, economic crises and renewal because of “institutional discipline”. He said Jamaica’s business community remained central to growth, arguing that government’s role is to set rules, provide support and allow enterprise to expand.

Holness said the past months had been difficult, with real GDP falling 7.1 per cent in the December quarter after Hurricane Melissa, while energy, grain and shipping costs remained elevated. Still, he pointed to record-low unemployment, inflation within the Bank of Jamaica’s target band, international reserves of US$6.5 billion, a stable exchange rate and improved credit-rating confidence.

He said the Government had mobilised US$6 billion in reconstruction financing after the hurricane and was able to provide US$150 million to the Jamaica Public Service Company to help restore electricity. He also said murders fell 42 per cent in 2025 and were down a further 22.5 per cent year-to-date, amounting to a 67 per cent decline over four years.

Holness said the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority, NARA, was created because the regular bureaucracy could not manage the scale and speed of the required rebuilding. He urged contractors, engineers, architects, financiers, insurers and other firms to help deliver projects with quality, fairness and urgency.

The Prime Minister said reconstruction spending could be the largest economic intervention in Jamaica in generations, with potential to lift GDP by more than 20 per cent. He also invited private projects of US$15 million or more, aligned with reconstruction and resilience goals, to use the NARA platform for approvals, processing and possible financing.

Holness also called productivity Jamaica’s central growth challenge. He said higher wages must be matched by greater output to avoid inflation, and urged government, businesses and workers to improve approvals, technology, training, skills and efficiency.