NaRRa vs ARCC

THE EDITOR, Madam:

Jamaica stands at a critical juncture. With the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA) now established to lead recovery after Hurricane Melissa, we have a rare opportunity to rebuild stronger and smarter. But we also face a clear danger: repeating the costly mistakes of Peru’s Autoridad para la Reconstrucción con Cambios (ARCC).

Created in 2017 after devastating El Niño floods, ARCC was meant to deliver not just reconstruction, but “reconstruction with changes” — resilient infrastructure that would reduce future risk. Instead, the agency became a cautionary tale. Prevention works lagged badly. Projects suffered chronic delays and massive cost overruns. Thousands of irregularities were flagged by Peru’s Contraloría. Corruption risks and weak oversight eroded public trust. By the time ARCC was wound down in 2023, much of the transformative promise remained unfulfilled.

The NaRRA has been deliberately modelled on aspects of the Peruvian experience, even using the same UK technical partners. That is not automatically a problem — provided we learn from what went wrong. Early controversies over office costs and remuneration already show how quickly public confidence can be tested. If NaRRA inherits ARCC’s weaknesses — insufficient independent oversight, prioritisation of speed over quality, weak enforcement of contracts, and under-delivery on genuine resilience measures — Jamaica will pay a heavy price.

The consequences would be severe: incomplete hospitals, schools and drainage systems years behind schedule; ballooning costs that strain an already pressured budget; communities left vulnerable to the next major storm; and a deepening of public cynicism at precisely the moment when national unity is most needed. We would spend heavily and still emerge only marginally better prepared.

Jamaica cannot afford a slow, leaky, low-trust reconstruction. NaRRA must operate with rigorous transparency, strong independent monitoring, genuine prioritisation of climate-resilient outcomes, and meaningful inclusion of local capacity. Anything less risks turning a historic opportunity into another expensive disappointment.

The lessons from Peru are public and painful. We ignore them at our peril.

Yannick Pessoa