Holness: I am not satisfied with pace of Hurricane Melissa relief efforts

Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has once again underscored his disappointment with the pace of recovery following last year’s catastrophic Hurricane Melissa.

Holness was speaking at Tuesday’s launch of the Jamaica Reconstruction and Resilience Oversight Committee (JAMRROC) at Jamaica House.

JAMRROC is expected to provide independent oversight of the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA), the agency tasked with coordinating post-disaster reconstruction and advancing Jamaica's long-term resilience-building efforts.

According to Holness, he understands the burdens being experienced.

“And maybe, about six weeks after the hurricane, we made some commitments that we would purchase what we call modular, semi-permanent housing solutions. And now we are almost a year past the event, and we are now just being able to sign contracts and starting to deliver the houses,” said the prime minister.

“Now, the process does not take into consideration the suffering of the families there who are waiting for those houses, who are still, some of them, sleeping outside. And you know what? No matter what I say here today, it is not an excuse for them. It doesn't give them any comfort.”

He also pointed to the need for what he termed a “mindset shift” to move projects quickly.

“It's a fear or a lack of belief that we can build big things and build them quickly. The bureaucracy is almost unsure of itself to take on large projects. We hope that with NaRRA, we will also have a mindset shift. Because it's really a function of how we see ourselves as a small island or a small country. And we need to shift away from that,” he said.

According to Holness, public officials are also reluctant to be perceived as running afoul of the process.

“We cannot accept the idea that if something is done quickly, it must have been done improperly. Or that the only evidence of good administration is a long process. By the way, that is a culture that is now set in our public bureaucracy,” he said.

“But no one wants to go to Parliament to face the PAAC (Public Administration and Appropriations Committee) that will say ‘you did not follow procedure’, or get a report from the Auditor General that writes you up. No public servant wants that smear against their name. And so, they're not going to be moving any faster than what the process allows them to.”

He continued, “But the people are still there waiting, and that's the reality. That's the reality. I am not satisfied. I am, you know, I made it very clear, I am not satisfied with the pace at which we have been able to deliver. But no one wants to be called up and have a bad report from the PAAC.”

The prime minister, however, also stressed the need for accountability.

“So, we want to be clear, however, that speed without accountability is equally unacceptable. A national undertaking of this size, financed by substantial public resources, and required to move with urgency, demands corresponding weight of scrutiny,” he noted.

“So let me be clear about something first, right? NaRRA does not sit outside Jamaica's accountability framework. There have been a lot of narratives which would suggest that NaRRA is outside the public accountability framework; that is not the case.”

JAMRROC will be chaired by Professor Peter Blair Henry, a distinguished Jamaican economist, Senior Fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution and former Dean of NYU's Stern School of Business.

- Karen Madden

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