Editorial | Red in the NaRRA ledger

If the bosses of the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA) hope to extract positives from the fallout from its property rental debacle at the Digicel Building in downtown Kingston, there are two, other than the administration’s declaration that it listened to people’s concerns and scaled back the deal. So it is a responsive government.

NaRRA’s officials might also point out that information about the fat bill that, but for the downsizing, taxpayers would face for rent wasn’t known because it was leaked to the public. It was announced by NaRRA itself. That, it might say, goes to its transparency, which is how its CEO, Antony Anderson, had pledged to run the agency.

But perhaps the greatest potential asset of this fiasco is that it happened early in NaRRA’s life. General Anderson and his boss, Prime Minister Andrew Holness, can treat it as a mistake from which they learn, rather than allowing it to define people’s perception of the authority. In that case, they can’t interpret criticisms merely as politically orchestrated or reflective of ill will towards the organisation.

The controversy may have its roots in the very design of NaRRA, which was of concern to many people, including this newspaper, when it was being formulated as a special-purpose vehicle to lead Jamaica’s reconstruction from Hurricane Melissa, the category-five storm that devastated the western third of the island a year ago. All power at NaRRA is concentrated in the hands of the CEO and the prime minister/Cabinet. NaRRA has no internal governance oversight, such as a board of directors.

The Jamaica Reconstruction and Resilience and Oversight Committee (JaMRROC), while it has possibilities for helping to keep Jamaicans informed about the work of NaRRA, is essentially an ex post facto body of review, which isn’t grounded in legislation. JaMRROC’s members would have had no involvement in the initial decision to lease two floors of the Digicel Building at approximately US$726,000, or nearly J$116 million annually, at current exchange rates. That is a lot of money, especially in the context of the public perception of the job NaRRA was established to perform, which the authorities seemed to have appreciated.

MARKET RATES

Indeed, the Cabinet Office announcement of the lease emphasised that the cost per square foot was in keeping with market rates, as verified by the National Land Agency (NLA). It aligned with what the government currently paid for renting space.

The statement further pointed out that the Digicel Building was “designed and constructed to withstand multiple environmental hazards”, with structural and engineering features that supported resilience. These elements, the statement said, aligned with NaRRA’s mandate to maintain “business continuity and critical functions during disasters”.

“Our facilities must support safe working conditions, reliable communication and the continuity of critical functions during emergencies,” General Anderson was quoted as saying.

If the fulsome explanation was designed to neutralise an anticipated public backlash, it didn’t work for several reasons. First, there was the perception of NaRRA staff moving into a well-appointed high-rise building on the Kingston waterfront at a time when many people were still living rough in western Jamaica and reconstruction efforts were perceived to lag.

Additionally, even if the government believes it to be an unfair conflation, people saw in the NaRRA lease echoes of the many past controversies over the government’s high-priced rental and renovation of private property, at times for several years before occupation. The Tax Administration Jamaica issue is a recent one that comes to mind. The obvious question in the circumstances is whether other government agencies, say the Urban Development Corporation, didn’t have empty buildings or space which NaRRA could occupy.

PEOPLE’S EXPECTATION

Perhaps the greater driver of the public’s reaction was people’s expectation or perception of how NaRRA would operate. People perceived a fast-paced, frugal operation with hands-on capabilities, aligned with the interests of the victims of the storm. The immediate optics of the Digicel Building were of a high-flying corporatist entity far removed from people in makeshift structures. It didn’t help that many of NaRRA’s early statements were about large infrastructural projects to embed resilience, rather than the immediate small things that now affect victims of the storm.

In announcing the scale-back of the space that NaRRA will now rent, Dana Morris Dixon, the minister with responsibility for information, said, “We listen to the views of the people of Jamaica, that is our responsibility ... So given those concerns raised and the sentiments that have been expressed, the government has decided to stage the rollout of NaRRA, which means going slower, meaning using less space.”

The government has to be careful about its framing of the argument, as if the questions raised about the lease would negatively impact the pace at which NaRRA gets into stride. Eventually, the space would be required. And the same building, it seems.

The good thing is that, with his reputation for integrity, General Anderson still enjoys the goodwill of the majority of Jamaicans, including this newspaper. That is an important currency for NaRRA that must be managed wisely.

The Digicel lease is an early hiccup on the red side of the ledger. There can’t be too many of these if NaRRA is to retain, and build, confidence among Jamaicans.