Opposition cites law in push for public property to house NaRRA

The Opposition People's National Party (PNP) is demanding full transparency from the Government over its selection of a headquarters for the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA), calling on the administration to disclose what efforts were made to utilise publicly owned properties, before turning to alternative options.

The call comes hours after the Government announced a “scaling back” of operations in the face of backlash over an announced $115 million a year rental for Digicel’s Downtown Kingston facility to house the agency.

In a statement on Wednesday, Opposition Leader Mark Golding described the revised stance by the Holness administration as “a kind of Johnny-come-lately response to the public's deep negative reaction to this announcement”.

Golding insists that the legislation governing NaRRA must be central to all ongoing discussions and final decisions.

“But, you know, I think it's important that we move from first principles and the legislation which established NaRRA, which was passed into law earlier this year, in section 4, subsection 4 of that act, says, and I'll quote, ‘the authority, which is NaRRA, shall, if lawful and practicable, utilise existing capacity, resources, facilities, and systems in government which may be appropriately co-opted for the purposes of this act’,” he said.

“So the law which established NaRRA expects the Government to use public assets wherever possible for NaRRA to carry out its statutory functions.”

According to Golding, “the Government already has leased property in Mandeville, which is central to Jamaica, which is not being used, leased at great expense by TAJ (Tax Administration Jamaica) from the private sector. And there's also a lease on a property along Old Hope Road which the Ministry of Legal and Constitutional Affairs, when it was separate from the Minister of Justice, had leased those premises and they don't appear to be in use now.”

Speaking at Wednesday’s Post Cabinet Media Briefing, Information Minister Dana Morris Dixon was asked whether consideration was given to the building which formerly housed the Ministry of Legal and Constitutional Affairs.

“I did inquire of that because I figured you were going to ask, someone was going to ask me that question,” she responded.

“So the Ministry of Legal and Constitutional Affairs, as you know, was rolled into the Ministry of Justice. They had to come out of the lease for that specific space that you're speaking to. And from my checks this morning, it had to do with issues of leaking in the building and also electrical, significant electrical problems, in the building. So, that staff is actually now being housed in a gym in the offices of the Ministry of Justice.”

Section 4(4) of the NaRRA Act was included “as a legislative guardrail” to control operational costs, addressing public and parliamentary concerns over the budget allocated to run the authority.

- Karen Madden

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