House of Representatives Passes NaRRA Act

The House of Representatives, on Wednesday (April 29), passed the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA) Act.

NaRRA will serve as the central coordinating authority for post-hurricane reconstruction, designed to eliminate bureaucracy, fragmentation, and project delays.

It will also function as a centre of technical excellence for project preparation and delivery, ensuring that the quality of national plans matches the scale of the country’s ambitions.

Closing the debate on the Bill, Prime Minister, Dr. the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, addressed the Opposition’s suggestion to refer the legislation to a Joint Select Committee of Parliament.

“We on this (Government) side, we have taken a decision that, as far as possible, we’re bringing all our Bills to a Joint Select Committee. That’s a decision that we took after the experience with the NIDS (National Identification System), subject, of course, to emergency situations or great urgency. I have heard the undertaking that there would be a commitment on the side of the Opposition to have the Joint Select Committee turned around very quickly,” Dr. Holness said.

“We accept the intention but we know that it takes a little while, and on average, you’re looking at three to six weeks at the minimum, and sometimes even longer. So, I would say… I appreciate the Opposition recognising that the Joint Select Committees are not the fastest mechanism, but they will try. But for this Bill, urgency is important,” he added.

The Prime Minister reiterated that NaRRA’s functions will be clearly defined and that the entity will operate within a fixed timeframe.

“So, this is not going to go on indefinitely. The policy direction for NaRRA will be very clear… they will be written and made public. But more than that… NaRRA will be focused on a specific set of projects that will be published,” Dr. Holness said.

He also emphasised that NaRRA will not divert or diminish existing resources.

“NaRRA is designed in such a way that the resources that it will have are going to be on top of what exists in the regular system. So it’s not going to take away from the regular system,” Dr. Holness said.

NaRRA will be vested with special powers to fast-track development approvals and procurement, enabling the execution of resilient infrastructure projects at a scale and speed unprecedented in Jamaica.

Following its passage in the Lower House, the legislation will now proceed to the Senate for approval.