Letter of the Day | Fix NaRRA before it fails us

THE EDITOR, Madam:

I am writing, in strong agreement with The Sunday Gleaner editorial on the proposed NaRRA Bill. At a moment when Jamaica stands in urgent need of credible, transparent, and accountable development frameworks, this legislation must not pass in a weakened form.

The editorial’s identification of key deficiencies, governance, over-centralisation in the political executive, procurement integrity, and transparency, goes to the heart of public trust. The recommendations offered, board-led governance with parliamentary oversight, limits on ministerial overreach, statutory procurement transparency, and robust public reporting, are not merely technical improvements; they are safeguards for democracy itself.

Too often in our history, the political class has relied on the creation of multi-layered agencies as a pathway to access and deploy taxpayers’ funds with insufficient oversight. These structures, lacking strong governance frameworks, have too easily become opaque spaces where accountability is diluted, and public confidence eroded. Jamaica cannot afford another such experiment.

A further concern, which deserves explicit attention in the Bill, is the risk of institutional isolation. Without deliberate safeguards, agencies can evolve into self-contained “kingdoms”, operating with limited coordination with other arms of government. This fragmentation is one of the chronic diseases of our public administration. These are not merely operational failures; they are failures of structured collaboration.

The NaRRA Bill should include a clear linkage framework, a statutory requirement for inter-agency coordination, shared planning, and integrated execution. Such a framework should mandate formal collaboration protocols, joint accountability mechanisms, and public reporting on inter-agency performance.

Finally, if Jamaica is to build a resilient nation capable of withstanding the intensifying threats of climate change, then we must anchor reconstruction in a robust governance framework. The people of western Jamaica who have lost lives, homes, and livelihoods do not deserve an anaemic bill for recovery. They deserve legislation that enables them not only to rebuild, but to rebuild with resilience, dignity, proper safeguards for the future, and rebuild trust in public governance.

Development is never the work of isolated institutions. It is the fruit of well-ordered relationships between agencies, between levels of government, and between the state and its citizens. If NaRRA is to serve Jamaica well, it must be built not only on sound governance and transparency, but also on intentional linkages that bind the system together in service of the common good.

FR DONALD CHAMBERS

frdon63@hotmail.com