New NRCA chairman to be appointed next week

A new chairman is to be appointed next week to the board of the Natural Resources Conservation Authority (NRCA), Minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Matthew Samuda disclosed today.

“The appointment of a chairman has not yet taken place, we expect that this will happen within the next week,” Samuda shared at Wednesday’s post-Cabinet press briefing.

In November last year, Weldon Madden resigned as chairman of the NRCA following a secret deal between the state body and Trade Winds Citrus Limited, which resulted in the discontinuation of a prosecution against the private company.

Trade Winds, a juice-making and fruit-exporting company, was fingered in an oil spill in the Rio Cobre in St Catherine in December 2023.

The company and the state-run entity agreed to no future litigation following mediation over the matter.

Samuda also shared that the country is expected to know the fate of embattled president of the National Water Commission (NWC), Mark Barnett, soon.

“Mark Barnett continues on administrative leave, but I expect to be able to provide an update soon,” he said.

Barnett was placed on administrative leave by the NWC's board of management in October 2023, arising from a report by the Integrity Commission which found that he allegedly built an apartment complex in violation of building permits.

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, in a ruling issued in January last year, stated that no criminal charges could be brought against Barnett as the time frame for doing so had passed.

In August last year, Barnett reportedly wrote to the management requesting a separation from the utility company.

- Sashana Small

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