PNP accuses gov’t of using public sector travel ban to distract from NaRRA controversy

The Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) is accusing the Government of using a blanket ban on official travel as a tactical distraction from the widening controversy surrounding the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA).

The Government’s ban on official travel, which took immediate effect on Wednesday, October 21, and runs until March 31 next year, covers Cabinet ministers, permanent secretaries, heads of agencies, board members and public sector employees.

The Government blamed the fiscal strain caused by Hurricane Melissa and said the ban applies even where travel is fully funded by external organisations.

However, in a release on Friday, the PNP questioned whether the ban was “a genuine effort to control costs or simply a public relations exercise, coming immediately after millions of dollars were committed to the newly established NaRRA”.

The Government has faced public backlash over the millions being spent to lease the Digicel building to house NaRRA’s offices, as well as the salary being paid to its chief executive officer, Major General Anthony Anderson.

“I think this ban raises more questions than answers as to whether this is really going to be an effective way to control costs,” said Julian Robinson, Opposition Spokesperson on Finance.

“It comes immediately after NaRRA, where we are seeing millions of dollars being spent on office space and on a structure that is top-heavy in terms of salaries. So I just wonder whether this is more performative, more from a public relations perspective,” he added.

While accepting that overseas travel must be managed carefully, the PNP said the Government had not disclosed how much it expected to save or what exceptions would apply.

The Opposition also questioned why externally sponsored trips, which do not cost taxpayers, were being blocked at a time when Jamaica needs international partners to support its recovery.

“For Jamaicans still rebuilding homes, farms and businesses after Hurricane Melissa, every dollar matters. Genuine fiscal discipline must begin with the largest areas of spending, not the most visible ones,” the PNP statement noted.

The Opposition called for the Government to publish the projected savings from the ban, as well as a full accounting of NaRRA’s expenditure.

It said this would allow the public to judge whether the ban on official travel “is substance or spin”.

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