Letter of the Day | The greatest danger is not investment itself ...

THE EDITOR, Madam:

The prime minister’s address in Miami, as reported in your September 19 article – ‘ Holness pitches Jamaica’s rebuild to global capital’, presents Hurricane Melissa’s devastation as an opportunity to rebuild Jamaica into a stronger, more resurgent economy. There is merit in that vision. The US$6.7 billion multilateral financing package, with US$2.4 billion earmarked for the private sector, and the focus on energy, digital infrastructure, logistics, water and high-value tourism could, if properly managed, lift productivity and create jobs. Lowering the FAST Jamaica threshold from US$150 million to US$15 million could also widen participation beyond a handful of global giants.

But Jamaicans have heard this song before, and we cannot afford to be sold out again.

The greatest danger is not investment itself. It is the governance architecture being built around it. The National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA) is intended to control billions of dollars, yet the enabling ill reportedly provides for no board of governance, no internal auditor, no audit committee, and no embedded risk management function. The external oversight committee, JAMRROC, is not even written into the legislation. That means it has no legal standing, no guaranteed continuity, and no real power. An authority with that much money and that few internal checks is not a reconstruction plan, it is a blank cheque.

The history is clear. Jamaica has had nine stand-by arrangements and four extended arrangements with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Those programmes brought devaluation, wage freezes, and the removal of subsidies. The post-1977 path of foreign-investment-led development produced massive trade imbalances and deepened the role of external financial institutions in our economy. Now, we are being asked to trust a reconstruction model whose ultimate decisions will be made by global capital allocators managing hundreds of billions of US dollars, people with very little relationship to Jamaica. That is the same asymmetry that has made so many Jamaicans feel the country is being sold off.

The trust deficit is not abstract. Foreign direct investment fell from US$376.5 million in 2023 to US$164.6 million in 2024. The Opposition has pointed to an Integrity Commission report and corruption allegations as reasons investors are wary. Whether or not one accepts every political claim, the Government cannot preach “stability” abroad while resisting binding safeguards at home.

If the Government is serious about rebuilding Jamaica rather than selling it, it must amend the NaRRA bill before a single dollar flows. Put a statutory board in place. Require an internal auditor, an audit committee, and a risk management function. Write JAMRROC into the law. Subject procurement to transparent, competitive rules. Guarantee parliamentary oversight and public reporting. Protect local contractors, workers, and community interests. And ensure that reconstruction money builds Jamaican assets, not just foreign profits.

Jamaica cannot afford another cycle of disaster, debt, and dependency. Investment is welcome. A sellout is not. The NaRRA bill, as it stands, opens the door to exactly the kind of unchecked, foreign-capital-led reconstruction that has failed us before. Our people deserve better.

Alessandro Ferrari

Clarendon, Jamaica