NaRRA brings heat to the Senate

THE Senate is usually regarded as Parliament’s calmer and more restrained chamber compared to the often fiery House of Representatives, but debate on the controversial National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA) Bill on Friday turned the Upper House into a tense political battleground as senators traded sharp verbal jabs over the Government’s push to fast-track Jamaica’s rebuilding after Hurricane Melissa.

While Government senators defended the legislation as an urgent and transformative response to the devastation caused by the Category 5 hurricane last October, Opposition members repeatedly warned that the Bill concentrates too much power in the executive, weakens oversight safeguards, and risks creating constitutional and governance problems.

The sharpest exchanges emerged around calls for the Bill to be sent to a joint select committee, with Opposition senators arguing that legislation of such magnitude requires broader scrutiny and public consultation before being passed into law. Government senators, however, dismissed those demands as impractical and inconsistent, given the urgency of post-disaster rebuilding.

Leader of Opposition Business in the Senate Donna Scott-Mottley repeatedly compared the NaRRA legislation to the controversial National Identification and Registration Act (NIDS), which was eventually struck down by the Constitutional Court.

“The upshot of that was that when the matter was taken to court, certain aspects of it was challenged as being unconstitutional and abrogating the Charter of Rights,” Scott-Mottley warned senators.

She argued that the Government was once again rushing major legislation through Parliament despite widespread concerns from civil society groups and the Opposition, accusing the Administration of dismissing calls for deeper scrutiny of the Bill and showing little willingness to accommodate opposing views.

Scott-Mottley warned that Jamaicans should be concerned about granting sweeping powers to a new authority without stronger accountability mechanisms, particularly given past constitutional challenges faced by the Government.

She also challenged the Government’s argument that extraordinary new powers are necessary to improve disaster recovery, insisting that communities devastated by Hurricane Melissa are still facing unacceptable living conditions months after the storm, despite existing State resources and agencies.

“Did you need a NaRRA to help the people from Westmoreland? Did you fail to help the people from Westmoreland because you had no NaRRA? You have people who have just been removed from shelters into surroundings which are far from adequate. You have people who live in a school — hanging out their clothes on a line, and indeed cohabit in the school — because the school has become their home.

“That is how you deal with people? That is how you handle people who are suffering? And then come to tell me that a strategic investment has people at the heart when for six months they are driving down in St Elizabeth that they say don’t look any different from the day the hurricane hit,” she said.

Government senators pushed back strongly against claims that the Bill lacks accountability safeguards, insisting that the scale of destruction caused by Hurricane Melissa requires extraordinary urgency and decisive executive action.

Senator Abka Fitz-Henley argued that Jamaica cannot afford delays while devastated communities remain in crisis months after the hurricane.

“We support passage of the NaRRA. We recognise that Hurricane Melissa, having accounted for 56 per cent of GDP, means that the damage is so extensive that operating at normal pace it would take approximately 25 years of normal Government of Jamaica capital expenditure to address the damage,” Fitz-Henley said.

He also accused some civil society groups critical of the legislation of political inconsistency and selective outrage.

“This argument about NaRRA paving the way for corruption has also been proffered by not only the Opposition but a few organisations and individuals who the media describe as civil society, but they really are supporters of the PNP,” he said.

The PNP is the Opposition People’s National Party.

Government Senator Kavan Gayle similarly defended the decision not to send the legislation to a joint select committee, arguing that the lengthy consultation process would delay urgently needed reconstruction work.

“When you establish a joint select committee there’s going to be some time spent in sending out the notice, awaiting applications, awaiting submissions, starting to meet,” Gayle said while stressing that Jamaica was approaching another hurricane season.

The Opposition, however, maintained that speed should not come at the expense of accountability and constitutional safeguards.

Opposition Senator Cleveland Tomlinson warned that the Bill gives sweeping powers to a single authority without sufficient institutional checks and balances.

“It allows a single minister, by order, to override those bodies without gazetting that order, without reporting to Parliament, without any public record of having done so,” Tomlinson argued.

Tomlinson also criticised provisions exempting approved projects from parts of the Public Investment Management System (PIMS), describing the move as dangerous.

“Speed without scrutiny is not efficiency — it is an invitation to waste,” he cautioned.

Meanwhile, Government Senator Rosemarie Bennett-Cooper delivered an emotional defence of the legislation, repeatedly urging senators not to forget the human suffering caused by Hurricane Melissa.

“Long after the winds subsided and the floodwaters receded, what remains are not simply damaged buildings and broken infrastructure; what remains are the faces of Jamaicans who are trying to make sense of loss,” Bennett-Cooper said.

She also sought to reassure Jamaicans that NaRRA would not dismantle existing development laws or bypass all regulatory approvals.

Friday’s debate marked the latest stage in what has become one of the most divisive legislative battles in recent months, following chaotic scenes in the House of Representatives last week during overnight debate on the Bill.

The legislation seeks to have the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority coordinate post-disaster rebuilding and accelerate major infrastructure and investment projects following Hurricane Melissa.

Leader of Opposition Business in the Senate Donna Scott-Mottley chides the Government for again rushing major legislation through Parliament despite widespread concerns from civil society groups and the Opposition during debate on the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority Bill on Friday.