In Jamaica, politics often masquerades as principle—but recent actions surrounding the National Housing Trust (NHT) reveal a shocking truth: principle is optional, outrage is selective, and ordinary Jamaicans pay the price.

The NHT was established to provide housing security, support, and hope for workers—the nurses, teachers, clerks, and labourers who contribute faithfully every month. Yet for the last two decades, it has become a political football.

In 2013, when the People’s National Party (PNP) government drew on NHT funds to address national budgetary shortfalls, a crisis was created by the previous JLP administration of 2007 – 2011. The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), then in opposition, erupted. The then Opposition Leader and his members labelled it “bank robbery”. 

Andrew Holness and his MPs thundered from the floor of Parliament and every platform, claiming that the PNP was robbing working Jamaicans of their contributions and that the drawdowns were illegal. He also gave a commitment that a future JLP government would not carry through with the drawdowns. The JLP also initiated court action to prevent the drawdowns, which, if it had been successful, would have prevented us securing an IMF deal. Headlines screamed of betrayal. The outrage was loud and absolute.

Fast forward to today. The JLP occupies the Office of the Prime Minister, and the same NHT coffers are now drawn down as an annual revenue source for the budget without a whisper of the fury once wielded against the PNP. What was “robbery” yesterday is now normalised as necessity, as the drawdowns of 11.4 billion dollars are now done for 10 years under their watch, and they have decided to continue for another 5 years, leading into 2031. The double standard is impossible to ignore. Selective outrage is partisan; their principles are conditional.

This is more than politics—it is betrayal and disrespect. The hardworking Jamaicans who fund the NHT see their money used as a tool of convenience, shuffled according to whoever holds power. The institution meant to protect citizens’ welfare is treated as a cash reserve for political expediency. Ministers lecture on responsibility while practising selective morality. Speeches that once condemned theft have been replaced by silence or justification.

Jamaica deserves leaders who respect public institutions regardless of party affiliation. We deserve transparency, consistency, and integrity. Instead, we get performative outrage, partisan hypocrisy, and a political culture where the rules change depending on which party is in office. The people who built the NHT with their sweat and pay their contributions faithfully are left holding the bag while politicians debate principle as if it were optional.

What was “bank robbery” yesterday is today “administrative necessity”. In Jamaica, principle is partisan, outrage is optional, and the only certainty is that the people—the very Jamaicans the NHT was built to serve—will always pay the price.