The People’s National Party has condemned the Government’s decision during the debate in the House of Representatives yesterday to approve yet another five-year extension of the annual drawdown of $11.4 billion from the National Housing Trust (NHT), a move that will remove an additional $57 billion from the institution between 2026 and 2031.

Leader of the Opposition Mark Golding, MP said the Government’s action comes at a time when Jamaica grapples with a severe and worsening housing crisis following the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa, which has left thousands of families displaced and in urgent need of housing support.

“Jamaica suffers from a chronic shortage of affordable homes. Young people in particular, who aspire to own their own home, are finding it increasingly difficult to do so in light of the high cost of houses being developed on the free market. The NHT was developed to meet the need for those who could not afford it on their own,” Golding stated.

The Opposition Leader noted that when the PNP Administration approved the original drawdown arrangement in 2013, it did so based on expert economic advice that a limited four-year measure was necessary to help pull Jamaica out of an unprecedented fiscal crisis and restore international financial credibility.

“At that time, the Jamaica Labour Party, then in Opposition, strongly opposed the measure. Yet after assuming office in 2016, they abandoned that position entirely and have now extended the arrangement on three separate occasions, despite Jamaica’s improved fiscal standing,” Golding said.

He further criticised the Government for returning to Parliament seeking approval for another five-year extension without meaningful justification, consultation, or prior discussion with the Opposition.

The Government approached Parliament yesterday in its usual arrogant and authoritarian manner of disregarding the Opposition. Mr Golding said, “Had there been genuine consultation, especially given the extraordinary pressures created by Hurricane Melissa and the ongoing fuel crisis, the Opposition may have been prepared to support a more limited continuation of the arrangement, perhaps in reduced increments and with proper safeguards. Instead, the Government once again chose confrontation over consensus,” Golding added.

Noting that Jamaica continues to face an increased annual housing demand while affordable housing output remains well below what is required to meet national need, the PNP warned that the depletion of NHT resources is directly undermining the institution’s ability to fulfil its core mandate of financing affordable housing for contributors.

Golding also noted that “the NHT has increasingly been forced to outsource portions of its mortgage financing operations to private financial institutions while subsidising interest rates on those mortgages, resulting in more resources being continuously siphoned away from the Trust’s central mission.

The PNP maintains that every available dollar within the NHT should be directed toward expanding affordable housing stock, supporting low-income contributors, and increasing access to homeownership for young Jamaicans, as well as rebuilding communities devastated by Hurricane Melissa.

The Opposition reiterates that the NHT belongs to its contributors, not the Government’s budget.