The Senate has approved amendments to the Financial Administration and Audit Act 2026, which will remove the cap on the maximum amount that may be held in the National Natural Disaster Reserve Fund (NNDRF).

The legislative measure seeks to cease mandatory annual transfers from the Consolidated Fund to the NNDRF once the balance is at or above $10 billion, and to remove Section 13A (1), which makes provision for the transfer of $200 million from the Consolidated Fund to the NNDRF during the financial year 2023/2024.

Piloting the bill during the recent sitting of the Senate, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Kamina Johnson Smith, said the amendments demonstrate the responsiveness of the Government.

“Using the example of Melissa, it’s clear that in order to accommodate funds triggered by disasters of similar scale or even less, that the steps to be taken under this bill are logical. We must be agile and responsive to the realities that confront us, and the amendments proposed today provide an appropriate level of flexibility,” she said.

The NNDRF was established pursuant to the Financial Administration and Audit Amendment Act 2024.

The legislation establishing the Fund was designed to provide a disaster risk management facility capable of enabling an immediate financial response to any disaster affecting Jamaica that results in a fiscal impact equivalent to or greater than 1.5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). This would trigger a disbursement under a natural disaster instrument held by or on behalf of the Government.

The passage of Hurricane Melissa on October 28, 2025, triggered several natural-disaster instruments, resulting in a flow of resources in excess of $10 billion.

Other Senators who contributed to the debate were Ramon Small Ferguson, Marlon Morgan, and Kisha Anderson.