As Parliament prepares to vote on the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA) Bill, Jamaicans should reject the false choice being presented between urgency and accountability.

No reasonable citizen disputes the scale of the recovery challenge following Hurricane Melissa. The economic losses are immense, communities remain vulnerable, and reconstruction cannot be unnecessarily delayed.

However, urgency should not be used to justify weak safeguards.

Supporters of the bill have repeatedly framed criticism as obstruction, yet many of the concerns being raised are substantive and deserve careful consideration. Civil society organisations such as Jamaicans for Justice and Jamaica Environment Trust have questioned whether the legislation grants overly broad powers while providing insufficient independent oversight.

Even more notable is that concerns have also emerged from within the government itself. Marlene Malahoo Forte publicly indicated that aspects of the bill may require further review. That alone should encourage lawmakers to pause and ensure the legislation is properly structured.

Jamaica’s history has shown that emergency-style governance without strong accountability mechanisms can create significant risks. Procurement controversies, weak institutional oversight, and declining public trust make it even more important that any reconstruction authority operates transparently and within clearly defined limits.

The country may very well need a central body to coordinate rebuilding efforts. But such a body must be subject to robust parliamentary oversight, transparent procurement standards, independent auditing, and clear limits on its authority.

Efficiency matters. Reconstruction matters.

But public trust matters too.

Parliament must ensure that in trying to rebuild quickly, Jamaica does not create a structure that weakens accountability for years to come.

 This concerned citizen can be contacted at: [email protected]