KINGSTON, Jamaica — Finance Minister Fayval Williams has outlined billions of dollars of spending included in the 2026-26 Budget that she describes as “very important non-hurricane work that the government must do”.

These are as follows:

● $18.8 million for the Backlog Audit Project, which is aimed at reducing the number of unaudited financial statements prepared by municipal corporations, some statutory bodies, executive agencies and some internationally-funded projects as well as the annual Appropriation Accounts of ministries and departments;

● $121 million for the relocation of the Office of the Children’s Advocate;

● $372 million for the relocation of the Office of the Independent Commission of Investigations;

● $1.86 billion for implementation of the National Identification System (NIDS);

● $1.5 billion for Rural Economic Development Initiative II;

● $225.5 million for Integrated Community Development Project II;

● $150 million for strengthening cyber security in Jamaica to include expanding the pool of specialised cyber security professionals;

● $5.5 billion for maintenance of secondary roads;

● $760 million for the HOPE housing programme and

● $50.3 billion for payment of pensions.