KINGSTON, Jamaica — The withdrawal by the Government of $114 billion from the National Housing Trust (NHT) for non-tax revenue support over the past 10 years, and projections for another $57 billion to be withdrawn over the next five years, is not sitting well with Opposition Leader Mark Golding.

Golding has made his position clear during his ongoing presentation to the 2026/27 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives.

He argued that the continued withdrawals are unconscionable at a time when 15,000 houses are needed each year to meet the unmet demand. He also criticised the Government, which he reminded was critical of the then People’s National Party administration when it first made the withdrawal in 2013 to meet the requirements of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at the time.

The temporary arrangement should have ended in 2017 when Jamaica successfully completed the IMF programme and ended its borrowing relationship with the multilateral.

“We must recall that this was originally introduced in 2013 as a temporary four-year measure ending in 2017. It was necessary at the height of Jamaica’s debt crisis, when Jamaica was required to achieve a primary surplus of 7.5 per cent to turn the economy on a path to debt sustainability,” the Opposition leader said.

Golding cited that despite those circumstances, the then Opposition vehemently criticised it at that time.

He pointed out that, “They even likened it to a bank robbery, and its leader Andrew Holness, now the prime minister, said that he would never let it happen. He said he would ring-fence the NHT to prevent its resources from being taken by the Government. He committed to reversing it should he become prime minister.”

“Those words were utterly false. Under his watch as minister responsible for the NHT, this Government has passed legislation twice to extend it over its 10 years in office. Indeed, since it came to office in 2016, this Government has withdrawn $114 billion from the NHT as non-tax revenue. This continued over that period despite Jamaica needing to increase the construction of affordable houses by 15,000 per year to satisfy the unmet demand, and despite Jamaica having left the IMF borrowing programme since 2017,” Golding stated.

He noted that the Government announced via the Throne Speech that it will extend the annual extraction from the NHT for a further five years to March 2031, meaning that the financial base of the NHT will be reduced by a further $57 billion over the next five years.

He argued that at a time when Jamaica’s housing stock in the western parishes has been decimated by Hurricane Melissa, these are resources which should be deployed by the NHT to rebuild resilient homes for the many thousands of households who suffered varying degrees of damage to houses.

“This is not the time to be drawing the money out of the NHT to balance the Government’s fiscal accounts. With a mere $30 billion, less than one per cent of GDP (gross domestic product) allocated in the budget towards Melissa recovery expenditure for the coming 2026/27 fiscal year, the NHT should be empowered and mandated to play a much greater part in restoring resilient shelter in Western Jamaica. This is not the time to be depleting the resources of the most important housing institution in Jamaica,” said Golding.

— Lynford Simpson