Mark Golding used his contribution to the 2026/27 Budget Debate on Tuesday to present the Opposition People’s National Party’s (PNP) version of “building back better” in the aftermath of the US$12.2 billion in damage left by Hurricane Melissa which hit sections of the island last October.

That version is anchored on several pillars similar to what the PNP presented in its manifesto for the September 2025 General Election. These include energy, health care, education, agriculture, and food security.

On the matter of energy, Golding, the Opposition leader, argued that there is no development without energy. He said Jamaica’s economic development is being retarded by the high cost of energy with Jamaicans paying some of the highest electricity prices in the region.

“This is not a fact we must accept; it is a problem we must solve,” Golding said, adding that “[T]here will be no affordable energy without competent, bold leadership.”

“To power our recovery and a more productive and competitive economy we must build back better than before,” he said.

The Opposition leader told the House that the current licence with Jamaica Public Service Company, that expires in 2027, must be negotiated with one overriding objective — to reduce the cost of electricity for Jamaicans.

He also said the transition to renewable energy must be accelerated, as Jamaica is blessed with ample sources of solar, wind, and other renewable energy options which are cleaner and cheaper.

He pointed out that as the current war raging in the Middle East shows, “Jamaica remains way too vulnerable to external shocks that cause sharp, painful, and economically debilitating spikes in the price of the oil and gas that we import to fuel our imbalanced energy sector.”

Golding also urged the Government to seriously tackle what he calls the social dimension of energy poverty.

“Tens of thousands of Jamaican households remain informal consumers, living in fear of fires and disconnection. Our electricity empowerment programme would help low-income households regularise their connections, with support for rewiring, inspection, and solar panel installation. This is not just about reducing theft; it is about restoring dignity and security at home. It is about bringing everyone into the light, safely and affordably,” he stated of the PNP plan.

On the matter of health care, Golding described Jamaica’s hospitals in the public health system as being “in a shockingly bad state”.

“Corridors are filled with patients, vital equipment either does not exist or is not in working order, and staff are doing the work of three people with the resources of one,” he charged.

He blasted the Government over the ending of the bilateral arrangement with Cuban medical workers, saying, “The crisis in our public health system has now been compounded by a decision of this Government to terminate 50 years of fruitful partnership with the Republic of Cuba.

“At a time when our emergency departments are overflowing, when our operating theatres sit idle for lack of staff, and when our nurses are emigrating in record numbers, this Government has chosen to send away approximately 150 Cuban doctors and nurses who were on the ground, working in our public health facilities, serving our people.”

Golding also urged the Government to roll out a National Health Insurance Scheme, suggesting that it should start with the most vulnerable, including children from birth to 18 years, seniors 65 years and older, and individuals with disabilities.

“This expansion of coverage should be a cornerstone of building back better than before,” he said.

Additionally, Golding wants the Government to prioritise functioning diagnostic services in every public hospital.

“No patient should have to wait for an ambulance to transport them elsewhere for a CT scan. No parish should lack basic radiology capacity. We would ensure that every parish hospital has diagnostic equipment that is working, maintained properly, and staffed adequately,” he said.

Addressing education, Golding said that a nation that does not properly educate its children cannot achieve its development goals.

“Jamaica has a crisis in education, with well-documented, unacceptable underachievement at the primary and secondary levels, leading to a low level of tertiary-level qualification that helps to keep our economy weak, unproductive, and uncompetitive,” he said.

Hurricane Melissa, Golding added, has made the education crisis worse, with damaged schools, poor access roads, disrupted families, and heightened economic pressures pushing absenteeism to unacceptable levels.

“Thousands of our children cannot attend school five days a week because they cannot afford transportation or a daily meal. This must be addressed head-on,” he insisted.

The Opposition leader again criticised the Government’s purchase of used school buses, saying that “importing 110 old buses for $1.4 billion for rural student transportation without following competitive procurement procedures has, within a few months, been shown to be a very bad decision, if not worse”.

“We told you so from the beginning. Now, after $1.4 billion in purchases and another $871 million in operating expenses, you say they are switching to new buses. What a tangled web you weave,” he said.

Turning to agriculture and food security, Golding told the House that Hurricane Melissa did not only destroy homes; it damaged livelihoods. He noted that farmers, already struggling with low technology and limited financial and technical support, lost crops, livestock, greenhouses and other structures, and months of invested labour and capital.

“But in every crisis there lies opportunity. The opportunity before us is to transform Jamaican agriculture into a modern, resilient, productive sector. That is how to build back better than before,” he said, adding, “You need to get more serious about building agriculture as a pillar of the economy.”

The Opposition leader reminded that the PNP would have established an Agricultural Development Fund had it formed the Government after the election. The fund would have been financed by a reallocation of a portion of existing import taxes on food, with the taxes set aside for local production.

“We would use it to support land preparation, irrigation, storage, and marketing for local farmers. We would be reducing post-harvest losses from 30 per cent to 20 per cent or less within five years.”

Additionally, Golding said the PNP would be expanding irrigation from the current 18 per cent of arable land to at least 25 per cent.

To enhance food security, Golding said the Government should move to deepen and strengthen the linkages between farmers and consumers. He said the school feeding programme should prioritise locally-grown nutritious food; hotels and restaurants should be encouraged and supported to buy Jamaican; special economic zones should be established for agriculture, focusing on export crops where Jamaica has a competitive advantage.