KINGSTON, Jamaica — Concerned that the Government has not exhausted its capital budget in recent years, Opposition Leader Mark Golding has suggested that it would be more effective to channel a part of these resources through other agencies, to help with recovery efforts following Hurricane Melissa.

Golding made the recommendation during his contribution to the 2026/27 Budget Debate on March 17. He said municipal corporations and agencies that operate at the community level such as the Social Development Commission, National Water Commission, Rural Agricultural Development Authority and National Solid Waste Management Authority should be utilised.

He explained that they could be used to execute “relatively small but urgently-needed tasks in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa”.

“These resources should be deployed to undertake the removal of fallen tree debris, restoring pedestrian walkways and footpaths, restoring fences around publicly owned properties, repairing catchment tanks, cleaning of intakes to springs, cleaning of side drains and culverts, repairing of broken retaining walls and other small structural repairs, and the like,” Golding recommended.

He told the Parliament that “In the context of the need to drive recovery, I am concerned that the allocation of $100 billion for Central Government capital expenditure in the coming 2026/27 fiscal year is unlikely to be spent, given the chronic strictures of the procurement rules and other bottlenecks that have been impeding effective execution of capital projects year after year”.

However, when he made his contribution to the Budget Debate on March 19, Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness insisted that the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation has done well with utilising the capital budget. He said on average 97 per cent of the capital budget has been spent in recent years.