Over the past two weeks we have heard government and Opposition leaders holding court on solutions to Jamaica’s challenges in the 2026/27 Budget Debate. They focused on post-hurricane reconstruction, economic growth challenges, fiscal policy, and capital market reform. Whichever side you support, let us congratulate ourselves that we have chosen leaders who gave balanced presentations, with only a few blips.

In his address last Thursday, Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness announced a major shift in government planning in response to rising climate risks following Hurricane Melissa. An oversight body — the Jamaica Reconstruction and Resilience Oversight Committee (JAMRROC) — will guide the work of the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA), mirroring the role previously played by the Economic Programme Oversight Committee. Professor Peter Blair Henry was named chair, and the search for NaRRA’s CEO is advanced.

Prime Minister Holness also introduced the Facilitated Acceleration of Strategic Transformation (FAST Jamaica) initiative, aimed at attracting and fast-tracking large strategic investments, particularly projects valued at US$150 million or more. FAST Jamaica will prioritise sectors such as energy, digital infrastructure, logistics, water and housing, high-value tourism, STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) education, specialised health care, agriculture, advanced manufacturing, and critical minerals. A new Strategic Investments Council will screen proposals and recommend development modalities to Cabinet.

We appreciated the focus on security and education, although I wonder why the funds being used to create STEM schools could not enhance STEM offerings at our existing schools.

The prime minister noted that Jamaica was one of the least productive Caribbean countries. This column has diagnosed the malady as the conspiracy of mediocrity. When there are disengaged and insecure managers and supervisors, they have no interest in enthusiastic and energetic workers who may show them up. In activating key performance indicators (KPIs), every level of personnel should be subject to keen assessment.

Finance Minister Fayval Williams outlined significant non-hurricane expenditures, including funding for audits, relocation of oversight bodies, national identification system (NIDS) implementation, road maintenance, housing, cybersecurity, and pensions. She also announced financial sector reforms to unlock capital for reconstruction, including raising pension fund investment limits and revising insurer investment regulations. These reforms are positioned as part of a broader capital-market agenda addressing gaps in venture capital and infrastructure financing.

Opposition Leader Mark Golding argued that the $1.4 trillion 2026/27 budget would not drive economic recovery. He criticised the scale of hurricane recovery spending, the introduction of new revenue measures, and projections of negative or weak gross domestic product (GDP) growth. Golding opined that Jamaica’s current downturn reflects real damage to productive capacity, especially in western Jamaica, and called for aggressive recovery investment while fiscal rules remain suspended.

Opposition spokesman on finance Julian Robinson criticised the Government’s economic policies, arguing that Jamaica remains trapped in chronically low growth, with wages and public services suffering as a result. He highlighted projections showing long-term growth settling around one per cent, which he argued would not meaningfully improve living standards. Robinson urged a clearer growth strategy focused on restoring productive capacity post-hurricane and advancing his Four-E strategy — energy, efficiency, education, and emerging sectors.

Pothole solution

Potholes are the bane of Jamaican motorists, and so the launch of a long-lasting product, Quality Pothole Repair (QPR), by Regency Petroleum Limited (RPL) has been welcomed. The demonstration at Jamaica Pegasus hotel amazed onlookers as the product was placed in a water-filled pothole, and with a few shovel strikes was impacted. The vehicle driven over the area immediately after had no marks, as would have happened with a hot asphalt mix.

RPL president and founder Andrew Williams has started building the factory in May Pen and should have the product in the market by April. Listed on the Junior Stock Exchange, RPL has also made strides in the LPG business, and Williams continues to affirm the entrepreneurial opportunities in Jamaica.

NIS Hardship

I received a report that pensioners in western parishes are experiencing hardship, unable to locate displaced justices of the peace to sign their Life Certificates and being turned away from National Insurance Scheme (NIS) mobile units because they are unsigned. Please, NIS, if you encounter a poor pensioner standing in the hot sun waiting his/her turn at the unit with an unsigned Life Certificate, can you please accept his/her National Identification Card or other government ID? We know there is a digital solution being developed, but as I write I know that connectivity is spotty in those parishes. We hope this common-sense approach will be accepted.

Professor Shepherd ‘Talking History

It was good to hear that Professor Verene Shepherd is back with Talking History on Nationwide News Network. This hard-working historian gave an insightful lecture earlier this month titled ‘Gender and Human Rights: The Role of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination’ and co-edited a new book, Gender-Based Violence in the Caribbean: Historical Roots, Contemporary Continuities, with Dr Dalea Bean.

In her lecture, Prof Shepherd, former chair (now vice-chair) of The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, noted that with all its positive objectives, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) “remains gender blind in its articles”. She explained that there is now a new approach which recognises that “racial discrimination often intersects with factors like gender, nationality, and socio-economic status”.

She gave laurels to her fellow Jamaican women who have been active in gender and development: Linnette Vassell, Judith Wedderburn, as well as professors Barbara Bailey, Rhoda Reddock, Eudine Barriteau, the late Ambassador Lucille Mathurin Mair, and Guyanese historian Elsa Goveia. Please read the script of this brilliant lecture when it is published.

Kudos, Diana Burke

PACE Canada, a charitable organisation supporting education and led by Jamaica’s own Diana Burke, acted immediately after Hurricane Melissa hit. They raised over CDN$64,000 for the rehabilitation of early childhood education schools in the affected parishes. The organisation has helped over one million students since inception.

South Africa Calling

We enjoyed a recent presentation on business and touring opportunities in South Africa hosted by acting High Commissioner of the Republic of South Africa Phumeza Mukendi. For us, they were talking to the converted, as we had the most enjoyable and fascinating tour of South Africa. After touring Johannesburg, Cape Town, the moving Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned in a tiny cell for 27 years, the safari at Pilanesberg National Park, and its wine country, South Africa remains in our hearts.

At the presentation, we learnt more about other destinations and saw even greater progress in the 10 years since we visited. Impressed by the videos shown at the high commission, I heard folks vowing to add South Africa to their bucket list.

Jean Lowrie-Chin is an author and executive chair of PROComm, PRODEV, and CCRP. Send comments to lowriechin@aim.com.

Diana Burke