Dear Editor,

Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has railed against bureaucracy in every speech he has given since Hurricane Melissa. He has chided us for spending too much time planning and not enough executing.

Nothing is wrong with this principle, but it seems to me the prime minister has been using that platform to set the foundation for autocratic rule. We don’t need to look too far from our borders to see how this playbook has been used.

The man who has spent the last six months planning how to do things as basic as getting hurricane victims out of school shelters is the same one lecturing us about too much time spent on planning, and constantly railing against the evils of bureaucracy.

Based on my understanding, if the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA) Bill tabled in Parliament is passed in its current form, Prime Minister Holness will become the single decision-maker in this Jamaica rebuilding project and will have almost unlimited and unchecked authority through this body. This is an absolutely scary concept, but the prime minister has been laying the groundwork in the name of too much bureaucracy and slow execution.

Ask anyone in Black River, which was ground zero for Hurricane Melissa, if they have been consulted? Yet the prime minister has spoken about moving the town and relocating citizens from certain areas, but the actual plans are all shrouded in secrecy, and I’m sure Prime Minister Holness will argue that resilient building is not the forte of the locals.

Of course, he and his band of merry men, who are exempt from any form of oversight, know best.

It is my opinion that if the prime minister is allowed to execute this national project without adequate accountability to any regulatory authority we could soon find more of our rights as citizens being slowly stripped away and concentrated at Jamaica House.

Member of Parliament Peter Bunting raised the alarm in the House and we should all listen and act. And for those who say autocracy would never happen in Jamaica, I invite you to examine exhibit number one just north of our borders.

Shakey Williams

shakeywilliams2022@gmail.com