KINGSTON, Jamaica — With the House of Representatives expected to vote on the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA) Bill Tuesday evening, Member of Parliament (MP) for St Andrew North Central Delano Seiveright is pushing back against claims that the legislation is flawed.

According to Seiveright, the legislation includes significant safeguards and oversight mechanisms to ensure transparency and accountability.

Seiveright, who is also the minister of state in the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce, said public scrutiny of the Bill is both necessary and welcome, but cautioned against allowing legitimate debate to turn into delay at a time when Jamaica urgently needs coordinated reconstruction following Hurricane Melissa.

“I welcome the scrutiny. This is exactly the kind of legislation that should be debated seriously,” Seiveright said. “But we must be careful not to confuse accountability with paralysis. Jamaica cannot afford to talk itself into delay while communities are still recovering. We are good at talking issues to death.”

He stressed that the Bill does not give NaRRA unchecked authority and pointed out that projects must first come from an approved list, and programmes and implementation plans require Cabinet approval before execution under Clause 17.

“That alone defeats the idea that this is some unrestrained body operating on its own,” he said.

Seiveright pointed to Clause 9, which requires the authority to keep proper accounts and records and subjects it to annual audits by a registered public accountant. He noted that the Auditor General is expressly empowered to examine NaRRA’s accounts and records at any time.

“In addition, Clauses 10 and 11 require annual reports and audited financial statements to be submitted to the minister and laid in Parliament, ensuring direct parliamentary oversight,” argued Seiveright.

He said transparency is further strengthened by Clause 20, which requires NaRRA to maintain a public electronic register of approved projects, allowing Jamaicans to see what projects are approved and being pursued.

“If people are concerned about corruption, then they should also look at the actual safeguards in the Bill,” Seiveright said. “Cabinet approval, full audit, auditor general access, reporting to Parliament, a public project register, these are not small things. This is the most scrutinised reconstruction framework Jamaica has put forward,” declared Seiveright.

He also defended the provisions allowing for faster approvals under Clauses 21 to 24, arguing that these are necessary to avoid the bureaucratic gridlock that has delayed disaster recovery in other countries.

“These clauses do not remove governance; they structure urgency. There must be written directions, expert advice, notice, and opportunity for representation before any escalation. That is not lawlessness. That is disciplined execution.”

Seiveright noted that NaRRA is also a time-bound authority, with dissolution provisions built into Part IV of the legislation, meaning it is not intended to be a permanent expansion of the state.

He pointed to global examples such as Haiti after the 2010 earthquake, New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, where billions in recovery support were slowed by fragmented leadership, excessive bureaucracy and weak coordination.

“The lesson globally is clear: recovery usually does not fail because of a lack of money. It fails because governments cannot organise themselves to deliver,” he said.

Seiveright argued that Jamaica’s wider democratic framework, including the Public Accounts Committee chaired by Opposition MP Julian Robinson, the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee chaired by Opposition MP Peter Bunting, the Integrity Commission, the judiciary, the police, the media, and the Jamaica Reconstruction and Resilience Oversight Committee chaired by Stanford Professor Peter Blair Henry, provides further layers of accountability.

“No major reconstruction framework will ever be perfect. There will be adjustments and improvements along the way. But perfection cannot become the enemy of progress. The urgency of now requires us to move, carefully, transparently, but decisively,” declared Seiveright.