EXECUTIVE director of Jamaica Accountability Meter Portal (JAMP) Jeanette Calder is warning that the situation that led to the recent ruling of the Constitutional Court in the Dry Harbour Mountain mining rights case could be repeated if the Government continues to ignore growing calls for systems of accountability and transparency to be woven into the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA) Bill.

NaRRA is the body set up to lead the reconstruction efforts following the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa last October.

Calder gave the warning on Tuesday during a virtual presentation to the Kiwanis Club of Kingston. Her presentation was titled ‘Trust, Power & Public Funds: Understanding the NaRRA Bill’.

In a landmark ruling on April 29, the Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional, void and of no effect the 2020 environmental permit granted to Bengal Development Limited for its proposed mining project in the Dry Harbour Mountains in St Ann.

The Government had ignored the finding of the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) and residents, that there would be irreparable harm to the ecologically sensitive region.

Minister of Information Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon on Wednesday indicated that the Government intends to appeal the ruling

In her presentation, Calder dismissed talk that NaRRA will allow the Government to bypass regulators.

“It doesn’t bypass them but it controls them,” she stated. She explained that if, for example, NEPA is asked to give approval for a new bridge or road, it can be given a time frame within which to respond by the person who will be appointed chief executive officer (CEO) of NaRRA.

“If the deadline passes, there is a stepping order which allows for the bypassing at this point, of whatever it is that regulatory agency would have said, and the decision on that permit and that planning approval can now actually be issued by NaRRA,” said Calder.

She added: “If there is a disagreement by the CEO with what the regulatory agencies are saying, not bypass them, but if you disagree with their decision, you can replace that decision entirely. There is no requirement under this legislation if there is a decision to bypass the technical/planning advice of any agency – there’s no requirement to let the public know that is the case”.

Calder also said there was no explicit right for any affected community to have a chance to be heard, “and there’s no expressed statement that allows for what we call a judicial review”.

The JAMP executive director said this stepping order “could be embedding in law the very things that the Constitutional Court judgement on Dry Harbour Mountain said couldn’t be done, shouldn’t be done, and there was no basis on which it ought to have been done”.

Calder also pointed to Section 26 of the Bill which exempts NaRRA from the Public Investment Management System (PIMS), which came into being in 2019 ostensibly to ensure there was value for money on major infrastructure projects.

“One of the things that NaRRA will not be subjected to is this process; Section 26 explicitly says that NaRRA will be exempted from PIMS… no prepayment appraisal before funds are committed or spent.” Calder said this was concerning, especially since NaRRA will be taking on projects not related to the hurricane, referred to as national strategic projects.

“We can have a discussion as to whether PIMS would slow anything down, but I’m sharing with you an accountability concern because this has to do with value for money and ensuring that we don’t take on projects that end up being wasted,” she said.

Calder also questioned the lack of a board, while pointing out that NaRRA will be tasked with managing US$6.7 billion or approximately J$1 trillion in a “low trust” environment.

She pointed to the 2012 Corporate Governance Framework document which states that “we need such governing boards to increase transparency, probity and effectiveness in the decision-making and execution of the responsibilities of these [public] entities”.

Said Calder: “If this document, which is a very detailed document steering the boards and the directors as to how they can best serve these companies and best serve Jamaica, enabling them to meet their objectives, the big question we’re asking is, ‘why is it that NaRRA, that will be executing projects that are as sizeable as these with a significant budget, why wouldn’t the Government choose to have a board that provides the kind of governance oversight that will ensure transparency, probity and efficiency in the decision-making”.

Calder worried that NaRRA instead will have a single CEO appointed by the prime minister with an advisory committee that may be appointed by the minister. She highlighted that the CEO is that one person in charge of $1 trillion.

“The advisory committee has no legal power; it cannot block, it cannot reverse any decision. It never has to meet because nothing in law demands that it does so and if its advice is ignored no law has been broken,” said Calder.

She emphasised that her presentation was about trust, power and public funds while acknowledging that speed is essential in the aftermath of the devastating hurricane that left US$12.2 billion in damage and wiped out 56 per cent of gross domestic product. However, she insists that accountability must not be sacrificed for speed.