KINGSTON, Jamaica — Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA), Ambassador Antony Anderson, says his focus is on the buildout of the agency, with work to commence on critical projects by year’s end.

“Very rapidly, we’re going to have to build out the organisation and also get the systems in place that can, in an automated and effective way, manage the programme of projects,” he noted.

He said that NaRRA will deliver at scale, with speed, transparency and efficiency, the projects that are assigned to it by the Cabinet.

“There are a lot of persons who need housing still, and if that is one of the projects [assigned], then that’s kind of an easy one… to get some of the prefabricated houses… done quickly,” he pointed out.

The former ambassador to the United States, who assumed the post of NaRRA’s CEO effective June 1, was speaking in his first interview with JIS at Jamaica House on Tuesday.

Major General Anderson said that by the end of the year, NaRRA will establish a comprehensive register of its own projects, alongside other government or external initiatives that could impact or enhance recovery efforts.

He noted that the register will be important because the “more we know about the collective picture of what’s being done is the better we can get some synergies”.

The NaRRA CEO explained further that the agency will engage with the various ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) across government and the parish councils to ensure greater collaboration and efficiency.

“Ultimately, the outcome is a better Jamaica for everyone. So, everyone who has a hand in it should want to accelerate it, get things going faster, more efficiently, because that’s what our people expect of us,” he affirmed.

Anderson noted that despite the devastating impact of Hurricane Melissa on the island, the country now has an opportunity that it cannot afford to waste, to build better and more resilience.

He further pointed to the opportunity to improve the capacity of the local construction industry to carry out large-scale projects and for young engineers to gain experience in large-scale construction.

“We have an opportunity to create leadership through our ministry structures to ensure that we have leaders who can lead in a crisis. So, there are lots of opportunities there,” Ambassador Anderson pointed out.

— JIS