Chief executive officer of the newly created National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA) Ambassador Antony Anderson appears to have mostly ticked the right boxes in a recent interview with the State-run Jamaica Information Service (JIS). His assertion that “very rapidly” systems and structures must be in place for the organisation to function efficiently, and that by year-end there will be a “comprehensive register” of projects to be done, seem sensible.

As reported by the JIS, Ambassador Anderson, a former head of the Jamaican army who retired as Major General, explained that NaRRA will engage with ministries, departments, and agencies across central government and parish councils to ensure collaboration and efficiency.

“Ultimately, the outcome is a better Jamaica for everyone. So, everyone who has a hand in it [resilient reconstruction post-Hurricane Melissa] should want to accelerate it, get things going faster, more efficiently, because that’s what our people expect of us,” he is quoted as saying.

All of that may seem obvious. But, unfortunately, cohesion, cooperation, and good sense do not always follow, even after the best-laid plans.

For that reason Ambassador Anderson and his administrative team must be hawk-like in their attention to detail as they set about what Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has said will be “improved quality, durability, and resilience of Jamaica’s infrastructure”.

Said Dr Holness: “The projects being considered must support better roads, stronger bridges, safer communities, more reliable public services…”

Ambassador Anderson and his team must also listen to the people, not least those at the socio-economic base who experienced and suffered from the impact of Hurricane Melissa and are most in need of help.

They must be on the lookout for ‘Brer Anansy’ types, who are always around in times like these, awaiting an opportunity to ‘pop off’ for themselves and friends.

Those thieving ‘ginnals’ are often experts at concealing themselves in plain sight. ‘Brer Anansyism’ not only diverts resources, it undermines project credibility, breeds and nurtures public cynicism, and can end up destroying the best-intentioned programmes.

It mustn’t be assumed that Anansyism only occurs occasionally. Our people’s lived experience reveals a powerful negative streak historically entrenched in Jamaica’s mostly positive culture.

Ambassador Anderson and his team must be ever mindful of Dr Holness’s charge that NaRRA should deliver “reconstruction with urgency, discipline, and integrity. The people of Jamaica must be able to see what is being done, where it is being done, what it costs, and whether it is being delivered on time”.

In that regard, the responsibility of Jamaicans to demand accountability and transparency from those in charge of what will seemingly be the largest infrastructural development project in the history of modern Jamaica, involving expenditure of many billions of dollars, is of overwhelming importance.

Our various assigned oversight bodies must be on high alert.

The news media, traditional and otherwise, those on social media platforms, civil society, and interest groups, the elect of the people — be they Government or Opposition — must be ever questioning, demanding answers as deemed appropriate.

And those in charge of the reconstruction effort need to be prepared to answer those questions and provide explanations, fully, unconditionally, and without rancour.