KINGSTON, Jamaica — Chief Executive Officer of the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA), Ambassador Antony Anderson, will travel to Peru from August 9 to August 13 to gain insights into that country’s rebuilding programme and engage key stakeholders on resilient construction and project implementation.

The visit is being facilitated by the United Kingdom (UK) Government, which partnered with Peru through a government-to-government supported reconstruction programme. It will provide an opportunity for NaRRA to draw on lessons from Peru’s internationally recognised reconstruction experience. The projects were delivered through a structured partnership with the UK that prioritised local capacity building alongside infrastructure delivery, as Jamaica advances its own recovery and resilient rebuilding efforts.

It is Ambassador Anderson’s first visit to the South American country since assuming leadership of NaRRA. The visit comes as the authority ramps up its mobilisation and operationalisation phase. It builds on an earlier UK-facilitated engagement led by Minister without Portfolio, Robert Morgan, in March this year.

During the visit, Ambassador Anderson will meet with technical experts and officials, tour several major project sites, including hospitals, schools and health facilities, for a first-hand assessment of the delivery methodology and building practices employed in Peru’s reconstruction programme following the devastating El Niño Costero floods of 2017. Peru’s approach has gained international attention for its resilience planning and rebuilding.

Ambassador Anderson says the visit is about ensuring NaRRA applies best practices in rebuilding with speed and resilience.

“We want to ensure that as NaRRA’s projects come on stream, we’re executing efficiently, and with best practice. The Peru engagement gives me an opportunity to see their implementation up close, to appreciate their methodology and development model, and importantly, note any challenges they encountered so that we can avoid them here,” he said.

Meanwhile, British High Commissioner to Jamaica, Alicia Herbert, said the visit reflects the strength of UK-Jamaica cooperation and the shared commitment to building greater resilience.

“The UK is pleased to facilitate Ambassador Anderson’s visit to Peru. Peru’s experience offers valuable lessons in delivering major infrastructure efficiently, transparently and with resilience at its core, shaped through bilateral cooperation. This visit is also an important opportunity to examine how those lessons can be adapted to Jamaica’s context, while strengthening local skills and institutional capacity for the long term. The UK remains committed to working in partnership with Jamaica as it builds back stronger and more resilient.”

The CEO will also engage directly with stakeholder groups on communications, community mobilisation, stakeholder management and building construction capacity.

“Community and stakeholder engagement is a key part of our strategy. NaRRA belongs to all Jamaicans and it is important that they are engaged every step of the way. We have to bring the communities and various stakeholders along with us as we implement these massive projects,” he said.

Ambassador Anderson is keen on examining the Peruvian model of training and skills development.

“We want to ensure that during the project implementation phase, NaRRA is able to expand local capacity and train a number of our local engineers and project managers to deliver major projects at scale,” he added.