Created earlier this year, Jamaica’s National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA) is tasked with accelerating rebuilding after Hurricane Melissa while strengthening the country’s resilience to future disasters.

Understandably, Jamaicans are losing patience. We are now nearly at one year after Melissa’s destructive descent on Jamaica, and there is so much yet to be repaired or replaced.

The job at hand includes major infrastructure — roads, bridges, schools, hospitals, drainage systems, and settlements in high-risk areas — and community projects.

We can understand why someone of the calibre of former Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) chief of staff and police commissioner, Major General Antony Anderson, was called back from Washington, DC, where he was serving as Jamaica’s ambassador, to lead this body which requires broad coordinating and implementation powers.

Yes, we understand all the steps that need to be taken: multilateral financing arrangements, project selection, private-capital mobilisation, and debt management.

NaRRA must recruit capable staff, prepare bankable projects, and maintain technical quality.

The question is: Why is this happening now and not six months ago after the 2025-26 national budget was in place? Indeed, this drag applies not only to the establishment of NaRRA, but also to the roofing programme and payment of insurance claims.

NaRRA’s success will be judged by results: timely and resilient reconstruction, fair treatment of affected communities, responsible spending, and credible public reporting.

The rental of offices in the Digicel Building, a structure with which I am familiar, is understandable. It is a suitable purpose-built structure. NaRRA is where it should have been months ago, so it’s time to get it going; our patience is wearing thin.

From Crisis to Success

Here is a positive story which demonstrates that out of a crisis there can be success.

The burgeoning CB Group (originally Caribbean Broilers) with Caribbean Hatchery already in operation and the addition of Newport Mills to supply better quality feeds, making the company vertically integrated — suffered a huge setback when, in 1988, Hurricane Gilbert destroyed Jamaica’s farmlands and its facilities.

The tenacity of founder Karl Hendrickson kicked in, sending the team in search of the best farming technology available. Thus, they introduced “the first tunnel ventilated, climate-controlled broiler house to the Caribbean, a turning point in the poultry industry’s history”.

This was followed by significant investment in the production of pork products, eggs, and animal feed to create Jamaica’s first eco-industrial park. In 2009, CB Group pioneered the Safe Food movement to raise awareness about food safety standards.

It became the first company in the Caribbean to receive ISO 9001:2008, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP), and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) accreditations.

Beginning in 2019, the group moved towards Safe Quality Food (SQF) standard, a rigorous food safety and quality management system designed to meet Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) benchmarks.

In August 2023, the group invested $15 billion in a new 100-acre complex named The Nest in Hill Run, St Catherine. It introduced “air chilled” chicken using a technique to increase the quality of its product, becoming one of the first companies in the Caribbean and Latin America to do so.

At the opening, Hendrickson’s scion CEO Matthew Lyn acknowledged the presence of his friendly competitor Robert Levy of the Jamaica Broilers Group.

He noted, however, “In 20 years, the poultry industry has almost doubled in size, and the majority of that growth, probably close to 40 per cent, has actually come from the estimated 100,000- plus small backyard farmers who grow just a few hundred chickens at a time, not from the two integrated producers.” CB Group was named Caricom Farmer of the Year at the Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA) 2024, marking a major victory for Jamaica and its leading practices in sustainable agriculture with their eco-industrial park.

It continues to train and collaborate with other members of the agricultural sector, sharing its success with partners large and small.

Honouring our finest

This Thursday, CCRP will host its annual Living Legacy Awards, honouring six individuals and an organisation for their contribution to nation-building.

They hail from various occupations and were nominated by CCRP members.

The 2026 Living Legacy Award recipients are Special Olympics Caribbean CEO Lorna Bell; sports and community organiser Clive “Busy” Campbell; the philanthropic Phillip and Christine Gore Family Foundation; trailblazing Negril hotelier Daniel Grizzle; educator and Business House Netball founder, Jasnieth Harvey; scientist, pastor, and standards advocate Reverend Dr Artnel Henry; and senior registered nurse and administrator Gladwyn Elaine McKenzie-Campbell.

CCRP director and chair of the Living Legacy Awards committee Vilma McDonald said the organisation is pleased to celebrate this year’s recipients.

“The Living Legacy Awards give us an opportunity to pause and honour Jamaicans who have given of themselves and whose contributions have helped to make our country stronger…we are delighted to celebrate their achievements and legacies.”

Memorable Sugar Cain

Father HoLung in a scene from Raising Cain

I first experienced Father Richard HoLung’s stagecraft when my brother acted in his St George’s College production of The Little Prince. He Jamaicanised this classic — even including poetry by Louise Bennett — to nightly ovations.

His subsequent productions with biblical themes have been huge fund-raisers for the Missionaries of the Poor who care for some of the most physically challenged Jamaicans I have ever encountered.

However, Sugar Cain surpassed all his previous productions with its arresting storyline, music, choreography, acting, costumes, set, and special effects. In an interview with Jamaica Observer Executive Editor Vernon Davidson, Father HoLung explained the genesis of the play: “A man came down to Faith Centre, his name was Leslie.

He was poor, but he had a brother who was rich,” adding that the man told him that he often went to his brother to “beg in order to give to poor people”. Our 87-year-old playwright continues to mellow, and treated us to some great dance steps on stage as well.

Congratulations, Father HoLung and his faithful ‘Friends’!

Farewell, Stitchie and Sparrow

Lieutenant Stitchie (Photo: Karl McLarty)

It was a pleasure to work with Cleveland “Lt Stitchie” Laing on an anti-harassment jingle for the Jamaica Tourist Board a few decades ago.

He was a bright and gentle man with a deep sense of comedy, as witnessed by his hit song Wear Yu Size.

Dave Rodney, who was his travel manager for eight years, noted, “He was a chart-topping recording artiste, master lyricist, performer par excellence, biology teacher, sprint athlete, author, church minister, and a graduate of GC Foster College of Sport…I always told him he was the Shakespeare of dancehall, and in my view, this was absolutely true.

I didn’t see anyone who came even close to his lyrical mastery…His creative genius was a God-given gift.” The passing of 91-year-old Slinger Francisco, “The Mighty Sparrow”, rocked the entire Caribbean and our Diaspora.

His agent wrote, “He was an innovator on many levels, and it is impossible to overstate his importance and genius. Sparrow lived an amazing life, brimming with accomplishments.

His legend and music will live on and burn brightly for generations to come.” What a coincidence that Dave Rodney photographed Stitchie and Sparrow together at the Apollo Theatre — now they are blending lyrics in the beautiful beyond.

Jean Lowrie-Chin is an author and executive chair of PROComm, PRODEV, and CCRP.