“In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” — John Archibald Wheeler

One year ago today, Category 5 Hurricane Melissa, the “storm of the century”, made landfall near New Hope in Westmoreland before moving eastward through my home parish of St Elizabeth and exited from Trelawny on the north coast.

Even on an island that is no stranger to hurricanes, Melissa was uniquely destructive. Today, we have an opportunity not only to commit to our continued recovery but also to reflect on the lessons learnt so far.

One critical lesson is the importance of timely, clear, and persistent communication. The lack of proactive, strategic communication in important national matters is not merely an oversight, but a risk.

RELIEF AND RECOVERY VS RECONSTRUCTION AND RESILIENCE

One such risk manifested in the recent controversy about the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA). The controversy stemmed largely from the misconception that NaRRA is responsible for relief and recovery and was choosing to focus, instead, on itself and legacy projects.

NaRRA is not responsible for hurricane relief and recovery, such as restoring basic services like water and electricity and replacing roofs on houses. NaRRA is responsible for reconstruction and resilience: large-scale construction projects that over the long-term will:

1) improve and build new infrastructure;

2) strengthen national resilience, especially to increase our resistance and ability to better withstand climate-related threats like hurricanes and drought; and

3) accelerate economic transformation.

In addition, not all money is fungible. Relief money does not fund NaRRA activities, and investment funds allocated to NaRRA cannot be reassigned for relief efforts.

Unlike the medium- to long-run collective benefits of NaRRA’s reconstruction and resilience projects, short-term hurricane relief-and-recovery assistance affects individual lives directly, so the need is immediate and urgent. The major problem with hurricane relief, however, is that it is financed exclusively by earmarked funds from donors, such as the EU, and the central government budget. In an economy still recovering from Melissa as well as Hurricane Beryl in 2025, the limited resources of government is a challenge. In the absence of effective communication, too many people were unaware of these critical distinctions.

As the Government undertakes the difficult and urgent task of finding ways to continue addressing relief and recovery needs as quickly as possible, it must also communicate effectively to provide consistent context and clarity on what has already been done, what is being done, and what is left to be done — how, where, when, and by whom.

The major public role of the Jamaica Reconstruction and Resilience Oversight Committee (JAMRROC) is to oversee and periodically report on the work of NaRRA, a function we intend to commence in early 2027. As I indicated in my remarks at the launch of JAMRROC in September, however, we also have a private role to use our research, network, and technical resources to provide advice to both the Government and NaRRA.

In keeping with that responsibility, JAMRROC hosted NaRRA CEO Major General Antony Anderson at our recent monthly meeting. Shortly after, we requested and were graciously and quickly granted a meeting with Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness.

Both meetings provided significant clarity as well as reassurance. We thank the prime minister for his subsequent efforts to transmit that clarity and reassurance to the public, and we urge a continued focus on proactive communication.

Before an important cricket match, one prepares the wicket. Failure to do this means you will not have a good game. In both the reconstruction and resilience work of NaRRA, as well as the relief and recovery efforts of central government, communication is what prepares the wicket.

The Bank of Jamaica must communicate effectively to manage the public’s expectations about inflation. Failure to do so would create an information vacuum. Without facts, people would be led to speculate about inflation, which would run the risk of pushing inflation out of control. In the same manner, the Government must communicate to provide clarity and to manage expectations in relation to hurricane relief on the one hand and the reconstruction work of NaRRA on the other.

THE PROMISE OF NaRRA

The work of NaRRA can transform the crisis of Melissa into an opportunity to accelerate economic transformation. NaRRA must deliver on time and under budget, but it also needs time to plan and a significant investment budget. NaRRA’s own communication and the communication of the Government about NaRRA must manage public expectations around these realities.

“Jamrock” is a special place, despite our challenges. Economic transformation began long before Hurricane Melissa made landfall on our shores, so don’t underestimate our achievements. In a relatively short time, with our still-fledgling economic reform programme, these achievements include:

• world-leading debt consolidation and fiscal stability entrenched by fiscal rules and independent oversight

• an independent central bank with an effective monetary policy focus on explicit inflation targeting

• uniquely Jamaican solutions to build societal ownership of our reform process, like the creation of the Economic Programme Oversight Committee (EPOC) to monitor the economic reform programme while harnessing social consensus around the need for shared sacrifice and the use of reggae-themed messaging to spread awareness about the importance of “low, stable, and predictable” inflation for economic growth.

These and other achievements — in the context of simultaneously contending with hurricanes, a pandemic, drought, and a host of other new and pre-existing challenges — are significant by any measure, globally as well as regionally. We should be proud but not complacent, as there is still much more to be done. JAMRROC expects the work of NaRRA to build on and expand this trajectory.

One year later, it is time for us to focus on continuing the recovery from Melissa, getting NaRRA’s reconstruction work up and running, and urgently addressing the overdue needs of those still in distress, with all efforts accompanied by improved communication.

Peter Blair Henry is chair of Jamaica Reconstruction and Resilience Oversight Committee (JAMRROC).

Peter Blair Henry