Official Launch Jamaica Reconstruction & Resilience Oversight Committee || September 8, 2026

I think he's supposed to. They're supposed to signal to you. Chairman. Please stand for the arrival of the prime minister.

Thank you. All right. Please be seated. Dr.

The most honorable Andrew Holes, Prime Minister of Jamaica. Mr. Mark Golding, leader of the opposition, government ministers. The Honorable Audrey Suell, Cabinet Secretary, Her Excellency, Dr. ÖCola, head of the European delegation to Jamaica, permanent secretaries, Professor Peter Blair Henry, chairman of Jamrock, and the other Jamrock members who are here with us today, Ambassador Anthony Anderson, CEO of the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority, NAR, representatives of international organizations, and I know that I have Natasha Mars of the who is a country for IDB and IDB and the EU have been very good supporters of us on this journey.

Stakeholders, representatives of government, ministries, departments and agencies, members of the media, specially invited ladies and gentlemen and a lot of people who are watching at home and abroad. Good morning to you all. It is my distinct pleasure to welcome all of you to the official launch of the Jamaica Reconstruction and Resilience Oversight Committee, Jamrock. We've talked about Jamrock for a long time in this country and debated Jamrock for a long time and so I'm very happy that today we're here to launch it.

And as we start, we're going to start with two prayers and the first one will be our national anthem. will please stand for the playing of the national anthem of Jamaica. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] [music]

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Heat. Heat. [music]

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Please remain standing as we move into the prayer this morning and this morning we have Pastor Glenn Samuels with us who will do the prayer. Our heads are bowed, our eyes are closed. Sovereign God, we lift our hearts in praise, thanksgiving and adoration to you, for being our God, for blessing this nation of ours. We do not take life for granted.

And so firstly, we give you thanks for waking us up this morning. We do not take your gifts for granted. We thank you for the gifts with which you've blessed this nation, its leaders across political uh spectrum and all of those who have lent a hand throughout Jamaica's battle with the disaster called Melissa. We invite your presence and your wisdom to guide our deliberations.

We pray almighty God you'll bless us with integrity and a spirit of transparency. We place before you our prime minister, our leader of the opposition, members gathered in this room. We recognize that you have said in your word, "Blessed is that nation whose God is the Lord." We pray you'll make us truly your children to be our brother's keeper. And in this breath, we lift up to you the long lines of suffering men and women who continue to struggle putting their lives back together after this monster hurricane.

But ours is the faith that you'll able to help us to build and to lift each other as we move forward. Now may your will be done for a gathering here and may your kingdom be advanced. Bless us to this end we ask in Jesus name.

Amen.

You may be seated again. Good morning to you all and we're going to have a very efficient launch today. The prime minister is all about efficiency and so we're going to get through the program as quickly as we can. But I I have to note at the beginning that the reconstruction agenda is an opportunity to rebuild stronger, safer, and with greater resilience while ensuring that the significant resources being committed to this national undertaking are managed with the highest standards of accountability.

And that's what today is about. We've all seen it. the communities damaged the homes. I know about the schools, the hospitals, the roads and bridges, other public infrastructure. And it is in within that context that Jamrock assumes such importance.

And we're deliberately creating both strong implementation capacity and strong oversight capacity. And as we start this morning, we're going to be starting with a special lady who had a lot to do with all of this. the first woman ever to be cabinet secretary in this country. Someone who I admire so much. Someone who takes care of all the ministers that advises us so well.

And she is going to be starting off. And so to officially welcome us and introduce the members of Jamrock, I invite the honorable Audrey Suel, our cabinet secretary.

Thank you, Minister Morris Dixon. and protocol has been established. Persons recognized but permit me to acknowledge the presence of prime minister, the most honorable Andrew Holes, Mr. Golden, Mark Golden, opposition leader, cabinet ministers, Jamrock's chair, all good morning again. I don't often get to extend such a welcome because much of what we do here at the office of the cabinet is usually behind the scenes.

Many people do not realize that the office of the cabinet in itself is a ministry. It is a full ministry like any other. It plays an important role in ensuring policy coordination across the government and that the big picture priorities of the cabinet are always at the four of planning and implementation. And here we are this morning.

Jamrock is one such big picture priority under the office of the cabinet. At this time in our national journey, there are few issues that could be more important to the public sector than facilitating the reconstruction of a stronger, more resilient nation. This is especially true following the passage of Hurricane Melissa. And while we continue to empathize with our fellow Jamaicans in the West who are still in recovery mode, it is not only Melissa that should we should keep in mind.

We must orientate ourselves toward a mindset that creates a system grounded in effective service and project delivery. We must ensure that state bureaucracy is delivering for Jamaicans. Let us therefore create a system of delivery. The National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority, NAR, will lead that charge in many ways. and the Jamaica Reconstruction and Resilience Oversight Committee, Jamrock, will serve as the critical oversight mechanism to ensure that there is strong layer of accountability and transparency as we undertake this massive task ahead of us as a country.

The public service must facilitate both bodies in their respective mandates. To that end, the office of the cabinet is pleased to serve as the administrative center for Jamrock. The ministry is committed to ensuring that the committee can carry out its functions independently, efficiently and unimpeded. The model that is being established here today holds important lessons for us in the public service too.

It should demonstrate to us that efficiency in project delivery and robust accountability need not be at odds or enemies. They must complement each other to facilitate that system of delivery I mentioned earlier. I urge every permanent secretary, my colleagues and head of entities to instill this principle as a new approach at every level of the public service. Let us use the opportunity presented by NAR and Jamrock to demonstrate to Jamaican people that the state apparatus can deliver while being accountable and transparent.

Let that be the lasting impact of this period of reconstruction. Jamaica is depending on us and Jamaica deserves no less. All that is left now for me to do is to introduce to you the distinguished members of Jamrock and they are and I'm going to ask them to stand as their names are called. Professor Peter Henry Blair chairman distinguished color researcher academia you name it he has it.

Thank you, Professor Henry. Senator, the Honorable Keith Duncan, government representative on the committee. [applause] Honorable Patrick Hilton, President Private Sector Organization of Jamaica. Mrs. Helen Davis White, she wanted to be here.

She had confirmed but um she has an an emergency and has sent her apologies. But she's representing the National Partnership Council and Union. Pastor Glenn O. Samuel, he's representing Western Jamaica. [applause] Dr.

Christopher Burgess representing the opposition [applause] and professor Dale Weber he's traveling and he he too sent his apologies and he is lead on climate change. I wish I wish you all the very best as you take on this important role and I can tell you the work is plenty because Prof has been piling it on me and Sasha. The office of the cabinet is at your service. May you have a fruitful and rewarding tenure.

Thank you. [applause] Thank you, Cabsec. And she did not say the role she had to play in the beginning. Nara started as a unit in the cabinet office. She had to steer a lot of the work in terms of the legislation and even the hiring of the CEO.

And so, she's been playing a really big part in all of this. And we thank you, Cabinet Secretary, for your leadership in this. And I also want to thank all the members of Jamrock for accepting this awesome responsibility. And as CABSE said, there's a lot of work to be done.

At the center of the implementation of Jamaica's rebuilding program is the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority, NAR. Its mandate requires urgency and execution and equally discipline, coordination and a relentless focus on delivering resilient results and stronger outcomes for our country. And we have someone who is helming it, who is known for delivering and delivering really, really well. And so, please welcome Ambassador Anthony Anderson, the CEO of the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority to deliver his remarks.

Uh thank you Minister Dixon and I will follow suit after the CAPSEC to make sure that u I don't delay the program with lengthy um acknowledgements. So let me get straight into it if you don't mind. Um so it's it's a pleasure for me to be here uh this morning and to be participate in this launch of Jamrock. I think it's another important part of what we are doing here to deliver great outcomes for Jamaica.

What an opportunity we have. I think this is is one of the greatest opportunities that I have seen in my own uh life in public service some 40 plus years and I know there are other people in the room who spent this amount of time um serving this country with integrity a great sacrifice at times but we chose to do it and I think that the country has benefited from the work of many people in this room. And more importantly, I believe that everyone here wants an outcome of seeing a stronger, better Jamaica. Almost well, everyone.

Absolutely everyone. And I don't think that there's been a great opportunity than now to achieve that. Certainly, I can't remember it. And I'm not sure if anybody else can remember one, but if you can, you probably at that time couldn't influence it.

Well, you can now. We all can. So, N is about outcomes and delivery. And in the end the real tragedy would be actually not getting this done or not optimizing the outcomes that this opportunity present and those are many.

Obviously at the core of it are a set of projects infrastructure construction hard touch and feel type things but beyond that we should have increased capacity. We should have created a foundation on which persons who are thinking about why not do something in Jamaica, they're doing so much and they do it so well. They can actually do things quickly and efficiently. So, let's go there and do it.

And hopefully that will be one of the effects that we'll have. Accountability and transparency will be embedded in the DNA of NAR. We're a public body and over time, for those of us who've been in the public service for a while, have seen the development of an extensive network of accountability processes that we go through. We are subject to them also.

But beyond that, it is a matter of our own pride as public servants that we would deliver organizations whether it's a ministry, a department or an agency that properly reflect our own positions on what it means to develop a better country and that must come with that accountability and transparency. So systemically it has to be embedded. So Jamrock ideally I'll make their life easy. They'll probably make my life hard, but that's okay.

But I think the other important uh thing to note about Jamrock um some of the members I've interacted with over time in various ways. Some I haven't but I will I'm sure very quickly but what I see is a group of patriots and if we all start there I think we can get something done something really special uh done the risk apart from well the discussed risk and what we've been speaking about you know the accountability transparency how do we mitigate that that's that's one But I think we also have another risk. I think we have a risk of people becoming cynical. So there's a risk of cynicism about what we're trying to get done.

And I think that's a big risk. I think there's a risk in this world of misinformation and disinformation. There's a huge risk that this will be used by people who are not in agreement as we are in this room to have a population see things other than they are or for whatever purpose or whatever reason. Jamrock as an independent voice as a collection of people who are known as independent thinkers and are not they don't need this.

They have volunteered to do this. They're that voice that can say, "Oh, no, no, no." Or they're that voice can say, "Yes, yes, yes. You guys aren't, you aren't meeting the requirements. You aren't doing what you should do." Likewise, you can say, "No, no, no.

They are doing that or this is being done." And I think that's the huge value that Jamrock would bring to the table. Even beyond accountability and transparency, it will be there. That's the system. What is necessary is to get people excited about this opportunity and to move it forward so that you get buy in.

You get this understanding that here we are. We're going to do something great for Jamaica. I thank you. Thank you so much ambassador and I think he's the right person for the job.

Um he has already demonstrated that he has hit the ground running with NAR. If you've not seen his interview that he did with GIS, please look at it. Um it speaks to his history. He was working construction doing construction related areas when he was a teenager and then he had this very very um storied time in the military and so it's really good to have you back ambassador and it's so good that you have heeded the call.

This is a really important time as you're saying for this country and we're very glad and honored that you are leading in the way that you have decided to lead and so thank you. We're now going to move on to where I know everybody wants to get to to hear from another man. A man who is seen as one of the shining lights in academia globally and he is a son of Jamaica. That makes it even more exciting.

So effective oversight, as you've heard, is essential to building public confidence in a reconstruction program of this magnitude. with the money we're speaking about and Jamrock will have an important role in helping to ensure that the reconstruction process remains transparent, accountable, and focused on delivering value and results for the Jamaican people. And it sounds like the the CEO of NAR will make their life easy in that respect. So, it's now my pleasure to invite a son of the soil, a really esteemed son of the soil, the chair of the Jamaica Reconstruction and Resilience Oversight Committee, Professor Peter Blair Henry to deliver his remarks. Thank you, Minister.

In the interest of time, ladies and gentlemen, please allow me to stand on the protocol already observed. And so, Dr. the most honorable Andrew Holes, Ambassador Anthony Anderson, CEO of NAR, members of Jamrock, members of the media, and distinguished ladies and gentlemen, all good morning. This is what cricket commentator Samuel Bodri might describe as an auspicious event at an iconic location where anticipation meets history. But since I lack his eloquence, let me simply say that it is an honor and a privilege.

I'm happy and I'm grateful to be here. Being here today reminds me of the charge to his nation given by the late US President John F. Kennedy who was a visitor too and a friend of Jamaica. Ask not what you can do what you your country can do for you.

Ask what you can do for your country. In that spirit, I thank Prime Minister Holes for the invitation to serve my beloved Jamaica in this manner. [applause] And I thank the distinguished members of the Jamaica Reconstruction and Resilience Oversight Committee, Jamrock, for also answering the call. These members are Senator the Honorable Keith Duncan, the Honorable Patrick Hilton, Mrs. Helen Davis White, Pastor Glenn Samuels, Dr.

Christopher Burgess, and Ambassador Professor Jail Weber. I would also like to thank the opposition leader, Mark Golding, because in a naming a representative to Jamrock, he could easily have chosen a generic figurehead. Instead, in a good sign that all hands are on deck in taking this national project seriously, he named Dr. Dr.

Christopher Burgess and in so doing has provided someone whose expertise and qualifications will be extremely valuable to Jamrock, especially when combined with the similar expertise of fellow Jamrock member, Professor Dale Weber. So, if one day you hear me speaking or see me writing about Jamaica's coastline, territorial waters, rainfall, drainage, or wastewater treatment in reference to the work of NAR, you will have no need to ask, "What does this economist know about these things?" Because in addition to my research capacity, I will have expert advice at hand. Ladies and gentlemen, taking note of the recently established independent fiscal council, the IFC, but perhaps more so building on the precedent, success, and societal ownership of the economic program oversight committee, EPO, the government established Jamrock, in this period of strategic reconstruction, resilience, and capacity expansion to do for the country. What Epoch did during Jamaica's decade of sustained debt reduction.

The purpose of Jamrock is to provide advice and challenge to the decision makers leading the national reconstruction. To this end, Jamrock will leverage its knowledge base and relationships as well as those of its partners from civil society, the local and international business and academic community, technical personnel, and multilateral institutions. In the critical task before us, government cannot think like the private sector in focusing only on economic returns. And so, as we seek to sustainably upgrade Jamaica's natural and man-made infrastructure, Jamrock will advocate for social partnerships to drive economic and social transformation that balance people's lives.

But this must all be done in a fiscally responsible manner because it takes cash to care and we cannot stray from the economic reform path on which we remain. Historically, governments move too slowly. And so despite the lack of a profit motive, government must now emulate and adapt the best resultsoriented models of private sector efficiency to not only improve how government works in general, but also to deliver systematically at scale productive public investments with greater speed, transparency, and accountability. to enhance this process. Specifically, Jamrock has two major jobs using our own think tank capacity for research, networking, and consultation.

Our first job is to advise the prime minister and cabinet on the selection of reconstruction projects for the fasttrack NAR process. Because the prime minister and cabinet's job is to select reconstruction projects that achieve strategic one Jamaica objectives even as they address local needs. Jamrock will advise and hold the prime minister and cabinet accountable for a selecting reconstruction projects whose resilience adjusted economic and social rates of return exceed their cost of capital and B with the help of Jamrock the private sector and international partners attracting private capital domestic and foreign to fund projects that are commercially viable. This is very important because attracting private money for projects with commercial potential not only expedites those projects but also frees up public money for sociallyoriented projects that the private sector will not finance is not capable of financing.

Our second job is to observe and critically access assess the work of NAR and hold NAR accountable for delivering those fasttrack projects as transparently and efficiently as possible with periodic reports. Jamrock will publicly hold NAR accountable for building a project management system in which selected projects are tendered and executed with public trust on time and under budget. This will be done in accordance with NAR's submission of its plans, deadlines, timelines, and numerical targets. There will be a time limit for the submission of these items and they will be subject to independent assessments by the auditor general.

Jamrock will not operate in ivory tower isolation but with communities and real people in mind. So to enhance and facilitate doing our two major jobs, Jerem will work to promote greater public understanding and transparency. As Ambassador Anderson said, this means that in addition to periodically reporting to the public on the work and progress of NAR, Jamrock will engage in an ongoing prog process of public education, engagement, and consultation. This will include listening to public concerns as well as explaining the roles of NARO and Jamrock, the importance of the national project and how it should work, the local context of Jamaica's ongoing economic reform program and development plans and the global context of international best practice.

Ladies and gentlemen, the great Albert Einstein told us that in the midst of every crisis lies great opportunity. And so with apologies to all the wonderful women and girls named Melissa, we should not let the crisis of Melissa go to waste. It is an opportunity to do things we previously thought we could not do. Therefore, in our public engagement, Jamrock will also explain why the aftermath of Melissa is, as the CEO of NAR said, a once in a generation opportunity to transform the productivity and resilience of Jamaica's economy.

To put the matter more simply, Jamrock will not be doing the work on projects. Here is how the process will work. Privately, Jamrock will consult with and advise the prime minister and cabinet as well as NAR. Using Jamrock's advice, the prime minister and cabinet will select and approve the fasttrack reconstruction and resilience projects.

NAR will implement and execute the work publicly. Jamrock will critically assess NAR's work and provide quarterly reports on the progress of the reconstruction portfolio. And portfolio is a very important word. project have to be examined in the context of all the work that's being done, not on a one-off basis. Jamrock will also conduct outreach that listens to feedback from the public, educates the public about the purpose and work of NAR and explains the context of that purpose and work.

In reconstruction and resilience, there are things that should be and have been done immediately. And there are more things that need to be done immediately. But the bigger destination of transformation is going to take time. People need to understand that two things must happen at once.

There must be speed, but there must also be vision and foresight. Jamaica needs a reconstruction progress with speed. foresight and trust and trust in the process will be enhanced by transparency and by communication. Jamrock's goal, therefore, is to create an environment in which everyone has the same information. I will repeat that.

An environment in which everyone has the same information. People are entitled to their own opinions, but they are not entitled to their own facts. So there will be one set of facts for private and public review and debate on the progress of this important national project. With that goal in mind, I will be the sole sp public spokesperson for Jamrock.

Out of many inputs, Jamrock will speak with one official voice. Ladies and gentlemen, I believe every single person in this room wants the Reconstruction and Resilience Project to transform the Jamaican economy and drive opportunities for hu economic and human development. It will be a major task that requires the business community, civil society, government, and input from many stakeholders. It will not be easy but it can be meaningful and fulfilling as well as fruitful and paradigm shifting.

I am excited excited about the possibilities. I firmly believe that if anybody any nation can pull this off, it is Jamaica. [applause] because that is simply how we are and how we roll.

I'm not going to say anyone else is a small fry

or a side order, but we all know that Jamaica is a big deal. [applause] No river is too deep, no valley is too low, and no mountain is too high. Because out of many, we are one.

We are one. We can if we commit and believe we can. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. God bless Jamaica. [applause] Thank you so much, Professor Prime Minister.

I think you've made a really, really good choice in chair. And I think Jamaica, Jamaica is very, very lucky to have you. And I think we just need to keep remembering what he said that if we're going to get this moment right, and it really is a moment of opportunity for us, we have to do so with speed, but also with foresight and trust. And his commitment is to bring transparency and communication to this entire endeavor.

So, thank you, professor, and to all the members of Jamrock. We wish you every success in this very important national responsibility. We're going to be breaking the program a little bit. The cabinet secretary, um, Prime Minister wants us to get in a mood before we hear you.

And so we have we have Mr. Jordan Grayson who is a saxophonyist who is here to, you know, open us up to listening to what our prime minister has to say. And so, Mr. Grayson, we welcome you today and we look forward to hearing your performance. [music] Heat.

Heat. [music] Heat. [music] Heat.

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Heat. [music] Heat. [music] Heat. [music] Heat. [music]

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Heat. [music] Heat. [music] Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] [music]

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Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music]

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Heat. Heat.

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That was beautiful. Amen. And so our prime minister said many times that we are a Christian country. And we started off this morning with the national anthem, which is a prayer.

And we also had Pastor Samuel's praying this morning. And then we have another prayer in that beautiful song that speaks to the goodness of God. And God has really been good to Jamaica. And I will add to what our our chair of Jamrock said earlier.

He spoke about um what what President Kennedy had said about you know ask not what your country can do for you but ask what you can do for your country. And I would say we should not ask what will God do for us. We must ask what are we going to do with God's blessings. And that's what this is about.

How are we going to help our people? What we're doing here is God's work also. And so we have our prime minister who has always reminded us that this work we're doing is bigger than for ourself. And it is my distinct honor to introduce our prime minister, Dr. the most honorable Andrew Holes to give his keynote address.

Please stand for the prime minister.

Good morning ladies and gentlemen. And good morning to those who are listening to us on social media, on on radio, and on television. On October 28th last year, Hurricane Melissa came across this island and regrettably took lives. Homes that stood in families for generations and businesses that took a lifetime to build in St.

Elizabeth, in West Milan, in St. James, Trilani, across Western Jamaica. That experience should not be considered history. It continues to impact the daily lives of the people.

Yet Jamaicans, particularly in the West, have met this year with resilience that deserves to be recognized. And I want those Jamaicans to know that the frustration they feel is heard and that they remain the center of this government's attention. I also understand why many Jamaicans believe that recovery should move much faster than it is currently moving. In some areas, recovery has gone very well and I think we should be honest with ourselves in this regard. the restoration of public utilities for example in particular our electricity grid.

We rank ourselves comparable with international standards as to how that has materialized in the restoration of our road network that has gone substantially well. Granted, not all surfaces are even. But they are open and accessible. There remain uh a few breakaways that we have to address.

But in general, the restoration of utilities and access should be praised. It's worthy of praise. We note the current conversation regarding the recovery of the education system. Again, uh we have used this as an opportunity to consolidate some schools to rebuild others uh not just to repair but to rebuild and that is going fairly well.

Uh I believe we have over 300 schools on our roster for repairs. Uh and uh we have advanced quite significantly given all the challenges with procurement, contracting, weather and all other challenges. And so one year after the hurricane, we can say that we have had a successful reopening of the school year. And granted, this morning I was reading the newspapers where they highlighted children learning outside the classroom under trees.

When I was going to school, that was my favorite time because the classrooms were so hot. And there, you know, I'm not excusing the the lack of resources in some schools, but the truth is that sometimes, you know, I visited the classrooms a few times. Granted, I visited them in my jacket and tie and so I may be a little bit hotter than those in the classroom, but the classrooms are unbearably hot, many of them. And so we should not look down on having our children learn closer to nature in cooler environments uh and in a setting that is uh more supportive of learning.

Now our responsibility is not to explain away failures and shortcomings. Our responsibility is to fix them to remove the bottlenecks and to accelerate delivery. This is a very good opportunity to point out that for more than a year, even before Hurricane Melissa, my administration has been speaking to the public about the need for the Jamaican bureaucracy to improve its efficiency and for the Jamaican productive sector to improve its productivity. for the Jamaican worker to improve its productivity. Uh to the point where I read the comments, they say they're saying, you know, Prime Minister, stop talking about it and fix it.

It is your job. Agreed. But in our democracy, which is a liberal democracy, we have to talk a lot about things. When we went to parliament with NAR, one of the biggest criticisms was that where was the consultation?

So it's not just talking, it's bringing the public into my thinking and sharing my mind with the public. Very important that that process be done so that no one can say I'm surprised. Now we are drawing close to the point where we will have to take actions now. So yes, we're not going to explain away the problems or explain the problems forever.

At some point, we have to act and we're getting close to that point. NAR and Jamrock are points of action that speaks to the government's direction towards efficiency and productivity whilst maintaining probit, accountability and transparency. So what I want to do this morning is to speak plainly about what has been happening while people have been waiting about what comes next and about how Jamaicans will be able to see themselves whether to see for themselves whether the construction the reconstruction is moving with urgency, discipline, accountability and efficiency which they do have a right to expect and that is why we are here today. Much of the work required to rebuild properly happens before construction becomes visible.

In the months since Melissa, thousands of damage assessments have been completed. In fact, tens of thousands of damage assessments have been completed across parishes and thousands of properties have been surveyed. Geotechnical and hydraological studies are underway in communities. most communities that have been affected. Engineering designs have been commissioned, financing is being structured and the procurement framework is being put in place.

And I want to say a few words here about the procurement framework. I want it to be absolutely clear speaking to our public servants in the ministry of finance uh at the public procurement commission all entities that have anything to do with procurement. The current procurement framework cannot support the speed and pace and enterprise that is required to deliver NAR projects. [applause] So, we're going to put in place a new order that will facilitate but at the same time ensure the highest level of competitiveness, accountability, transparency and efficiency of the use of public resources. Now this work is necessary because it will determine whether we build quickly enough and what we build makes sense, whether it is resilient, whether it is safe and whether it will last a lifetime.

So what we are planning to do it is not merely to rebuild what was there. It is to rebuild better and rebuild stronger but rebuild smarter. And we need to do this at pace and with speed. Now that is precisely why we established the national reconstruction and resilience authority.

The scale of what confront us cannot simply be added to the existing workload of ministries and agencies and be expected to move with the urgency required. The existing ministries and agencies and departments could not be asked to undertake this new workload that we plan to put forward. Our existing machinery of government was designed for ordinary administration. What we face is an extraordinary national undertaking involving reconstruction, major infrastructure, housing, water, roads, economic recovery, and the strengthening of communities against future disasters.

Other countries faced with disasters of exceptional scale have reached similar conclusions. Indonesia established a dedicated reconstruction agency following the Indian Ocean tsunami and New Zealand established the Canterbury earthquake recovery authority following the Christ Church earthquakes. Queensland in Australia created a dedicated reconstruction authority after its floods. So dedicated mechanisms have been used elsewhere because reconstruction on this scale requires concentrated authority, coordination and implementation capacity.

The next disaster will not wait for us to complete the reform of every ministry, every approval process and every administrative system before it arrives. Indeed, as we meet today, Jamaica is again confronting another crisis, another disaster, and that is the drought. So, when we refer to resilience, we're not simply talking about preparing for the next hurricane. We're talking about resilience against all manner of shocks so that our people will still have running water whether or not it rains.

Our roads and bridges will survive extreme weather and our communities can withstand flooding and our homes are built in safer locations to stronger standards. and our economy can recover quickly after disaster. So resilience is not just a mere event. It is a continued program of deliberate strategic building. Now that demands a new way of thinking about how government delivers.

We have too often treated speed and accountability as though they were mutually exclusive. They are not. We can move quickly and still follow rules. We can demand results and still insist on transparency.

We can empower people to make decisions while holding them accountable for those decisions. Jamaicans should not be afraid of our own capacity to execute. And I I must say this for my few years in government, I have detected almost I mean it's a fear but a lack of belief that we can build big things and build them quickly. the the the bureaucracy is uh almost unsure of itself to take on large projects. We hope that with with NAR we will also have a mindset shift because it's really a function of how we see ourselves as a small island or a small country.

And we need to shift away from that. We need our public sector, our private sector to shift away from seeing ourselves in this light and to start to see ourselves as a civilization of people who can build great things and build them quickly. We cannot accept the idea that if something is done quickly, it must have been done improperly or that the only evidence of good administration is a long process. By the way, that is a culture that is now set in our public bureaucracy.

Efficiency matters and I keep saying that the greatest resource is efficiency. Efficiency is a resource. Time matters. Every month of unnecessary delay will cost the families who are waiting on their houses and we have live examples of that Minister Montikue where we have houses that have been totally destroyed in some of the western parishes that were impacted and uh maybe six weeks after the hurricane we made some commit ments that we would purchase um what we call modular semi-permanent housing solutions.

And now we are almost a year past the the event and we are now just being able to sign contracts and starting to deliver the houses. Now the process does not take into consideration the suffering of the families there who are waiting for those houses who are still some of them sleeping outside. And you know what? No matter what I say here today, it is not an excuse for them.

It doesn't give them any comfort. But no one wants to go to parliament and face the PAC that will say you did not follow procedure or get a report from the auditor general that writes you up. No public servant wants that smear against their name. And so they're not going to be moving any faster than what the process allows them to.

But the people are still there waiting. And that's the reality. That's the reality. I'm not satisfied.

I I'm you know I I've made it very clear. I'm not satisfied with the pace at which we have been able to deliver. But no one wants to be called up and have a bad report from the PAC. So what do we need to do?

We need to comply and move faster. And whose job it is to review the process and make the changes where necessary falls to the government, myself, the cabinet. So when we make those changes, there will be another round of howling and complaining, but we're past that now. We understand the direction that we must be moving in.

So we want to be clear however that speed without accountability is equally unacceptable. A national undertaking of this size financed by substantial public resources and required to move with urgency demands corresponding weight of scrutiny. So let me be clear about something first. All right.

N does not sit outside Jamaica's accountability framework. There have been a lot of uh narratives which would suggest that NAR is outside the public accountability framework. That is not the case. NAR is required to keep proper accounts and produce audited financial statements.

The auditor general has access to its accounts and records and most certainly will be making um reports on NAR. Uh and one would expect that uh once NAR is operational uh everything else that is on the agenda of the auditor general would be shifted aside so that n is reviewed. It is the nature of public accountability. So, NAR is not outside of the public accountability framework.

Its reports and financial statements are subject to parliamentary scrutiny. I'm certain that as the first report of NAR is made, the PAC will shift aside everything on their agenda to bring NAR up front first and foremost for scrutiny. That's the nature of public accountability and its approved reconstruction and resilience initiatives are required to be placed on a public register so everyone can see it. These safeguards matter and they must operate fully and effectively.

I say this because there there is a view that we are putting in place jamrock because NAR does not fall under the ordinary public accountability framework. Absolutely not the case. NAR is subject to the laws of the land, our standard accountability framework. But statutory and parliamentary mechanisms, important as they are, do not by themselves provide the continuous public visibility that a reconstruction program of this scale requires.

And that is where Jamrock comes in. It adds independent public facing scrutiny. Its conclusions must be its own and its reports must reach the Jamaican people directly and unfiltered. So there are two layers now.

Uh we would consider one to be the statutory. They have timelines to be met and particular procedures to follow in how that accountability is done. But you could say that Jamrock is the real time accountability and the direct accountability to the people. And in a sense, you could also say it is the independent accountability.

But bear in mind um uh professor Blair Henry pointed out that uh he sees the role with two essential tasks. Uh one is to advise the government on projects that have a high resilience return and a high social return as well. And this is something that would not necessarily adequately be captured by the conventional accounting framework. And neither would the persons who have the responsibility for the conventional accounting framework.

Those people who would be dealing with the actual financial statements, the auditing, performance management and who might report to parliament, uh they may not have the expertise to audit a project on its resilience benefit on whether or not it's its strategic benefit for the economy. uh so there is a different skill set that is required to properly analyze these projects and so Jamrock will take that on and advise the government. Now, I want to be clear here on something because Jamaica could be considered a leading country in this region as it relates to social partnerships and we have used social partnerships for national benefit effectively whether it is epoch, epoch, we've we have had so many um and they have been to our our our advantage. Uh I I know that sometimes the our partners in the social partnership may feel that you know government is going going at it by itself going alone and not consulting enough. uh that is something that we pay very close attention to and I want to assure the members of the social partnership that the government uh is committed to the social partnership and we see uh the establishment of Jamrock as uh evidence of that commitment. But the the national social partnership that that we have uh I also want to commend them for their work uh and their support and advice.

But social partnerships do not replace government and cabinet responsibility and authority. I think that needs to be to be said. Advisory bodies give the advice. Once the advice is given, the title has passed.

The advice now belongs to the person that you have given the advice to. The duty of the advisor uh does not go into the political realm. So no one should be expecting uh Jamrock to be to become an advocate for the advice that it has given. That then crosses into now a different realm and a different responsibility.

But Jamrock does have the responsibility to share the advice that it has given. That is the accountability and reporting duty. But ultimately government has to decide. That's why you elected us.

That's why we went through elections. What happened if the advice is wrong and we followed it? You think anybody's going to go to Jamrock and say you gave wrong advice? [laughter] However, we in the cabinet are ministers of administration and policy development. We are not experts.

We have experts who are employed to government who will also give us policy advice. People who we pay to do this. We have the NWA, we have the NWC, we have NEPA, we have the climate change division, we have all kinds of experts and they will advise us as well. we could get competing advice. I'm saying this because sometimes when these things get into the public domain, they can be politicized.

See, Nara told um Jamrock told you this, but yet you did that. It's a very complex environment. But the beauty of having Jamrock is that Jamrock comes from a perspective that is not connected to the government. Very important.

So it avoids this what some u um experts call group think. And we are we are all in the same group. We we have you know minister permanent secretary relationship no matter what there's an influence you know the employed officer is going to want to say what he believes his minister wants to hear you know there's always that that risk and policies can go wrong as a as a result of that so having jamrock being there outside of government independent looking at other factors reduces that risk of an an internal narrow tunnel vision of what needs to be done. So ultimately the cabinet will have the benefit of broad advice.

We will advise internally from government experts, advice from Jamrock. Our international partners I'm certain will share their views and yes I do read the papers. So I I do pay attention to what is is written. So yes, we are going to ensure that what we decide to do is broadly informed.

Now, Jamrock draws on the principles that made the economic program oversight committee, epoch, such an important part of Jamaica's macroeconomic reform. EP epoch brought together respected Jamaicans from different sectors and gave the public an independent means of assessing whether government was meeting its commitment. That model helped to build credibility because Jamaicans knew that the people doing the monitoring had reputations of their own and were prepared to speak frankly. But reconstruction requires an even more granular form of scrutiny.

Project by project, milestone by milestone, dollar by dollar. Jamrock must operate in the tradition of epoch, but it will be far more intense in its scrutiny. Professor Henry has committed to quarterly public updates, an online platform through which Jamaicans can access information on the reconstruction portfolio, and direct engagement with communities. The public should also be able to know what is being built, what is the expected cost, when it is expected to be completed, whether milestones are being met, and where delays or corrective action may arise.

So, we're going to be seeing quite a bit of Peter in the public domain. And as an economist he said NAR will ensure that there is no asymmetry no difference in information so that all actors have the same information set. He said something that I had said, but maybe I said something that somebody had said before. But you are entitled to your own opinion on the information set, but you're not going to have your own information set.

You're not entitled to your own facts. There are no alternative facts here. So there is one source of what is factual and that is backed by the reputations of all the distinguished Jamaicans who are serving on the Jamrock uh committee. That doesn't stop political machinations.

You can have your own opinions and make your political statements but not on things that are not factual. We we have to have a factual base on which to to proceed. Now, Jamrock will have access to project information, accounts, and performance data. It will most certainly have direct access to myself and the cabinet and to the cabinet secretary and to the chief executing officer of NAR.

So there is no question about NAR getting the information on which it will then make its report. I I want to acknowledge the leader of the opposition who is here. I wore a special tie for you, sir. And I want to thank him for uh nominating a member of the Jamrock uh oversight committee.

Uh and it's very important that this be seen as a national effort. All right. More than anything else, it is a national effort. If NAR is successful, Jamaica wins.

Um and we expect that um the member representing the opposition will uh participate, have equal access, deliberate, put their positions but at the end of the day it's one position that has to be put forward because otherwise it would destroy the nature of the oversight. So that that should be clearly understood. Now, Jamrock will be examined and written about in case studies uh and probably form parts of lectures internationally. Peter is an academic first and foremost.

Uh and there is a certain rigor that is required uh of academics. They have to focus on the facts but it doesn't prevent them from analyzing and that means digging deeper looking at uh alternatives looking at what works what doesn't work and publishing that's what academics do and so I'm expecting that the work of Jamrock will meet that high level that high standard of rigor I'm also expecting that their reports will filter into the general conventional public administration because we need to use Jamrock as a case study and NAR as to how we can improve our conventional public accountab ability and administration. So I'm expecting that whilst they are doing their work, they will be looking at the case studies, documenting them properly. At the end of the period, we should be able to hand over to the NWA and say, see this is how we built this highway.

Here are the procedures that were followed and this is what worked. Equally, this is what did not work and this is what you shouldn't do. That is not in your terms of reference, Peter. But knowing the academic that you are, I am going to be looking out for the papers that will be written, the peer-reviewed papers, and you have other academics uh on the the the committee with you.

So, I'm expecting that that will happen. Uh you you this is the benefit of having an entity like Jamrock. I want to thank the members of Jamrock who have agreed to serve. Listen, it's not easy to give public service.

It is truly a sacrifice. It is. I was on I was just disembarking a flight. I was going to the bricks in was it bricks?

No, it was um G20 in South Africa and the purpose of the visit was to raise the awareness of the impact of Hurricane Melissa on Jamaica and to secure funding for our recovery. We had therefore at that time already developed a kind of notional structure as to how we would approach the recovery. We we knew even then mere weeks after the hurricane that we had to establish something like NAR. We didn't specifically know what it was and we also knew that we would have to establish an oversight body like Jamrock.

And while I was disembarking the plane and we were making our way to the baggage hall, I met up on Peter and we were well well you came and said hello Peter and I we said hey how are you? and we started a conversation and even without knowing that we're going to have um a jamrock, it just clicked to me to say, you know, maybe we should ask uh Peter if he would be willing to serve in some capacity to to assist Jamaica. I mean, the your your resume, your CV, Peter, has already been uh published and spoken about right here as well. uh an incredible individual uh very wellrespected academic, someone who's also involved in the corporate world and someone who is highly respected by international financial agencies as well. Uh and someone who can speak in uh boardrooms of authority where we are not present. Uh and so we are incredibly um fortunate to have your agreement to serve and we we recognize it and your speech today shows that you are a true patriot and someone who loves women. [applause] And so I I have no doubt that you will execute this role with the highest level of integrity, impartiality and um transparency.

Um we tried to balance the um the the empaneling of the committee to make sure that we captured all the elements. So um pastor Samuels you know we thought that you would be uh the perfect candidate to represent the west. You you have a large following there. Um you you are a man of God.

You are on you are in the field. You hear the cries of the people and you yourself uh do significant philanthropic work. So you you see the issues. And so um we thought that it would be good to have someone like yourself um representing the church. the average person, speak for the average person, uh the persons who are suffering.

Um you know that that's so we thought that uh you would be a good representative and and that is why we we um made the the the recommendation. Um I don't think we could have Jamrock and not put Keith uh because Keith was there for epoch, you know. Look, I I would say that outside of Hurricane uh Melissa and what we're going to have to do to transform and rebuild the financial crisis that we faced ourselves, we faced um between 2011 and 2015 that was significant and it took a national approach to come out of that crisis. uh and Epoch played a very important role in stakeholder management, informing the public and holding the government to account that the government would carry out the fiscal policies which would mean the laws, the regulations and the policy changes that was required of the IMF and other entities. uh and in addition to that the financial the local financial institutions who sacrificed and the unions as well who sacrificed and I believe that EPO did an excellent job along with the social partnership to manage that. We are expecting similarly of um Jamrock and so your experience, your knowledge uh would be invaluable to guide the process and we are happy to have um Mr.

Burgess, Dr. Burgess uh an engineer, a developer currently who understands the issues of housing and I I read your articles, believe it or not. I do don't agree with everything, but I I pay attention. I read I read your articles and um so we're very happy to have your expertise and perspective as well. uh though you are the representative of the opposition, it doesn't mean you must oppose. [laughter] We we look forward to to to your participation of of course um the other members Wayne [applause] uh Helen Professor Weber uh um our president of the PSOJ all the members will bring their perspectives and ensure so they're they're not just there representing um you know their their stakeholder grouping.

And I must say um as I talk about the private sector, I I could not let this opportunity pass without saying that the recovery of the private sector from Hurricane Melissa is being hampered by the slow pace of insurance payments to uh persons who have made claims on the insurance companies, legitimate claims that have been successful. ful. I've gotten so many complaints, but there's very little that we can do as a government to intervene in a in a private matter. Legislatively, we could, and we probably should, and I'm happy that the leader of the opposition is is pointing that out, but we have gotten [applause] no, we have gotten um too many complaints and we see that it is actually having a negative impact now on the recovery. The recovery could have been much faster. were the insurance payments uh made with speed and elacrity.

As as I close my presentation to you and I I thank you for uh entertaining my long presentation but I but I have a few more things to say. a part of transformation and rebuilding and necessarily will mean that there will have to be some relocation taking place. We have not done a good job in our spatial management as a country over the years. We have allowed development to happen unregulated, unplanned, uncontrolled. That comes with a cost.

Uh the people of parity, I visited them just after the hurricane and I could detect that there is a strong sense of community. You know community it is not just your connection with the people who live around you. Community is also the connection to the place the land where you live. And I know a lot of people are not going to want to move.

And you see that every year when we have a hurricane event or some weather event that requires us to issue an evacuation notice, people don't want to move. People say, you know, I will take the risk. I'll stay here. And I understand that.

I I I I I wouldn't want anybody to come and tell me that I have to move from where I live. I I get that. I appreciate I respect that. I understand that.

But if you were to move from the individual perspective, I don't want to move and start to think of the cost to the community of the community remaining, the cost to the country, but more than that, you may believe that you can withstand the storm and you would be able to stay there for the rest of your life. Often times that is not the case. often times the damage is such that you are not able to recover at that location even when you remain and so the quality of life that you have after a disaster event continues to decline and the community continues to decline. So a part of our rebuilding will necessarily mean relocations and that has to be done however in a way that is respectful. It is the the state can't come to you and say you have to move.

No argument. The state will have to come to you and present you the facts as to why you want to move. they have to come and consult with you and so NAR is already starting its operations in the consultation uh perspective because we have had the consultation with the people of par uh we have done the social surveys there but I wasn't able to make the party visit but I'm told that the most impactful presentation on the people was a presentation made by NEPA when the facts were presented as to the potential of future damage, the current damage and the historical perspective because the truth is we already know. We we we knew this for 30 years ago that there are communities that once there's a weather event, those communities are not viable. But we we government doesn't have the the strength and the credibility or the budget to go and confront those communities and say, "Hey, listen.

You're going to have to relocate. But now Melissa has given us the urgency of the situation right in front of us and we have to act. So it is the intention of the government to use the party situation to show that government can work with the citizens with the people of the country to execute in a way that is respectful, dignified and fair relocation exercises. So I have said to the chief executing officer of Nara that he must execute the parity relocation project as a matter of urgency.

It must be a priority project and it must be done in the most respectful way in the way that preserves the dignity of the people and where no one is made worse off by the relocation. We need the rest of Jamaica to see that it can be done. The intention is, of course, for the people who live in these vulnerable communities. They know it is vulnerable, but they're not going to give up the little piece of land that they have now because they don't know where the next piece is coming from.

But if they were given a true example, one that works, it would make the process of us reorganizing Jamaica to improve the quality of life and the welfare of all much easier. And there you have it, NAR as the example that gets our Jamaican people to appreciate that the state, the government is not the enemy. We are working with you respectfully with dignity to improve the situation. So in closing, Hurricane Melissa caused enormous disruption, but it has also created a once in a generation opportunity to build stronger, more resilient and a more strategic infrastructure for Jamaica.

That opportunity will mean little unless planning becomes the execution unless unless planning becomes execution and completed works that improve people's life. Let NAR deliver reconstruction and resilience and let Jamrock deliver an independent assessment. Ultimately, the standard against which all of us will be judged is captured by four fundamental questions. What did we deliver?

How quickly did we deliver it? Did it represent value for money? And did we leave communities safer and stronger than before? We owe it to those still recovering in the West.

We owe it to every taxpayer whose resources will finance this effort. And we owe it to the next generation of Jamaicans who should inherit a country that is not only rebuilt but more resilient, more efficient, and more capable than before. I thank you. [applause] Thank you, Prime Minister, for that address. And it's quite fitting again talking about this moment and the importance of this moment.

And Prime Minister, we are not finished with you. Each member of Jamrock is to receive their instrument now. I believe they're going to be right here. So members of the media on this side, you may want to take the pictures on that side.

So I'm asking you to go on that side. Um because we're going to be doing that presentation right now. I will be um naming all of the members of Jamrock. Each person your name will be called and you will be um invited here to receive your instrument of appointment from the prime minister.

And so the first member of Jamrock is the chair who wowed everybody today. And so that's Professor Peter Blair Henry, chairman. And we're going to do the pictures right here. Prime Minister and they have and they have Oh, you want it in front of this?

They wanted in front of the flags, I think.

Yeah, with the flags.

All right. Thank you, professor. And the next member of Jamrock, a Senator, the Honorable Keith Duncan. [applause] Nice bipartisanship. And I like the orange on the tie.

I see orange. [laughter] [applause]

We now invite Dr. Christopher Burgess representing the opposition to receive his instrument of appointment.

And we now invite the Honorable Patrick Hilton, the president of the Private Sector Organization of Jamaica. [applause] I think they want you that side. And in terms of the last rep that's here with us, it's it's Pastor Glenn Samuels representing the West, the church, the ordinary man. [applause] Thank you, Prime Minister. As we had said before, there are two members who are not able to join us today and those are Mrs. Telen Davis White who is representing the partnership and unions and then we also have um missing from us today professor Dale Weber who is an expert in terms of the environment who is traveling.

Now we get to some questions from the media and I will remind the media that post cab is tomorrow morning. So, we'll be here tomorrow morning to take questions that are non-jamrock related. So, let's try to keep it to Jamrock and NAR and I know that um the ministers um do have a lot on their plate as do the Jamrock members. So, we're going to keep it as tight as we can and move straight to the media.

Please say your name and the entity that you represent when you ask your question, please.

Hello, good morning. My name is Crystal Williams. I'm from CVM. I wanted to know I heard this specifically from Professor Peter Henry.

So I wanted to know how public participation in the decisions of Jamrock will be facilitated.

All right. Sure. And also um we could also have the CEO in terms of how the public the question was how will the public be consulted in terms of decisions made in in terms of reconstruction projects.

Come you can come to the podium please.

Thank you for the question. Uh the public will be consulted uh through our outreach. So we see this is a two-way process. We will share information on um the nature of our of the purpose of the oversight and advisory work and receive uh feedback on people's uh perspective in terms of how they see that as relevant to their local community.

And of course we will incorporate that in our decision- making or not our decision-m our advice because we're not decision makers but the advice that we share uh with the decision makers.

What platforms will this advice be available on?

We will have a as the prime minister said we'll have a website that that shares updates on the portfol on on the portfolio. We'll also go directly to the people as well. Um we're thinking ahead uh in we're planning in January to actually be here physically on the ground uh probably in the west uh to just actually as I said we don't want to be in we're not going to be in an ivory tower. We want to actually meet people hear people and see people to see how the analysis that we're doing which is based on facts and information relates to people's real experience.

And it's very important to have that texture right to bring that into the analysis and to share uh that perspective with the decision makers.

Okay. The prime minister says everybody it's important for everybody to have the same information. How often will this information be updated?

So we are planning to have an official report on a quarterly basis. uh but is is also our our our view that we will provide other information uh that is educational in nature right so I I use the words uh maximizing the resilience adjusted economic and social return okay what does that mean how do we break that down into simple language right that pastor pastor Samuel's uh congregation can understand so we will have a website.

Um, we will use social media. We are in the process of figuring out exactly what is the most efficient way to disseminate information. But, uh, it's very important to be clear in the distinction between the quarterly reports that we will be doing, which are official reports versus, um, what I would call educational modules if you will, right? So all that will be coming and so there will be social media, there will be direct contact, there will be there will be a website in addition to the official reporting.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Good afternoon. Chevon Campbell, Nationwide News. My question is to the prime minister. Two questions actually.

The first one is in matters of capacity. The prime minister alluded to the fact that we have a problem in terms of building that capacity and utilizing it to the efficient and speedy benefit of the Jamaican people in an environment where we struggle to spend $6 billion annually. How do we now spend $6 billion US to the benefit of the people in an efficient and speedy manner? And then the second question more direct.

What does the prime minister expect to be the legacy of NAR at the end of this operation?

All right. Thank you.

Uh there are some capacities that you can you can acquire. So we do have a shortage of skilled and technical expertise. uh but we believe that uh those can be acquired through a contracting process. However, the process to acquire those skills, the business processes to administer that is something that depends on the government and the administrators and the legislators. In other words, there is a job that we have to do in restructuring our organization, our administration.

And that work uh we we had projected to start that work a year ago. We had announced a pivot and we had spoken about how we're going to reform government. We even started to do some things which the public uh may not have seen them in the context of the improvement of the delivery of public services. for example, the licensing of motor vehicles, the lengning of the period of fitness and so forth. Those were things that we would have accelerated in other areas of government.

But of course, we had um the elections and then uh hurricane Melissa. We are going to return to that, which is what I have been saying. We're going to return to that reform of the public administration to improve the business processes of government. Think of it in this way.

Currently we may be taking 10 steps to achieve an outcome. We need to review that to reduce the number of steps. It could be that we could take five. But because things are legislated, nobody's going to take it upon themselves to skip a step that is no longer relevant because it still remains in the law.

So as legislators we need to go through the law and say this step is no longer necessary because technology has made it um irrelevant now and that process has to begin. That's why we we have um minister Marks in my office and uh we have announced the the pivot last year and we will come back to the public with a comprehensive set of um actions that we will take to improve public bureaucracy. uh the the the third element of the achievements getting things done on how we can convert the capital budget into infrastructure and public services um would be strategic decision making. So if you look at it the the human resources you can get that through a contracting process. The process itself we can improve it but the decision of what to do is just as important as what you did because you can do the wrong thing very well.

In other words, you can be very efficient but ineffective. So now what we are hoping with NAR which is why we have Jamrock is to guard against being efficient but ineffective right so we are spending a lot of time in trying to select the best projects the right projects to do right now if you ask me well you have asked me what will be the legacy clearly it is the reconstruction and rebuilding of assets that we have lost. But please note they will not necessarily re be rebuilt in the same place or in the same way and there are some assets that will not be rebuilt and I think the public should become aware of that and and since you have asked the question uh we are in a process of consolidating our education infrastructure. There are several schools, not several, many schools that are underpopulated.

And I know there's a great attachment to the schools because they signal the life of the community, but it is highly inefficient. And if you consider it that the taxpayers would have to pay for a school that can carry a thousand kids only having 300, you have to pay certain fixed costs for that school that are not related to the number of students. So somebody else is paying for the sentimental attachment to unused space. And so we at some point we we have to as I said everything we do we have to consult.

It's democratic. It's dignified. But I want you to pay close attention to what professor Blair Henry said. Uh we we must do it fairly.

We must do it with dignity and so forth. But it must be fiscally responsible. And that's the reality. We have to be fiscally responsible because at the end of the day it takes cash to care.

That's the reality. So the legacy would be the the reconstruction of assets but in a strategic way. But these assets will be able to withstand the next disaster. Two things to withstand and avoid the next disaster.

But the greatest legacy would be breaking the culture of believing that we can't do big things and anything that we do, it has to be done slowly if it is to be considered to be done well. In our words, I'm hopeful that this will transform the Jamaican public and uh our general bureaucracy into an efficient administrative machine. Thank you. Thank you very much, Prime Minister, for your answers.

And I'm told that those are all the questions from the media. I think they're waiting for tomorrow [laughter] and postcab. Um, but just uh ladies and gentlemen, as we close, I really do want to acknowledge the European Union and it's very important that we do this and I know her excellency Dr. Urcola is here and she's the head of the European delegation to Jamaica.

They did give a $5 million US grant to us for the starting of NAR and to do initial work there and that was done through the World Bank and we want to thank the European Union for supporting us on that journey and we want to thank the World Bank too for their support and I know here we have Antinet Grant with us and our Tessa Salvador Sally is here. They're both here. And so I want to thank the World Bank that has been working with us. Um, we've not been doing this all on our own, just thinking everything up on our own.

We've been taking international advice and the prime minister has been very big on let's hear what the experts have to say. Let's hear what others in the international community have to say. And we want to thank the EU and the World Bank and the IDB is here that I know is going to be doing a lot of work with us. And so we thank all of our international partners from the outset for supporting NAR and supporting Jamrock as we move forward.

So as we've said, the work ahead is substantial and rebuilding after Hurricane Melissa will require speed and coordination matched by openness and accountability. And today we're able to launch Jamrock, an entity that we've talked a lot about in Jamaica and debated quite a bit. And the establishment of Jam Jamrock reinforces the ironclad commitment that as Jamaica rebuilds, the country will do so in a manner that earns and retains the confidence of Jamaica and our partners. And so, thank you all for being here today.

We're pretty good on time. It's 12:03. I ask that you have a wonderful day. I ask the members of Jamrock to stay back to do a photo, an official photo.

Thank you all and God bless you and God bless Jamaica.