Our commitment is to build 70,000 new homes in Jamaica. 70,000. The most we have built under any one program could possibly be the Greater Portmore development. U I don't have the statistic in front of me, but I'm certain it is over 5,000 houses. Probably about 12,000 houses were built during that period of time. And we haven't reached up to that. 15,000 I gather. So the 70,000 is very ambitious. I'm hanging my hat where I will have to stretch to reach it. Yes. And we have been stretching. The NHT was tasked to build 42,000 of that. And by my last check, they have seen their way to in terms of what they have already constructed, what is in contracts, what is in procurement, and what is planning. They are over 40,000. So they have seen the slate of what they should construct. Now the chairman told you that already since the start of this financial year, we have broken ground for 2,000. I know we have already passed 8,000 under construction or out of construction. So we are adding another 2,000 now through the groundbreaking. That is a significant number in this development. My understanding is that there will be 700 housing solutions. 700 on 90 acres. There will be 280 detached one-bedroom units, 420 two-bedroom units, representing an investment of 11.62 billion Jamaican dollars. Now, I want to repeat the admonition of the chairman. These houses are specially designed for I'm not going to say low income but they must be affordable houses. I don't want to cast any particular perspective on the houses by saying low income. That's not what we are building here are affordable houses. I don't want again to create the view that this is being subsidized but yes there is a hidden subsidy. The government of Jamaica would have taken this land which is part of the Greater Bernard Lodge development lands formerly owned by the sugar company and we handed over the land to the NHT and the housing agency of Jamaica. Uh I I believe they had to pay a particular price. uh they had to make a contribution to the land but it was not market price and therefore the cost associated with the overall project should be a little less and therefore we hope that that is passed on to the purchaser at the completion of the project. The idea behind the Bernard Lodge development is that government should not seek to be building one housing scheme here and a housing scheme over there and a housing scheme across the other end of the island which that is what we have been doing for decades. The duty of government is to identify developable lands, bring the infrastructure, provide the titling and access to affordable mortgages to support the homeowner who wants to purchase a unit. And that is what the Bernard Lodge development is doing. In Bernard Lodge, there are several lots of land that are being developed by several different developers. And so, you will have multiple housing schemes bringing housing solutions to the market with common infrastructure. Some of the housing schemes will have a common approval process for any form of modifications that they have to do to their houses. So it is a structured development and this development, the Bernard Lodge development has the potential to deliver 15,000 housing solutions to the market. Just this development alone. However, only 700 of it will be directly related to the government and it is what we are breaking ground for now. The rest of it will all be private development. So this development will have an impact on housing but it is not going to have the impact that we want on the segment of the housing market where the real demand exists. And that is for low-income housing, for affordable housing. And so what we have done is to launch another development similar to Bernard Lodge where we identify uh large acreages of land. We do the master planning. We bring the infrastructure. We put in place a system of fasttracking approvals and then we make it available to developers. And that is the new Inwood or rather we will call that now the greater Inwood development area. And that we have now put together the enterprise team work has started to get that development going. And so the objective is to have possibly another 15,000 units being constructed in the greater Inwood area. There are many issues there to resolve. For example, the access road, the St. John's road going up to the um red ground area, that road is in a terrible condition. That is something that the government will have to develop. There are issues, for example, to deal with controlling flooding and drainage in order to make the land developable. Once the enterprise team comes back to us to say this is what needs to happen to make the land developer developable then the government will put in the resources to make sure that when you build your house there it is not at risk a light show of rain you are flooded out. These are all the new ways in which your government is dealing with housing. Granted it takes time. It is by nature a timeconsuming exercise but that is not an excuse. We must work faster on these things. Every public sector worker, every civil servant should understand the urgency. It and it is really an urgent problem. At the core of it, friends, at the core of it is the need to be able to provide houses much faster than people will make the decision to squat. That's the that's the the core of the issue. the informal, irregular and illegal settlement of land. It is not just because of the history of dispossession coming from the era of enslavement. It is also the fact that there are persons who are genuinely looking for a housing solution that they can afford and they cannot find it. So I know that councelor Nicholson is going to say I'm picking on him. I am not picking on any parish council. I'm saying that the parish council is a critical element in the approval process. And instead of taking sometimes a combative approach, sometimes a nonchalant approach or a disinterested approach, I urge the parish councils to take a development approach. Hey, I hear you have land you want to develop. come, let us sit down and work out the strategy and the scheme to get you your approvals quickly so that we can bring these houses to market quickly. That should be the attitude instead of saying I'm not going to give you any approval unless I get this or unless I get that which has been unfortunately the attitude in the past. There is a part of the efficiency question which must be answered by change in legislation, change in policies and change in processes. But there is also a part of the efficiency question which must be answered by attitude. What is the attitude that we take to development? That's the issue. Let's see what attitude will be taken here to this development. Let's see if it is one that it is going to be supportive of the development because the same people who take a negative attitude to development are the same one most loudly saying people must get houses and are critical of the government when the house take long to come. We have to get past the charade and speak to the genuine facts of the situation. And the genuine facts are that if we do not produce enough housing, people are going to squat. That is the reality. So the NHD, the HJ, our private developers, you have a task to move the developments much more quickly than we are doing. But more than that, we have seen an interest from private developers in the upper income, middle inome, even lower middle income segment of the market. That's the sweet spot for private developers. That's where they recover their capital uh more securely and with a higher rate of return. I understand that. And in a market system, private enterprise will respond to the price signals. The role of government is to use legislation and fiscal incentives and moral persuasion to guide and direct sometimes the private developers into the underserved areas of the market. But what is happening? We are seeing an influx of overseas private contractors who have solved the problem of being able to build quickly and deliver quickly at reasonable price. Why? Because they have integrated significant technology and equipment into their operations. And almost every day we are getting proposals. The only thing that they want from us would be the land. But I have to be thinking, I want my local contractors to do this. I want my local contractors to develop that capability to deliver these houses quickly. I can't just give away everything to, you know, overseas and foreign investors. I want my local contractors, but at the same time, I want the people to get the houses. You want the houses. So, I'm very happy to hear the almost politician-like delivery of Mr. Mullings. I'm not going to call the contractor name. He almost sounded like a preacher then, if that is more comfortable. We need contractors at scale. Contractors who will be able to integrate technology and make the investment in the capital equipment that is necessary to deliver houses quickly. The building technologies that we are using today are outdated and expensive and we need more of our private contractors, our private developers to start using modern technology. And I go back to it. I spoke about it. It's not just to build the house more cost effectively, but we we have to move away from building the matches box heat boxes to building things that look modern, aesthetically pleasing, sustainable. That is my challenge today to our developers. So I am looking forward with great anticipation, Mr. Mings at the designs of the houses that will be here that it's not just a little matches box that there are facilities here for people to be able to live comfortably, live healthy, raise families and that these houses will be delivered on time >> and within budget. I am eagerly anticipating that. So my friends, we do these groundbreaking exercises because we must show the public incontrovertible evidence that the government is working. It is meeting the expectations and it is not just merely promising. It's not PR in 18 months from now. 18 months is good enough time, sir. Yeah. No, we have the commitment of council Nicholson. So you're not going to take 3 months to get the approvals, right? You're not going to take 3 months, right? So once we cut out those sometimes, you know, look, I'm not going to say the steps are unnecessary. I'm not going to say that. But what can be done in parallel shouldn't be done sequentially. What don't make sense now, don't ask for it just because you have the power to ask for it. facilitate the development. Let it go ahead. So within 18 months, we should be back here handing over the 700 houses to 700 deserving households. You know what great an impact that would be. I hear I hear the contractor saying they have done it before. >> Armor of the beach park. Good. So we have the contractors who can do it. So you hear the public undertaking. You know, I speak this way because I see all the projects come across my desk. All of them. One of them would be the resilience park in Portmore. That was a project on the books for many years. That's not my original idea. I took the project and say, "Okay, we can do this project." And I got the UDC to take it over and to fund it. I was promised the project for last year independence. Then I was promised it for Christmas. I was promised it for April. I And what I'm saying here as I speak to the the people of the country, it is not for want of the entities trying in in other words, it's not for want of the UDC supervision or for the planning from my office that we keep missing the deadlines. There are many other issues that are outside of the scope of the government to address and there are many projects in pipeline that prevent the conversion of the capital budget. That is when we go to parliament and we say we have how many billions of dollars we are spending on capital. the efficiency and effectiveness of our contracting partners to take the capital budget and convert it into the capital works is a big part of the problem. So can you imagine if we had had that park a year ago the welfare of the society would be much better much higher but that welfare gain is delayed the longer it takes for us to convert the capital budget so it's not a want of money now I'm not saying we are a wash with cash but the money that we have let us convert it quickly that's the issue so every time I take a microphone I am preaching about efficiency I really need it to get into the psyche of the Jamaican people. That that is the real challenge for us now, efficiency. So, with all of that being said, let me commend the NHT and the HJ for working in partnership to bring these houses to the public. Again, let me commend the contractors, Eminem. Uh they have been longstanding enterprise contractors in Jamaica. I have great confidence that they will be able to deliver these houses on time and within budget. And again, our partners, the local government, a critical partner in the development of housing and construction generally. We look forward to your support and facilitation in this matter. God bless you all and thank you. The proceeding was brought to you by the Office of the Prime Minister. 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, "No, 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 The following is brought to you by the office of the prime minister. 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 Miland, 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 networks 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. 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 no prime 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 nara 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. 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 for themselves whether 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 and cheering] 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're 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 conclusion. Indonesia established a dedicated reconstruction agency following the Indian Ocean tsunami and New Zealand established the Canterbury earthquake recovery authority following the Christurch 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 rain. 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 uh 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 Nara 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 life and to start to see ourselves as a civilization of people who can build great things and build them quickly. [applause] 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 6 weeks after the hurricane, we made some commitments that we would purchase um what we call modular semi-permanent housing solutions. And now we're 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. 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. NAR 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 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 n does not fall under the ordinary public accountability framework. Absolutely not the case. NRA 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. 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 benefits effectively whether it is epoch echo we have had so many 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 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 government uh is committed to the social partnership and we see uh the establishment of JAMRA 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 JAMRA 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 happen 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, N 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 what some experts call group think and we we're 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. 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. 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 want to acknowledge the leader of the opposition who is here and I want to thank him for nominating a member of the Jamrock oversight committee and it's very important that this be seen as a national effort right more than anything else it is a national effort if NAR is successful Jamaica wins >> [applause] >> 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 Jamra 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 accountability 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 just disembarking a flight. I was going to the 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 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. your CE has already been published and spoken about right here as well. Uh an incredible individual uh very wellrespected academic, someone who is 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 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 [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 Samuel, you know, we thought that you would be 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're 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 >> [applause] >> I don't think we could have Jamrock and not put Keith uh because Keith was there for Epoch. You know, look, [clears throat] 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 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 to 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. 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, [laughter] 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 our president of the PSOJ all the members will bring their perspectives and ensure so they're not just there representing you know their their stakeholder grouping and I must say 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. 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. 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 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 par, 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 I wouldn't want anybody to come and tell me that I have to move from where I live. I 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 parity 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 the 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 is 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 destruction, 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 planning becomes execution and completed works that improves people's life. Let NRA 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.