NARA and the Moment Jamaica Cannot Afford to Waste

Why the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority matters, why it exists, and what “building back better” must truly mean

Jamaica has arrived at one of those rare, uncomfortable moments in national life when the future presses itself into the present. National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NARA) is not just another institution added to the alphabet soup of government. It is a response to exposure—exposure of systems, assumptions, and long-standing weaknesses that Hurricane Melissa did not create, but brutally revealed.

Disasters do that. They do not invent fragility; they illuminate it.

When the Government announced that NARA would lead and fast-track national reconstruction efforts, the reaction was predictable. Applause from some, suspicion from others, and impatience from many. Why did it take weeks? Why not days? Why not before the storm? These questions are understandable, but they risk missing the more important issue: what kind of authority Jamaica actually needs…