Holness defends $40m salary of NaRRA CEO amid criticisms

Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has defended the $40 million annual salary being paid to National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA) chief executive officer Major General Antony Anderson, insisting that the pay fits the demands of the job.

“You're not going to get the level of development, accountability, probity, transparency, and speed by taking on skills that will accept the lowest cost,” he told journalists at a special press briefing at Jamaica House on Tuesday.

He was responding to questions from Television Jamaica regarding the timing and optics of the $40 million salary, given that the country is still recovering from Hurricane Melissa and facing resulting fiscal constraints.

But, stating that “being frugal is not the same thing as being cheap”, Holness said that just because Jamaica is not a rich country does not mean the island should not aspire to the highest standard.

“We must destroy that thinking out of our psyche and our culture,” he said.

The Prime Minister stressed that he is a “firm believer” in paying well and holding individuals accountable.

“But there are some people who believe, don't pay well, so you don't hold to account and if you don't do the job, you stay there long. We are destroying that,” he stated.

He further explained that the salary being paid to Anderson was set by the Transformation Implementation Unit, a special project unit established in January 2017 under the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service.

“They have developed a mechanism which looks at what is called the compensable value of every element of a job, meaning they look at the job and they break it down into segments and they take those segments and they say this job with this responsibility, these expectations benchmark against other jobs, not in foreign but in Jamaica,” he said.

“And so what you end up with is a salary range that is translated across sectors and jobs for benchmarking. So, when we say that the salary range of the person who holds the position is in keeping with market, that's what we mean,” he added.

NaRRA is the agency tasked with leading Jamaica’s post-Hurricane Melissa recovery.

Meanwhile, Holness also noted that sub-offices for the agency will be established in the western end of the island, which was most impacted by the Category Five hurricane in October last year.

- Sashana Small

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