Peter Bunting Says No To NARRA CEO | The PNP Said Its A Questionable Appointment

Added: 2026-06-01

[00:00:07]Meanwhile, the opposition PNP is questioning the appointment of Major General Anthony Anderson to lead NAR. We caught up with opposition spokesman on citizen security and productivity Peter Bunting. Sheamela Pollen reports.

[00:00:23]More questions than answers. That's the opposition's response to the appointment of former commissioner of police and Jamaica's ambassador to the United States, Major General Anthony Anderson.

[00:00:36]Among the questions being raised is what gave him the edge over the other applicants?

[00:00:41]>> Was the initial recruitment exercise a failure in that it didn't turn up any suitable candidates?

[00:00:51]And if so, um, does that point to the concern that qualified professionals would have given the controversial nature of the whole um, narrow structure and just the shambolic approach.

[00:01:08]>> Mr. Bunting also questioned the transparency of the selection process.

[00:01:13]Did General Anderson apply in the initial process or was he handpicked by the prime minister for this role? We know he has had a close person.

[00:01:25]>> Surprise, surprise, surprise. I'm sure Jamaicans would be surprised that the opposition did not agree with the government choice of the CEO. After all, you know, after all, why would they why would they agree? The opposition have disagreed on every single thing that the government has done since September 2025. Why would it change now? If they did not support this NAR bill, why would they support someone that is selected to be the CEO for NAR? Trust me, I can guarantee you even if the selection was one of the disciples, one of Jesus Christ 12 disciples, the opposition would have find a way to find some fault with this person that's been selected. So, nobody's surprised that the Peter Bunting is sitting down there and questioning the selection. And I'm sure the government is used to this by now because as I said, not one thing that the government has done since September 2025, the opposition have find a way to find fault with every single thing that the government, even the $6.7 billion that the government was able to secure in record time. to sit down in front of my TV and to see the opposition leader Mark Gooling coming out after the government secure 6.5 billion in record-breaking time and to see Mark Gooling find a way to criticize the government securing that money to see Mark Goolan there criticizing the amount and say taxpayers going to have to pay it back and why couldn't Jamaica get more grant than loan that was one of the craziest thing that I've ever seen because just imagine if Jamaica was not in a position just imagine if the international agency like the World Bank, IMF, all of those lending agency did not see Jamaica as responsible enough and say, you know what, you guys are going to have to figure out figure it out by yourself. Then Jamaica would have to recover by itself without any loan and tax would have to go right up.

[00:03:45]And even no matter how much you you you raise taxes, it would never be enough to pay for the recovery effort. So nobody should be surprised that Mark Gooling and Peter Bunting that they are going to find a problem with the selection of the CEO. And what I would say to the government, the the prime minister said that look, he had no nothing to do with the selection like he stayed away from it. But the major general has been in the system since 1984. I've never heard any scandal about him. He has worked with both People's National Party and Jamaica Labor Party. So, I think that this is a good choice, especially since the opposition. They really want a scandal to come out of this. They really want money out of the 6.7 billion to go missing. And Major General Anderson been in the system for decades and have not had any scandal. I think that this man would be the right person for the for the job. So let let's continue. As I said, nobody is surprised here. You can set you can put your pot on the stove and set the time. Once that press conference was over, I'm surprised that the oppos the opposition, they didn't go out and and put up a big press conference themselves because as I said, if it was one of Jesus 12 disciples, Peter, John, Paul, anybody, they would have find a way to find fault with the selection. So, this is not surprising to me, and I'm sure no one is surprised about the opposition not agreeing with the selection.

[00:05:28]relationship with the prime minister first as his national security advisor, then he was his pick for uh commissioner of police and it you know it would suggest that there are very few qualified professionals available um to the government both locally and the diaspora. if you keep having to go back to the same tight circle of of persons for every appointment.

[00:05:58]>> The opposition has long questioned aspects of the NAR legislation. And although it has now been enacted into law, the PNP maintains that several deficiencies still need to be addressed.

[00:06:11]We continue to have concerns about NARO, the supposed oversight body. Um, Jamarak, I think it's it's it's shortened as the acronym. the opposition leader has been invited to nominate some someone. But when he asked for a terms of reference which would inform the selection of his nominee weeks ago um up to now that has not been provided by the prime minister or the permanent secretary in the office of the prime minister. So the whole thing is proceeding in a very ad hoc way. um it doesn't build any confidence in NAR and you know I have nothing personal against Ambassador um Anderson. However, the whole process of appointing him just over a year ago, presenting his credentials etc and then recalling him prematurely uh raises a lot of questions.

[00:07:17]>> Yes. So if I was the government of Jamaica, if I was the prime minister, Dr. Andrew Holless, I would not want anyone from the People's National Party anywhere close to this n because it is obvious everyone voted against it. It is obvious that they wanted to stop this bill. So why would I want any one of them close to this? The bill has passed.

[00:07:40]It is now legislated. Why would I want any member of the People's National Party anywhere close to this? Yes, it's okay. like if they are on an oversight committee and they are keeping track of the money that's being spent, I'm good with that. But in terms of the production and everything going forward based on what we saw in West Milan with the $70 million that was given to the People's National Party members in West Milan since last year just to pay out the contractor to get the foundation for the 50 container homes in West Milan.

[00:08:19]And the last time we we heard from Desmond McKenzie, nothing. So, it is obvious that they're trying to sabotage the recovery effort. So, why would I want them anywhere close to N? One thing is for sure, N is going to be historic.

[00:08:36]Let me repeat, N is going to be historic. It is either going to be a historic failure and it is going to surpass Finsac as Jamaica's biggest financial scandal or it is going to be the biggest success in the history of Jamaica and the government, the prime minister is going to make sure that this NAR thing work and that we are going to see rapid development like we have never seen in the history of Jamaica. one way or the other, this is going to be historic. And I'm sure that the opposition People's National Party would rather it to be an historic disaster because in their calculation with all of this money, if everything goes to plan, if Nara works, they will never see office for a very long time. Because if NAR works the Jamaica is going to change because for people who are in the diaspora who have left Jamaica like 20 years ago and you go back to Jamaica today, you can hardly recognize it. So given this $6.7 billion and the infrastructure that this money can go towards in rebuilding Jamaica, if this is successful, this is going to be the biggest success that Jamaica has ever seen since independence. And I'm sure that the opposition don't want that to to happen. So it is obvious why they're blocking this. So, as I said, nobody should be surprised that they're going to come out and find fault with Nara and with the CEO. So, this was what the prime minister of Jamaica had to say with the passing of the bill and everything and the CEO in place and now everything is ready to go.

[00:10:29]>> Acknowledge my ministers who are here and my permanent secretaries uh who are also here and the various heads You mean all of what I have said was and all the various heads of agencies who are who are here.

[00:10:54]First let me say that the road to getting NAR approved was a difficult road.

[00:11:04]Uh I see the CAPSE smiling in agreement.

[00:11:08]uh because behind the scenes she she did quite a bit of of work coordinating and pulling everything together because in the initial stages of NAR, the coordination, the organization, the administrative work that needed to be done that was placed on the cabinet office for strategic reasons because that is where uh that that is the part of government that has reached into all of government and therefore we we um utilize the resources of the cabinet office to get this done. So in my hands today uh is actually the law physically represented. This is it's now no longer the NR bill. It's the NR act and it has received this very beautiful um seal. It's called the royal ascent.

[00:12:07]Um, you know, we're going through a process to change up all of that, but until then, it is what it is. Uh, this is a royal ascent, meaning that the the governor general has stamped the bill with the seal to say this is now law.

[00:12:23]So, parliament debated.

[00:12:25]Parliament made amendments and voted both houses and passed the bill in the house. But it goes through one last phase. Some people say it's a formality. Not quite that, but an important part of our legislative process. And so now NRA is fully legal.

[00:12:48]NRA is in effect.

[00:12:55]So it has given uh n its legal identity, its powers, its duties and um outline clearly what are its functions.

[00:13:09]But this needs to be brought to life and uh to do that we have to uh appoint the people who will bring the bill the act to life and I'm pleased today to announce that after a very extensive process uh where we advertise for the post of the CEO the chief executive officer it was advertised internationally We received 120 applications from all over the world. 85 of which were specifically for the post of the CEO.

[00:13:51]Others would have applied maybe for both CEO and for some other position or for other positions which were not yet advertised.

[00:14:02]We shortlisted seven. So you can imagine uh the involved process of filtering through all the applications.

[00:14:12]So we shortlisted seven and these uh seven persons were interviewed. Three of whom were Jamaicans and four were international candidates Australia, United States, the UK and I don't remember the other country. Uh let me panel included the panel that conducted the review and the interview included um uh the chairman of the um PSC that is the um public services commission uh Pat Sinclair Mala uh I don't know if she was was able to participate in in all the the deliberations uh but she was a part of the panel. Uh then we had um our cabinet secretary who participated.

[00:15:04]Um yes I am sure that the panel had it in mind that they had to pick someone trustworthy someone that would not sabotage the program and I think that is where the major general came in. I'm not sure if Andrew only the the prime minister of Jamaica like is really honest about not being a part of it but I can understand most governments when government they are they are picking people to work with they pick people that they have confidence in people that will not try and sabotage the government from within. So I am sure that the the the board the people that were a part of this process knew what the prime minister wanted to achieve know where the prime minister is coming from and say for example to get someone from Australia or America which was people from America and Australia were on the list probably would not work out well because they don't understand the politics they could be easily influenced or to get someone that probably have the expertise but they are close to the people's national party. They might be qualified enough but they might have ulterior motive in terms of sabotaging this. And it it is sad. It is sad to think that way that somehow a Jamaican would want to sabotage the recovery effort of their own country. It is sad to think that way. But the type of politics that we have seen in the past 8 months, we don't put anything past anyone. And as I said earlier, it is hard to fathom like an opposition could disagree 100% on every single thing that the government put out there. You know, it would be like a good strategy or so to say, you know what, let us agree on 30% and disagree on 70%. But to disagree on 100%.

[00:17:05]Even if you ask a stranger, they're going to say that don't make sense. This is a opposition that don't care about Jamaica. This is a opposition where their only motive is to try and win the next election and to try and sabotage the government at any cost. Because as I said earlier, if it was one of the 12 disciples, Jesus Christ 12 disciples was chosen to be the CEO of Nara, Margolan, Peter Bunting, would have find a way to say, "No, I don't trust um James. I don't trust Peter. I don't trust Paul. I know that they're one of God's disciple, but I can't trust them." And it's sad.

[00:17:55]Marriott Thompson Walters from the TIU that is the transformation implementation unit in the ministry of finance. Uh we had as well um uh the esteemed professor Gordon Shirley from the Port Authority of Jamaica and Mr. Steven Edwards uh from Enrock. So they did quite a bit of work behind the scenes to ensure that the right selection was made. Uh I was only informed of the end result. So just in case anybody thought that I was I kept a distance for for good reason. Uh the final decision uh came down to someone who was uh served the country very well.

[00:18:49]And the decision was to appoint uh Major General Anthony Anderson uh who is now currently Ambassador to the United States. Obviously, uh that will that will change. Uh he was former commissioner of police and former chief of defense staff. And as fate would have it, I had tasked him to review the state's response to hurricane burial, which would have included a review of all the entities uh involved in the response, but specifically a review of ADPM. So he is already in proximity to these issues. Uh I I can't go into the the reasons for the selections.

[00:19:38]Obviously they would have compared resumes experience but one thing I can say uh I have great confidence in um Ambassador Anderson.

[00:19:52]He would obviously have great skills in leading national institutions. He led two of the most important institutions in Jamaica, the JDF and the JCF. In both instances, he would have uh designed and implemented transformational programs in both institutions.

[00:20:15]Uh he would have had the experience of working with international entities.

[00:20:22]um both the IFIs which are going to be critical that is international financial institutions going to be very critical in this process but with international contracting as well he would understand the issues that are involved understanding the local lay of the land and I'm going to use the politics of the land not the small politics but the big politics uh how to manage the stakeholders ers uh and the idiosyncrasies of Jamaican society. So he would be very well placed to address that. Uh importantly as well he would have the confidence of the partners and stakeholders that would be critical for the success of NAR. So there this appointment uh would necessitate some adjustments. We will keep you up to date as to um the changes that would have to be made. I had a brief discussion with Tony last uh evening and I welcomed him.

[00:21:31]The appointment will be effective the 1st of June. So we are on the road now with with N. I had a a discussion with him about and with the and and I should say that uh cabinet met yesterday. It's a late evening to discuss the appointment and um we had a a discussion around what should we title the position. The title is already in the law. It's the CEO, the chief executive officer. But you know I was thinking we need to ensure that the office is not characterized as a bureaucratic office where it's just pushing paper signing off on documents.

[00:22:19]This is about executing getting things done. In the original concept of the chief executive, that was the idea. The person who got things done, the board would deal with governance, the administrators deal with administration, but the CEO get things done. And so in the law, he's the chief executive officer, but I'm going to call him the chief executing officer, the man who will get things done. And that has to be a cultural change in Jamaica. We need to start paying attention to outcome and getting things done quickly. The rest of the world, that's how the rest of the world is thinking. We are lagging behind. And I'm saying this looking straight in the eyes of our UK students, the next generation of Jamaicans. You must be the people who get things done.

[00:23:18]Now the cabinet also discussed the first set of projects that will form the register for NAR.

[00:23:30]Uh we we have finalized a short list. Uh they will be compiled and published I would say in another week or so uh just in time for the appointment of the new CEO. So you now have the act, you will have the CEO in place and the projects that are going to be part of that register of projects will be in place.

[00:23:53]Finally, um we discussed the composition of the NRO >> jamrock.

[00:24:06]Stephen is Stephen is head of NROK. Sorry. the Jamrock that is the Jamaica Reconstruction and Resilience Oversight Committee and um we will publish the terms of reference and the names of the persons who we have invited to participate. Uh so this will happen simultaneously with the appointment of the uh chief executive officer who I'm going to call the chief executing officer. So we are all aligned now and we are ready to go. 1st of June will be the effective start date of operations for NAR.

[00:24:53]>> Yes. So that was the prime minister of Jamaica, the honorable Dr. Andrew announcing the CEO for NR. And I can understand why there will be people out there that wondering, they'll be wondering how did this guy get the promotion, get that job? Because he would have been promoted under this government for the ambassador to the US.

[00:25:17]He was promoted under this government for the JDF and the the JCF. So people might wonder like why is this guy being promoted? But as I said this money $6.7 billion can be an opportunity for the biggest financial scandal and wreck that Jamaica has ever seen in our history. This can be like another finac. So I don't blame the prime minister or his inner circle if they want to make sure they are putting people in place that they're going to make sure that there's no scandal because trust me if somebody buy a bag juice out of that $6.7 billion based on what we have seen with the opposition so far based on what we have seen with the the media that's behind the opposition. If somebody buy a bag juice out of that money, that is going to be like a scandal that we like we have never seen before. So I don't blame the government for making the circle very tight when it comes on to this money and make sure that this money is spent the right way and make sure that taxpaying Jamaicans get value for money. So it is going to be very interesting going forward based on the last eight months what we have seen for the past eight months. It is obvious that the next four years this is going to be a roller coaster ride and I'm I'm just looking forward to see what is going to happen. How this $6.7 billion is going to change the face of Jamaica.

[00:27:02]So sound off in the comment section. Let me know your thoughts on this. Are you surprised of the selection for the CEO of NRA? And do you support the prime minister in choosing the major general for the CEO? Someone that's been in the system, as I said, since 1984. I've never heard a scandal of from him. So, it seemed to be like someone that is solid. But let me know your thoughts in the comment section if you agree with the selection. And don't forget to like, share, and subscribe for more amazing content.