Opposition says appointment of Ambassador Anderson as NaRRA CEO raises serious questions that the Gov’t must answer openly and without delay

The Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) says Ambassador Major General Antony Anderson’s appointment as NARRA’s Chief Executive Officer has raised serious questions that the Government must answer openly and without delay.

The appointment was announced by Prime Minister, Dr. Andrew Holness at a post-Cabinet press briefing held at Jamaica House this morning.

In a statement this afternoon, the PNP said it expects Ambassador Anderson to Execute the responsibilities of his office with transparency, integrity, and accountability but said his appointment does nothing to allay concerns previously raised.

The PNP has called for the Government to say whether Anderson applied for this position in the ordinary course of the initial recruitment exercise.

If he did not, the PNP said the public deserves a full and candid explanation on why that process failed to produce a suitable candidate.

The Party noted that a recruitment exercise that yields no appointable candidate is not merely an administrative inconvenience but a signal that something is fundamentally wrong with the framework governing this institution.

Noting that the Party has consistently raised concerns about the governance deficiencies embedded in the NaRRA legislation, the PNP said Anderson’s appointment has reinforced those concerns.

According to the Party, the Government appears to have found it necessary to draw upon a serving ambassador to Jamaica’s most important international partner who has only been in that post for 12 months to fill this role.

Describing the move as instructive, the PNP said it suggests strongly that credible candidates from within the relevant professional pool were deterred by the structural and governance arrangements that the party has repeatedly flagged as inadequate.

It added that appointing a loyal military/policing technocrat to lead this civilian authority, in circumstances where the recruitment process appears not to have run its proper course, is not a solution to the governance problems within NaRRA but a symptom of them.

The PNP called on the Government to be transparent with the Jamaican people about the full circumstances of this appointment.

It also doubled down on its call for the Government to bring amending legislation to address, what it describes as the salient governance deficiencies that continue to undermine public confidence in NaRRA, and to ensure that the institution is placed on a sound and accountable footing without further delay.