PM pushes back at Opposition criticism on NHT drawdowns

Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has pushed back against criticism by the Opposition for the Government’s decision to take $11.4 billion annually from the National Housing Trust (NHT) to help strengthen the country’s economic base.

Opposition Spokesman on Housing, Floyd Morris, recently described the move as vulgar and hypocritical, arguing that it represents a sustained assault on the institution established to deliver affordable housing to Jamaicans.

Holness addressed the issue on Tuesday while speaking at the launch of WIHCON’s Chester Creek housing development in Portmore, St Catherine.

The Prime Minister said he is aware that concerns about the annual withdrawal from the NHT often surface whenever he speaks about housing.

“Sometimes the conversation takes place without context, and sometimes I have to wonder if the people who are speaking about it remember the genesis of it,” Holness stated.

He continued: “This is not our doing, and if you look at the history of taking funds from the NHT for other purposes, again, it would not have been of my doing.”

Holness argued that if funds are to be taken from the NHT, it must be for what he described as defensible purposes.

He referenced the period when former Prime Minister P J Patterson announced the national education programme, a major reform initiative, arguing that he had subtly supported it at the time by abstaining from voting against it.

Holness maintained that the broader national context must be considered in assessing the current policy.

“And while you can’t stop people from being politically convenient, it’s the nature of the democracy, you make the political points, but there has to be honesty in the political debate,” he said.

He asserted that the Government is not diverting NHT resources for matters outside of national importance, while acknowledging that contributors expect the funds to be used for housing and that such withdrawals cannot continue indefinitely.

“The Government has to use these resources to strengthen our economic base so that we don’t have to take the resources out of the NHT,” he noted.

Holness also urged Jamaicans to look beyond the partisan framing of the issue.

“Every Jamaican should seek to understand the issues more deeply than how they are presented,” Holness implored.

The debate over the annual transfer from the NHT continues to generate political tension, with the Opposition maintaining that the practice undermines the trust’s core mandate, while the Government insists the move is necessary to safeguard the country’s long-term economic stability.

- Ruddy Mathison

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