Sitting of the House of Representatives Sectoral Debate | May 19, 2026
Remarks
by
Dr the Honourable Andrew Holness ON, PC, MP
Prime Minister of Jamaica
at the
Sitting of the House of Representatives Sectoral Debate
on
May 19, 2026
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I think it is necessary, Mr Speaker, that I make a brief intervention on this matter. The Minister of Finance would have explained, and it is indeed in her script, that she said we reluctantly seek to extend, because I think for every Jamaican who treasures the NHT and wants to see the NHT fully maintain its statutory mission, that to use NHT funds for anything other than building housing would be of grave concern. And so I want it to be clear for the record that the government is not doing this by virtue of being in any way profligate, in being in any way ignoring the statutory mandate of the NHT or is just doing this because it has the authority to do it.
The Minister of Finance explained that this extension was necessary because of the damage that was done by Hurricane Melissa; significant damage, over US$11 billion of damage, more than 50% of our GDP. The opposition argues as if the damage has no fiscal impact, that we could use our regular fiscal measures and meet the cost of recovery, meet the cost of reconstruction, without having to put in place additional fiscal measures or extend measures that were already on the books. So, Mr Speaker, I think it’s important that the public debate acknowledges that this is a necessary measure.
I’m trying to come to grips with the leader of the opposition’s position, which is he’s not supporting the measure because we didn’t come and negotiate with him. So, it’s not about the fact that the country faces a fiscal threat, that we needed to do this, that we don’t want to do it just for do we get sake, but it is a necessary measure so it appears to me that the leader of the opposition would put the country at risk for his ego. Well, Mr Speaker, in this matter I will be the first to say, and I repeat, that this is not something that we do without taking into consideration that it was absolutely necessary, and if it were not necessary, it would not be done.
The second difficulty I’m having with the presentation by the leader of the opposition is the suggestion that somehow this measure will deprive homeowners of the opportunity, or potential homeowners of the opportunity of owning their own home, that somehow $11.4 billion from the NHT would deprive $11.4 billion of housing expenditure.
Minister Samuda, the member from North East St Ann would have addressed this matter because yes, we always have a financial challenge with the development of housing, no doubt, but the real challenge now is not a demand-side challenge, it’s not a lack-of-financing challenge. The real challenge is a supply-side issue, the absorptive capacity of the country to actually produce the number of houses that are needed to fill the housing gap. We estimate that the country would need roughly 150,000 housing units to adequately supply the demand for housing. So, this would mean the persons who are able to purchase on the open market, persons who are not able to fully afford the cost of housing, but they may need some form of subsidized housing solutions, low-income housing solutions, and persons who may be looking to improve their housing stock. We believe 150,000 solutions so whether it is a total house or access to land, that is what we would need.
Presently, if we had all the funds today to build 150,000 houses, we could not do it. We don’t have the contractors who can contract at scale. We now don’t have an enterprise-level contractor in the country who could build 10,000 houses over the next year, and that is a major issue of the supply-side constraints that face the housing market. Presently, the NHT has been tasked with developing 42,000 housing solutions. Right now, Mr Speaker, in terms of the NHT’s performance, the NHT has at the end of 2025, somewhere in the region of about 31,540 housing starts going back from 2016.
Mr Speaker, since this administration, that is the number of housing units that we have started. In terms of housing completions, 21,166. These figures may need some updating because I’m not giving you up to March of this year. In terms of mortgages, the NHT, Mr Speaker, would have since 2016 issued 67,249 mortgages. So while $11.4 billion, Mr Speaker, is significant, if you were to total up the housing expenditure on mortgages, housing starts, and housing completed, you’d be looking at $343 billion expended by the NHT on housing.
To make the point even clearer, Mr Speaker, the highest level of expenditure under the PNP administration in 2012 was $24.3 billion. Mr Speaker, in 2018, the NHT under this administration spent $28.43 billion. In 2019, $37.1 billion. In 2020, $41.57 billion. In 2021, $48.2 billion. In 2022, $46.51 billion. In 2023, $45.94 billion. In 2024, $30.24 billion. And in 2025, this is up to the 31st of March 2025, $24.4 billion. I therefore want to dispel this argument that is being purveyed in the public domain that the government taking $11.4 billion from the NHT is somehow depriving the NHT of expenditure. Every year since 2018, the NHT’s expenditure has been increasing substantially, and at points have doubled what was spent under the PNP administration so these are matters that we must concern.
In summary, I don’t need to go further than that point that I’ve made. The administration is not taking the funds from the NHT for reasons that are not solid and sound reasons. We must preserve the fiscal integrity of the government’s operations, and this fiscal integrity is something that benefits every Jamaican, and I want you to think of it this way. If we didn’t have the $11.4 billion from the NHT, it would have to come from somewhere else, likely more taxes.
Second point, Mr Speaker, there is no windfall from the government from the present geopolitical situation with oil prices. The leader of the opposition is suggesting that somehow, we are collecting more taxes on oil, on fuel. Mr Speaker, I want to be absolutely clear that we haven’t said too much about this situation, but the government has essentially taken steps that cushion the public from the full impact of the increases in oil prices and that comes at a cost, a cost that is likely to be far greater than any revenues that come from the special SET on fuel.
There is no argument that is saying that the government is getting a windfall, and therefore we don’t need to take the funds from the NHT. Those are some points, Mr Speaker, that I think it is important that the public considers when they pronounce their judgment on the government’s action in taking the funds from the NHT. It is not something that we want to do, it’s not something that we do lightly, it is something that is imperative that it be done. And we, like every other Jamaican, longs for the day when we will not have to take the funds from the NHT. That will happen as the right decisions that we are making today inure to the growth of our country, decisions like the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority which will fast track growth and development in this country because that is the only way, Mr Speaker, to increase revenues, growth, jobs for the people of Jamaica.