David Salmon | Growth Through Reform: Create a National Development Corporation (Part 2)

It has been apparent for some time that Jamaica’s development has taken place in a somewhat haphazard, semi-planned way, with multiple public-sector bodies stumbling over each other with similar mandates. However, after doing some research, the true extent of this cluttered and tangled labyrinth became apparent. Additionally, as a result of years of limited oversight, Jamaica has developed an anomalous settlement pattern with confusing urban zones and deprived rural ones.

Mullings, Dunn, Ho, Wilks and Archer (2018) suggested that both administrative and legislative reform is imperative to improve efficiency in planning. This should especially be taken into consideration in light of the fact that over 100 pieces of land and land-related legislation exist and public agencies having similar functions overlapping and running concurrently. It is in this context that I am proposing the creation of the National Development Corporation of Jamaica (NDCJ), whose mandate would be to plan, organise and execute the sustainable development programmes for both urban and rural environments.

The NDCJ would be responsible for the following priority areas:

- Land use planning: The process of regulating land use for the medium and long term in line with the overarching development plan drafted after the completion of the national spatial plan.

- Development control: This arm of the corporation would be responsible for approving development projects submitted by the private and public sectors that are in line with the goals of the national spatial plan.

- Urban and rural design: Covers the incorporation of sustainable strategies for the development of rural and urban areas. This pillar would be responsible for the development of short-term projects that best maximise the available land in Jamaica.

The NDCJ would be the organisation that is solely responsible for planning development. Organisations that would be incorporated under this body would be the Urban Development Corporation (UDC), the Factories Corporation of Jamaica (FCJ) and aspects of the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA). Additional services previously provided to farmers by RADA, including their training, would be transferred to HEART Trust/NTA, which is already the leading human capital development institution in the country. Remaining services can be transferred to the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) and the local parish council.

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Moreover, agencies currently subsumed by the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), such as the Town and Country Planning Authority (TCPA) and Land Development & Utilisation Committee (LDUC) Board would be incorporated in the NDCJ. This will therefore remove the planning responsibility of NEPA, thus allowing it to specialise solely on environmental regulation and protection. Simultaneously, other entities such as the Forestry Department would now function as a subsidiary of the revised ‘National Environment and Protection Agency’.

Additionally, I am also suggesting the formulation of a Land and Property Management Authority (LPMA) which would be responsible for land sales, land titles, property information, valuation, surveying, mapping and spatial information. This body would incorporate the functions of the existing National Land Agency (NLA) and the Land Information Council of Jamaica (LICJ). I discovered from my friend, Keanu Solan, that a precedent for this institution already exists when looking at Australia. New South Wales has implemented a similar organisation called the NSW Land Registry Services that performs comparable functions to the outlined LPMA.

We must note that with a smaller government, there would be fewer opportunities for corruption as there is greater accountability and carrying out services and conducting business becomes easier. Holcombe and Boudreaux (2015) support this view as they stated that, “Bigger government offers more opportunities to profit from corrupt behaviour”. The more regulation that exists, the more incentive individuals and corporations have to shirk the system.

Incorporating the NDCJ would represent a significant step in the coordination of Jamaica’s national development. The NDCJ would be responsible for dividing the entire island into development zones according to regions’ characteristics as outlined by the national spatial plan. These zones would take into consideration the economic potential of the region and the capacity for the sustainable development once specialisation is achieved. It will also be a tailored solution for development as all areas in all parishes, both rural and urban, would be in zones that have idiosyncratic development plans related to their areas. The proposed guiding principles of the NDCJ would be assess, plan and implement.

Therefore, the current spatial plan being undertaken would be best implemented through the authority of the NDCJ. Additionally, the organisation, in association with the proposed LPMA, would be responsible for drafting and implementing a comprehensive zoning policy for Jamaica’s residential, industrial and commercial districts. This strategy would even aid in achieving Target 11.a of the Sustainable Development Goals, which is to “Support positive economic, social and environmental links between urban, peri-urban and rural areas by strengthening national and regional development planning”.

These proposed institutional reforms would help to achieve the long-term and sustainable future that Jamaica deserves. I long to see a developed, clean and empowered Jamaica, where development is not merely Kingston-based, but all people have the skills to succeed in a well-ordered society. Adopting the National Development Corporation of Jamaica would be the first step in achieving that vision for the nation.

- David Salmon is a first-year public policy and management student at The University of the West Indies, the 2019 recipient of the Morris Cargill Award for Opinion Journalism and a recipient for the Prime Minister’s National Youth Awards for Excellence in Nation Building. To send feedback, he may be contacted at davidsalmon@live.com.