Budget 2026: Build Back Betta Than Before

Jamaica is rebuilding. Six months after Hurricane Melissa caused an estimated US$12.2 billion in damage and reshaped the country's economic landscape, Opposition Leader Mark J. Golding takes to the floor of Gordon House to deliver his fifth Budget Debate presentation as PNP President and Leader of the Opposition.

This is not a speech about what went wrong. This is a bold, detailed and unapologetically people-centred vision for how Jamaica should rebuild stronger, smarter and more equitably than before.

In this landmark presentation, delivered on Tuesday 17th March 2026, Golding sets out the People's National Party's comprehensive alternative to the Government's 2026/2027 Budget, challenging the ruling administration on its taxation proposals, its handling of the National Housing Trust drawdown, its approach to public sector compensation and its pace on energy reform.

At the heart of his address is a five-pillar framework for national recovery and transformation, anchored in energy, healthcare, education, agriculture and food security. Golding makes a compelling and urgent case that Jamaica's economic development is being strangled by some of the highest electricity prices in the Caribbean region, and that the renegotiation of the Jamaica Public Service Company licence, due to expire in 2027, represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reduce costs for Jamaican households and businesses. He argues that the accelerated transition to renewable energy is not a distant aspiration but an immediate necessity, particularly in light of Jamaica's dangerous vulnerability to the oil price shocks driven by ongoing conflicts in the Middle East.

On agriculture, Golding presents a transformative vision to modernise Jamaica's farming sector, reduce post-harvest losses, expand irrigation and establish an Agricultural Development Fund that would support local farmers from land preparation through to marketing. He frames agriculture not merely as a recovery tool but as a long-term pillar of national economic independence.

The Opposition Leader also addresses the social dimensions of poverty with characteristic directness, speaking to the tens of thousands of Jamaican households still living as informal energy consumers and to the need for a government that places people at the centre of every investment decision.

Delivered from what Golding himself describes as a platform of strength, momentum and national validation, following the PNP's doubling of its parliamentary seats from 14 to 28 at the 2025 General Election, this presentation carries the unmistakable weight of a leader growing in stature and a party firmly back in the national conversation.

This episode features the presentation in full, giving listeners the opportunity to hear, assess and engage with every argument, every proposal and every challenge put to the Government of Jamaica.

If you care about the direction of this country, this is essential listening.

Watch the full live presentation on YouTube and subscribe to stay current with the issues that shape Jamaica's future.