THE Senate is usually regarded as Parliament’s calmer and more restrained chamber compared to the often fiery House of Representatives, but debate on the controversial National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA) Bill on Friday turned the Upper House into a tense political battleground as senators traded sharp verbal jabs over the Government’s push to fast-track Jamaica’s rebuilding after Hurricane Melissa.

While Government senators defended the legislation as an urgent and transformative response to the devastation caused by the Category 5 hurricane last October, Opposition members repeatedly warned that the Bill concentrates too much power in the executive, weakens oversight safeguards, and risks creating constitutional and governance problems.

The sharpest exchanges emerged around calls for the Bill to be sent to a joint select committee, with Opposition senators arguing that legislation of such magnitude requires broader scrutiny and public consultation before being passed into law. Government senators, however, dismissed those demands as impractical and inconsistent, given the urgency of post-disaster rebuilding.