Ambassador Antony Anderson is pushing back against criticism of his $40 million annual salary as CEO of the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority, NaRRA.

Speaking on Nationwide This Morning on Wednesday, Ambassador Anderson says he’s earned the right to be treated like any other successful applicant.

It’s the first time Ambassador Anderson is commenting publicly on the matter.

The government, in defending the pay package, argued that the scale was benchmarked against international standards with assistance from the country’s multilateral partners.

NaRRA was established to lead and coordinate the post-Hurricane Melissa rebuilding.

In providing an update on the job recruitment, Anderson says over 1000 applications are being processed.

Meanwhile, Ambassador Anderson says the partnership between the Jamaican and UK governments to fast-track rebuilding efforts will not push aside local contractors.

Ambassador Antony Anderson, CEO of NaRRA.

The Jamaica/UK partnership will begin with a £10 million or approximately JM $2 billion, programme, funded equally by both governments over the first year.

The partnership will provide NaRRA with specialist technical support in project planning, engineering, procurement, coordination and oversight to speed up reconstruction efforts.