KINGSTON, Jamaica— The national surveillance system, JamaicaEye, will be bolstered in the coming months with the installation of more closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in the downtown Kingston area.

“Currently, we have projects in train for large expansion across the downtown business district,” said Emil Holgate, senior director with responsibility for Major Technology Transformation at the Ministry of National Security.

“I won’t go into too much detail about the exact area, but it’s in the very near future that our presence will be established in the general downtown business district, as well as specific or targeted areas within the St Andrew South police division,” he noted.

JamaicaEye is a network of CCTV cameras across the island that monitor public spaces and assist the authorities in responding to incidents of crime, accident or disaster.

Launched in 2018 with about 180 cameras, the system now boasts just over 850 devices.

The Ministry has set an ambitious target of installing approximately 200 to 300 cameras each year.

Earlier this month, the Ministry of National Security confirmed that a “cyber-incident” affected access to the JamaicaEye website.

According to the ministry, there was no compromise to video footage or evidence recorded by the JamaicaEye cameras.

READ: JamaicaEye hit by cyber attack – Security Ministry

Holgate informed the surveillance system is present in the townships of May Pen, Mandeville, Santa Cruz, Black River, Negril, Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, Kingston, St Andrew and St Catherine.

“The plan currently being worked on is to try and have another 3,000 cameras installed by 2027. So that’s three years’ worth of installation. It’s an ambitious plan to install about 1,000 cameras starting the financial year 2024/2025 through 2027. We want to establish a presence in all major townships across the island, pushing us upwards of about 4,000 cameras, which would be one of the highest amounts in the region,” Holgate added.

He said people report that they feel secure knowing that the JamaicaEye network is in their town centre.

“The buy-in or the uptake from the citizenry has been equally exciting. People are excited to see the cameras being installed. There is also an increased perception of safety and actual safety when persons see the devices in their space. They appreciate the fact that we are expanding the capacity of the JCF to make their space safer,” Holgate stated.

– JIS