JamaicaEye to Come on Stream in February

JamaicaEye, a network of all the Government and some 300 privately owned closed-circuit television (CCTV) feeds, is to come on stream in February 2018.

This was disclosed by National Security Minister, Hon. Robert Montague, at the Jamaica Stock Exchange Regional Investments and Capital Markets Conference held at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston on January 25.

“We already have 21 CCTV cameras installed in Kingston that have the capability to read licence plates. And, as soon as the new Road Traffic Act is passed, we will be able to activate the usage of these (cameras),” Mr. Montague said.

He also informed that CCTV cameras have been installed in Mandeville, Manchester; Ocho Rios, St. Ann; Negril, Westmoreland; and Montego Bay, St. James.

It will cost the Government almost $3 billion over the next two years for the full roll-out of the national Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) System.

Under the JamaicaEye programme, citizens and businesses with CCTV systems will register via a website. The JamaicaEye project is the brainchild of Minister Montague, in keeping with the five-pillar crime-reduction strategy he presented in 2016.

It was further developed and refined after numerous consultations with public and private stakeholder groups in November last year, including the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and several stakeholders in Kingston and St Andrew.

The national CCTV system will monitor public spaces islandwide and assist the authorities in providing a suitable response in the event of an incident, disaster or act of criminality.

Meanwhile, Minister Montague said the Government is moving to amend the Criminal Justice (Suppression of Criminal Organisations) Bill, popularly called the ‘anti-gang’ legislation.

“This will allow us to have a watch list. Jamaica observes watch lists from other nations, but we don’t have any watch list for ourselves. For example, we suspect that a man is a gang member, the intelligence tell us that, but we can’t monitor him. So, we are amending the Act (to allow this),” he said.