Bio

Dr. Horace Chang is Deputy Prime Minister & Minister of National Security. A medical doctor by profession, he began his political career in 1976 as an active member of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and presently serves as General Secretary for the Party.

Dr. Chang has been the Member of Parliament for North West St. James since 2002 and served as Opposition Spokesman on Housing and Inner-city Development as well as Water and Housing. Between 1980 – 1986 he was Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Health and was appointed Minister of Water & Housing between 2007 – 2010 and Minister of Housing, Environment, Water and Local Government from 2010 – 2011.

He served as Minister without Portfolio with responsibility for Water, Works and Housing in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation from February 2016 – March 2018 and is currently the Minister of National Security.

His vast experience in the various areas of Government brings a dynamic new way of thinking to the Ministry of National Security. Dr. Chang is resolute in providing for a systematic approach to reducing crime and violence in Jamaica through strategic thinking geared at providing for the transformation of the national security apparatus. This is being done through improved mobility, leveraged technology, improved infrastructure, targeted social intervention to build community resilience/citizen safety, and the ongoing restructuring of the security forces, to provide increased intelligence gathering and training opportunities which will result in the reduction of actual and perceived corruption.

Under his leadership, considerable gains have been made with the implementation of several initiatives to improve the technological capability of law enforcement, including the initiation of activities contributing to e-policing, building on elements of the police information system, the acquisition of CCTV cameras and the build out of the national CCTV surveillance programme. Success was also achieved with the phased implementation of a big data system which represented the start of the establishment of a security fusion centre with full capability to detect and respond to cyber-attacks; as well as the acquisition of several pieces of intelligence equipment and software which will enhance overall policing efforts.

Following the September 2020 general election, Minister Chang was reappointed Minister of National Security and promoted to the position of Deputy Prime Minister.