THE Government will be spending less in the upcoming fiscal year on national security projects with the capital budget decreasing by $1.49 billion.

This is as outlined in the 2024/25 Estimates of Expenditure which was tabled in the House of Representatives last week Thursday by Finance and the Public Service Minister Dr Nigel Clarke.

The overall capital budget for national security for 2024/25 is $3.61 billion, while last year $5.1 billion was expended on six projects.

However, one less project will be undertaken in the new fiscal year as the cyber security initiatives project is slated to end in March 2024.

For the upcoming fiscal year, the Administration will continue with the implementation of the other five national security capital projects. These include the Jamaica Defence Force’s (JDF) purchase and overhaul of ships/coastal surveillance project which will account for the bulk of the capital spend at a cost of $1.04 billion. Last fiscal year, the spend on this project, which is expected to wrap up by July 2024, was $2.76 billion.

Also, the Government will spend a combined $1.87 billion to continue the projects for the construction of the Westmoreland and St Catherine North divisional headquarters of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF).

The governor general, in the throne speech last week, had announced that the Administration would break ground for the construction projects within the current financial year.

In addition, the Security Strengthening Project will carry on with an allocation of $644.9 million; while the construction of the forensic pathology autopsy suite project, slated for completion in December 2024, will get an allotment of $50 million.

In the meantime, the recurrent budget for national security has also decreased by $3.22 billion this fiscal year with an overall allocation of $47.39 billion. Last financial year, the allotment was $50.61 billion.