In June 2022 the Ministry of National Security announced that closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in Santa Cruz, St Elizabeth, would be connected to the national surveillance system, JamaicaEye, within weeks.

Back then National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang and his then permanent secretary, Mr Courtney Williams, made the announcement at a ground-breaking ceremony for a new police station in Lacovia, just west of Santa Cruz.

“There were some issues we had to work out with the telecom provider, all of that has been sorted out now. I expect that within a matter of weeks all the connectivities will be in place and it will be up and running and there won’t be any issue,” Mr Williams said at the time.

That assurance had followed an urgent appeal by Councillor Christopher Williams (Jamaica Labour Party, Santa Cruz Division) for connectivity to JamaicaEye, following a spate of armed robberies in Santa Cruz.

Hence this newspaper’s consternation at news this week that the stabbing death of a vendor in Santa Cruz was not captured on a JamaicaEye surveillance camera in the immediate vicinity, because the equipment was non-functional.

Worse has followed. Responding to questions from this newspaper at a function in New Market, north-western St Elizabeth, Dr Chang said Wednesday that on a national scale a significant number of surveillance cameras are down, representing a major problem for the JamaicaEye network.

The minister said further that, “Since we have gone digital with the telecommunications system, nobody in the country has an effective islandwide technology maintenance system…”

Emphasising that, “We have to overcome the maintenance problem,” Dr Chang said the Government is far advanced in outsourcing the maintenance service from a local company for 1,000 cameras now on the JamaicaEye network.

Despite this assurance, we can’t ignore Dr Chang’s cautionary note that only “one company [locally] has shown the ability to set up the operation required” to do the maintenance of cameras in the digital environment.

“Bear in mind it is a major procurement issue. We have to get a company that can do the islandwide [maintenance], buy the bucket trucks that can draw the cables, as well as the equipment to do underground [maintenance] with trained technicians…” Dr Chang said.

The situation provides yet more evidence that, even with the best of intentions, much can go awry.

No one should underestimate the importance of the JamaicaEye system which allows registered private citizens to share footage from their cameras with the local authorities.

Launched in early 2018, its primary aim was for the use of digital technology to detect and deter criminal activity and for arresting and arraignment of offenders.

Our calamitous crime problem apart, comprehensive coverage by JamaicaEye, not just in our town centres but on our highways and byways, can play a huge role in ensuring more responsible use of the roads and in significantly reducing motor vehicle-related deaths and injuries. As it stands, road deaths in Jamaica are astronomically high, by any standard.

All Jamaicans should make it their duty to hold our leaders to account in getting the JamaicaEye project back on track at the earliest possible time.