A sum of $375 million has been allocated to the Improvement of the Emergency Communication System in Jamaica (IECSJ) project.

The project, which is being implemented by the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), aims to develop a national emergency communication system to coordinate incident response among the various critical agencies of government and volunteers.

Details are outlined in the 2021/22 Estimates of Expenditure,  tabled recently in the House of Representatives by Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke.

In the new fiscal year, which begins on April 1, the money will go towards procuring and installing communication equipment; repairing access roads to communication tower sites; training technical support personnel; modernising and expanding the structure, capacity and competencies in the ODPEM; constructing new repeater huts, and maintaining centres in Kingston and St. James.

Achievements up to December 2020 – completed the National Works Agency’s backbone design for Disaster Emergency Communication, and conducted re-survey of 30 repeater and siren sites to determine the structural integrity of the towers. The project is being financed by the Government of Jamaica and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).