PM Dr. Andrew Holness speaking during the commissioning ceremony of the CCTV surveillance project.
KINGSTON, Jamaica--With 51 closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras mounted at strategic locations on Olympic Way in his St. Andrew West central constituency, Prime Minister (PM) Dr. Andrew Holness sent a stern message to gangsters that their illegal actions will be recorded and they will be found and brought to book.
“It is important to let the criminals know that we see you, we know you, we can find you, and we will reach out and touch you. The cameras have licence plate recognition – they can scan and capture licence plates in real time. This will allow us to detect stolen vehicles. We know that there are pockets of gangs around the area that are involved in the stolen vehicle trade. We are going to find you and break up your gang,” Holness said during the commissioning ceremony of the CCTV surveillance project on Olympic Way.
The 51 cameras all form part of the Olympic Way JamaicaEye Monitoring Project and will be manned from a state-of-the-art control centre at Olympic Gardens Police Station, located at the intersection of Bay Farm Road and Olympic Way.
The project cost just over $100 million, according to Holness, and the equipment was installed between April 2024 and February 2025.
“The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) identified the area as a priority zone for surveillance. Through the Olympic Way CCTV expansion project we have installed 51 cameras across the corridor, from the Scotiabank at Three Miles all the way to this police station [Olympic Gardens – Ed.] – ensuring that virtually no blind spots exist. This is not just about the number of cameras but is about the type and quality of surveillance we are deploying,” Holness said.
He said the high-definition cameras will be focused on schools, public spaces, and buildings, to provide constant visibility. According to the PM, the energy-efficient cameras are expected to work non-stop.
“They are not off sometimes and then on sometimes. These are the latest cameras. These have 99% up time. You’re dealing with the best technology. These cameras have the ability to pan, tilt, and zoom. From within the control centre the operator can tilt the camera, move it and zoom it. A noise can be made and the camera moves to that noise – even without an operator,” Holness said.
He described Olympic Way as a critical corridor in the St. Andrew South Police Division, serving as a connector between the commercial centre at Three Miles and the residential zones of Seaview Gardens, Tower Hill and Waterhouse.
“This area hums with economic activity, pedestrian movement, and vibrant community life but it faces unique challenges, especially as it relates to traffic safety. Sometimes this road is almost like a race course; public order – with people parking anywhere, stopping anywhere, and blocking the roads – those things have to be addressed. And then there is crime. Crime is not so much these days but there is crime,” Holness said.
He said the system is the first of its kind in Kingston and St. Andrew and will become the model for the wider Jamaica. It is the first full-scale, round-up installation in the corporate area under the JamaicaEye national security surveillance programme, which aims to install 2,500 cameras across Jamaica over three years.
“This is a smart investment in our people’s safety, and it is only the beginning. As you know, cabinet has approved a strategic master plan of the expansion of the JamaicaEye network. Already, 500 of those 2,500 cameras have been earmarked for Portmore, Old Harbour and Port Antonio.
“We are building out a national infrastructure of safety. For all the people who are quick to retort, they are going to get cameras until they don’t know what to do with it; then you are going to hear the complaint that there are too many cameras. This government gets things done properly and with endurance,” the PM said.
“We started with [Olympic Way] and it is going to be rolled out systematically [across the island]. The cameras installed here are not isolated, they are a part of a national grid. The footage can be accessed not only by officers here at Olympic Gardens but also by police emergency control. That means improved coordination, faster response times, and better outcomes when seconds matter. This level of real time integration is what modern policing demands – and we are equipping our officers not just with more tools but with the right tools. The monitoring centre here will be staffed by trained personnel, guided by principles of privacy,” Holness explained.
He said for far too long many Jamaicans have felt unsafe in shared environments, daunted by disorder, acts of violence, robbery, and extortion, acts which are often committed in plain view, undermining public confidence and hurting local economies.
“When fear drives away the public from public spaces, small businesses suffer, transportation systems stall, and social trust is eroded. I recall many years ago – and people who live in the area will know when the ‘Patty Man’ was killed – that triggered an ongoing gang war that claimed many lives, and it went on for many years. What I learned from that, being a young Member of Parliament at the time and interacting with the people, was that everybody knew who did the killing but nobody would talk or say anything.
“People saw what happened but nobody would say anything. They told me, they told other people, and they spoke among themselves, and I am sure they whispered to the police – but there was nobody to come forward to give a statement.
“This is precisely why we initiated the JamaicaEye programme. Closed-circuit television surveillance is instrumental to reclaiming and securing these vital areas. It provides visibility where there was once vulnerability. It deters criminal activity by increasing the risk of being caught. It gives law enforcement a critical tool to respond quickly and to hold perpetrators to account,” Holness said. ~ Jamaica Observer ~
