The Government of Japan is donating 38 new vehicles to its Jamaican counterpart through a new bilateral arrangement which has just been finalised.

Foreign Affairs Minister Kamina Johnson Smith, who made the announcement earlier this week during the ‘Good Morning, Minister’ programme on Love 101-FM, disclosed that the vehicles comprise five new ambulances and 33 pick-ups.

She advised that some of the pickups “will go into the praedial larceny units across the island”.

“Plus, they are giving us six boats…..We have three already and we are getting the other three. Three [will go] to the Jamaica Defence Force and three to the police to help us with our monitoring,” Senator Johnson Smith said.

Senator Johnson Smith explained that the negotiations were undertaken by her ministry with support from the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service.

Jamaica and Japan forged diplomatic relations in 1964 with the Embassy of Japan in Jamaica established in 1995.