Government accuses previous administration of developing faulty crime reporting app, claims it had to address failures of predecessors

In the aftermath of the tragic murder of Khanice Jackson, the Government and Opposition have entered an online sniping match over the Stay Alert App first developed under Peter Bunting when he was minister of national security.

In a statement today, the People’s National Party (PNP) said it extended its deepest condolences to the family of Jackson, 20, whose body was discovered along the Dyke Road in Portmore, St Catherine yesterday (March 26) after she went missing two days earlier.

The party said Jackson’s death had become an all too familiar story for Jamaicans, with more than 350 persons being murdered already this year.

“Many Jamaicans had been hoping and praying that Khanice would have returned home safely, but the unfortunate reality is that our women remain vulnerable to predators and need special initiatives to help protect them,” said Bunting, who is now the opposition spokesman on national security.

“The Opposition is calling on Minister of National Security Dr Horace Chang to revive and expand the Stay Alert Mobile Application that was developed and deployed during my tenure as minister,” said Bunting.

“This app placed personal security into the palms of every citizen with a smartphone. A key feature of this application was a panic button, that automatically transmitted a distress signal to Police Control, including the GPS location. We partnered with telecoms providers who zero-rated the application, thereby removing the cost to users.”

Bunting noted the application was no longer operational, and said it was seemingly shelved by the current Jamaica Labour Party administration, “along with all the other initiatives of the Unite for Change project”.

Bunting’s sentiment followed similar concerns on social media, since news of Jackson’s death, with several persons, including individuals affiliated with the PNP, suggesting that the Government’s shelving of the app had contributed to a failure to safeguard Jamaicans.

But in defending the administration, Matthew Samuda, minister without portfolio in the Ministry of National Security, said the app had been put on hold, after the JLP took office in 2016, as a result of its poor development by the PNP.

“The app, just like the initial attempts at CCTV was not done properly by the former admin. We have relaunched this & Jamaica Eye in 2017 & 18 respectively,” Samuda wrote on Twitter today.

He said JamaicaEye was currently operating well, but acknowledged that issues remained with Stay Alert after its first relaunch in 2017.

“Even then, many technical difficulties were uncovered with the Stay Alert app. Including legislative issues,” Samuda said.

He added: “It is a priority of the GOJ to bring this mechanism of reporting crime to the people of Jamaica. This will happen shortly.

“We will update the public on the progress of this app & the varying technology projects underway in the coming weeks. We expect significant strides to be made in the coming months.”

Samuda’s comments came around the same time Prime Minister Andrew Holness was visiting Jackson’s family members to express his condolences.

Bunting, in his comments on the violent crime impacting Jamaicans, called for increased community vigilance, beefed-up police surveillance, and the incorporation of technology to help save lives.

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