The Government has approved close to $790 million in new contracts for the expansion and maintenance of its JamaicaEye surveillance network, with the bulk of the spending directed at Portmore, St Catherine, according to contract award notices obtained by the Financial Gleaner.

The awards come as Jamaica grapples with balancing the public’s interest in safety against citizens’ right to move freely without being tracked by the state.

The larger of the two contracts, valued at $439.4 million, was awarded on July 21 to local firm, Sitewatch Electronic Security Limited through restricted bidding for the supply and installation of 300 CCTV cameras and associated devices and infrastructure for JamaicaEye in Portmore. A second contract worth $351.1 million was awarded three days later to local firm Konnexx Services Limited on a single-source basis for maintenance and related services for the JamaicaEye system islandwide.