Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of National Security, Senator the Hon. Matthew Samuda, is extending condolences to the family and friends of 32-year-old correctional officer (C/O) Jimel Westney from the St. Catherine Adult Correctional Centre. Officer Westney was performing his assigned duties during the facilities’ unlocking process when he was attacked and stabbed by an inmate earlier today.

The officer passed away a short while ago while undergoing treatment at the Spanish Town Hospital in St. Catherine.

Correctional facilities island-wide have benefited from £620,000 in support aid from the United Kingdom’s (UK) Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), to improve its capacity, reduce recidivism and provide reintegration support to offenders.

The FCDO has provided this support through its Jamaica Strategic Corrections Partnership, which ended recently.

National Security Minister, the Hon. Dr. Horace Chang, has come out in full condemnation of the brutal triple murders that took place in St. Ann and St. Catherine over the last 48 hours. Minister Chang confirmed that he has given clear orders to the security forces that “these savages must be hunted down relentlessly and brought to justice.”

Wards in state care at the Rio Cobre Juvenile Correctional Centre (RCJCC) will benefit from the additional housing and learning facilities next year.

Minister without Portfolio, Senator the Honourable Matthew Samuda made this announcement while touring the classrooms and housing blocks currently under construction. He indicated that the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) is working to consolidate rehabilitation efforts through the planned relocation of wards from the Hill Top Juvenile Correctional Centre to RCJCC.

Over 170 wards in state care received gifts courtesy of the Ministry of National Security’s We Transform Youth Empowerment Programme (WTYEP). The gift drive was coordinated under its “Connect with love this Christmas” initiative.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Security, the Hon. Dr. Horace Chang who assisted with handing over gifts to the ward, pointed out that “the Christmas gift drive is a means of rehabilitation that aids with the transformation process of the wards in state care. It also demonstrates our compassion and care for them.”

THE HONOURABLE DR. HORACE CHANG, CD, MP DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER & MINISTER OF NATIONAL SECURITY FEBRUARY 2, 2021

SECURING OUR CITIZENS

Madam Speaker,

The Government of Jamaica wishes to assure users of the JAMCOVID-19 application and the public at large that a comprehensive review of all aspects of the site, application and associated databases is being undertaken and changes implemented with a view to further hardening security and strengthening all security features.

One hundred communities are expected to be impacted by community transformation initiatives being implemented under the Citizen Security Plan (CSP) and coordinated by the newly established Citizen Security Secretariat (CSS).

The Secretariat which was established in October 2020, is housed in the Ministry of National Security and funded by the Government of Jamaica, the European Union (EU) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

Further to the Press Release issued on February 17, 2021, regarding the security vulnerability associated with the JAMCOVID-19 application, the Government of Jamaica wishes to provide the following additional information from the ongoing investigation:

 The database is hosted on an AWS cloud server account owned by the Government of Jamaica.

 An independent review has been commissioned of the security of the system. Results of this review are expected within the next 24 hours.

A security vulnerability associated with the file storage service on the JAMCOVID-19 application was discovered on February 16, 2021. The vulnerability was immediately rectified upon discovery.

A thorough investigation was immediately initiated to determine if there were any breaches in travellers’ data security, if the vulnerability had been exploited, and if there was a breach of any laws. At present, there is no evidence to suggest that the security vulnerability had been exploited for malicious data extraction prior to it being rectified.