Applications for curfew delivery pilot to begin Thursday

The application process for those interested in registering for the E-commerce National Delivery Solutions (ENDS) pilot project will begin on Thursday. 

The initiative, which was announced by Prime Minister Andrew Holness during a media briefing on Sunday, is aimed at enabling business operators in Portmore to continue to deliver services to their customers as the country prepares for an islandwide lockdown over the next three weekends.  

The project is being done in collaboration with the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica, which has absorbed the cost for the development of the electronic portal.

The applications will be reviewed by the Social Development Commission, the Portmore Municipal Council, the Transport Authority, and Jamaica Constabulary Force to ensure the businesses are compliant. 

“The public will be able to access both delivery and order their goods and services, whether it is food, whether it is pharmaceuticals, whether it is supermarketing through this portal and ensure that they are able to get it delivered,” said Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of National Security, Mathew Samuda, during this morning’s post-Cabinet press briefing. 

Samuda said further details about the application process will be disclosed tomorrow.

He assured that there will be no security risks because transactions will be cashless. 

The government faced backlash last month following a security lapse involving its JamCOVID app and website, which resulted in the exposure of the personal data of travellers to Jamaica.

The website was designed by the Amber Group. 

A criminal probe was launched into the incident.

Samuda indicated that although significant work has been done on the system, he could not say when the investigation would be completed. 

“The assessments being done, and the audits being done, and the security investigations being done are all currently under way and we wouldn’t be able to say how quickly they will be finished,” he said.

He said the system is now “properly functional” and that a team at the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA) and the Ministry of Health and Wellness are working around the clock to upgrade it and bring about changes that the government will be announcing soon.  

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