How to use the Jamaica Investment Map and What’s In It For Me?

January 21, 2021

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You can now track all central government projects in your community with the click of a button. Find out how much money they’ve spent on that school upgrade, or roadworks, and whether they’re on schedule.  It’s the Jamaica Investment Map!  

Check it out at https://publicinvestmentmap.gov.jm

Here’s what’s in it for me….

  •  Makes information on investment projects readily available
  •  Allows you to monitor projects happening in and around your community.
  • Communicate any issues, concerns or recommendations about ongoing projects
  • Businesses can use it to identify what they can supply to projects and plan their inventory and budgets
  • A resource for journalists, public officials and researchers

EPISODE CAST

Othneil Hemans

Project Manager, Strategic Public Sector Transformation Project, Ministry of Finance and the Public Service.

Slug: The Jamaica Investment Map
Date: January 20, 2021
Segment: What’s In It For Me  – Episode 25
Author: Toni-Ann Myrie

You can now track all central government projects in your community with the click of a button. Find out how much money they’ve spent on that school upgrade, or roadworks, and whether they’re on schedule.  It’s the Jamaica Investment Map!

The Jamaica Investment Map is an online portal that allows citizens and other stakeholders to track all central government projects in your community. Citizens can see the projects that are happening in their parishes and in the different sectors, track how much money has been spent on a project, upload pictures and post comments or questions to highlight concerns or make recommendations. Access the portal at jamaicainvestmentmap.gov.jm.

How it works

Othneil Hemans of the Ministry of Finance and Public Service joined What’s In It For Me to discuss with how the portal works and how it was created. Describing the portal as “user-friendly”, Hemans explained that the homepage has a search bar that has the same functionality as Google.  Selecting a project brings users to a page that gives them an overview of the project along with financial details and the progress that has been made on the project, he further explains.  

Hemans also demonstrated that the portal allows users to search using different filters such as parish, sector, county, or funding agency, and how users can download PDF reports of the information on the portal.

Labour of love

The investment map is built upon a database of central government projects. Hemans describes the process to compile data and construct the portal as a “labour of love.” He disclosed that the Ministry of Finance also partnered with the World Bank to develop one of the databases supporting information and advised that more work is being done to add projects being undertaken by public bodies such as the National Housing Trust and Port Authority of Jamaica.

The Investment Map makes information on public projects “readily and easily available” to citizens who want to track progress being made on projects. Business owners can also use the information to budget and plan inventory to supply projects in their communities. The portal also serves as a useful resource for students, journalists or public officials who want information on public projects across Jamaica.

Created in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, the investment map aims to improve transparency and accountability in the public sector. The launch of the Investment Map makes Jamaica the first English-speaking country in the Caribbean to have such a platform. Several countries in Latin America, among them the Dominican Republic, previously partnered with the IDB and have launched Investment Maps to track public projects in their countries. 

Show: What's In It For Me?

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