KINGSTON, Jamaica – THE Jamaican government has launched Ananda Alert, a nationwide missing children emergency network.

Caribbean360 reports the system was inspired by the death of 11-year-old Ananda Dean, who was killed after she disappeared on her way home from school last September.

Minister of State Robert Montague revealed some of the system’s features.

“It will be triggered when a child goes missing and a call is made to the police. The police will deal immediately with that call and alert the local authority, the mobile companies Digicel and LIME and the media.

“The electronic media has volunteered to have a special sounding, especially during prime time and to put up a picture of the child and to put that information out into the public sphere. Additionally, the mobile companies, with the permission of their subscribers, will send a text message to each subscriber describing the child, what the child was wearing when last seen and where the child was when last seen,” he informed.

Other measures include the utilisation of electronic billboards and the placement of notice boards in each marketplace. Local taxi companies and associations have agreed to pass on the missing child report to their drivers and to post a picture in their cabs.

“The key is to get the information to the public as quickly as possible, as the police will tell you it is better to get one million false phone calls than not to receive the one that is critical,” Montague explained.

The Microsoft Corporation will provide Child Abducting Tracking System software to the Jamaican police force. The software houses data that links all police forces throughout the world and will allow Jamaica to tap into that source to access information that will assist in the search when a child goes missing.