At least two of the major mobile providers have agreed to partner with the Government on the Ananda Alert initiative. Each company was to provide a number for its customers to text in and request that the missing children's alerts be sent to them.

The Digicel number is 444-2432, while the LIME number is 444-4230. All the subscribers thus far have signed up using the number made available by Digicel as the LIME number is yet to come on stream.

Errol K. Miller, LIME's regional vice-president, corporate communications, explained that his company's number "has been set up but the requisite training was never done with personnel from the OPM (Office of the Prime Minister) on how to use our messaging platform to check messages received. We will be moving to correct this immediately," Miller pledged.

In a written response, Jacqueline Burrell-Clarke, corporate affairs manager at Digicel Jamaica Limited, explained that Ananda alerts come to Digicel from the Constabulary Communication Network, and a text, along with a photo, is sent to customers who have subscribed to the service.

She said that the Ananda Alert gives a detailed description of the child so that subscribers can report any potential sightings or information that would assist the police in tracking the whereabouts of the child.

"Through this initiative, Jamaicans are now able to subscribe to alerts that inform them when a child has gone missing," Burrell-Clarke stated.

While customers are not charged to receive Ananda alerts, Digicel charges a $1 subscription fee.

"This is a way to ensure that all customers that subscribe to the Ananda Alert service genuinely want to receive these alerts and want to assist the police in finding these missing children," she added.