$500m renovation for 25 police stations
Published:Friday | November 24, 2023 | 12:05 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
JULIET CUTHBERT-Flynn, minister of state in the Ministry of National Security, announced that 25 police stations across Jamaica will be targeted for renovation work valued at $500 million during the upcoming 2024-25 fiscal year.
Addressing Wednesday’s fifth staging of the Police Civilian Oversight Authority’s [PCOA] Transforming Our Police Service awards programme, held at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in Rose Hall, St James, Cuthbert-Flynn noted that the initiative will follow several other similar works which have been done under the Government’s Project Rebuild, Overhaul and Construct [P-ROC] initiative.
“You have to have a place where you want to go to work, where you are happy, and where you feel good about going to work each day. Under P-ROC, the Ministry of National Security is actively raising awareness regarding the transformative strides we make to improve police stations and the well-being of police personnel islandwide,” Cuthbert-Flynn told the police personnel at Wednesday’s function.
“The Jamaica Social Investment Fund’s (JSIF) completion of seven facilities at a cost of $287 million underscores our joint commitment to upgrading police infrastructure right across the country. Looking forward, the ministry is committed to further ramping up the effort,” Cuthbert-Flynn added.
“In the fiscal year 2024-25, we aim to undertake another 25 major renovations and repair projects amounting to approximately $500 million, reflecting just how committed we are to enhancing the working environment of all our law-enforcement officers.”
Cuthbert-Flynn also noted that through the national security ministry’s partnership with the JSIF and the National Housing Trust (NHT), five police stations have already been renovated and another five similar projects are currently being undertaken.
“If you send someone to a workplace where the roof is falling, the toilet is not flushing, and there is no toilet paper provided to you, you are not going to feel good about going to work. We are trying to make sure that those things are transformed in our police force, and we are going to get a better attitude and a better performance out there,” said Cuthbert-Flynn.
“Recognising the critical state of police facilities, the ministry has forged partnerships with several organisations such as the NHT and the JSIF. Having completed the construction and renovation of five police facilities and currently undertaking five ongoing projects, the role of the NHT in our collective effort to fast-track the transformation of the JCF clearly demonstrates our commitment to enhancing the infrastructure that is necessary for effective law enforcement,” she added.
Under the P-ROC initiative, work on two police stations in Frome and Little London, both in Westmoreland, is currently under way at a combined cost of $375 million. Both stations’ construction is ongoing at a time when criminal activities, including robberies and murders, have increased in that parish.
HOPE FOR BOLSTERED LOCK-UPS
Meanwhile, Assistant Commissioner of Police Clifford Chambers, the commanding officer for the Area One division, which includes St James, Westmoreland, Hanover and Trelawny, expressed hope that the upcoming $500 million renovation works will include bolstering of police station lock-ups in the division.
“Quite frankly, when we arrest persons, we want to ensure that they are treated in as humane a way and state as possible, and so it is important that whatsoever is to be done by the ministry or other stakeholders gets done fast, because we want to ensure that persons in custody are treated in the best possible way,” he said.
“Wherever persons are in custody, our police officers have to be there working with them as well, so I really hope they get under way quickly because it [the renovation work] is needed,” Chambers told The Gleaner.
During Wednesday’s awards programme, which focused on police stations in the Area One division, the Westmoreland police division claimed the prizes for Top Customer Service Division and Top Division for Area One.
The Bluefields Police Station, located in Westmoreland, won the overall Top Station Prize.
The Freeport Police Station in St James claimed the Top Prisoners in Custody award, while Cambridge, Ulster Spring, and Green Island stations were the top stations for St James, Trelawny, and Hanover, respectively.