Construction of new Port Maria Police Station awaits property acquisition

A SUITABLE location for a new police station in Port Maria, St Mary, has been found and construction is to begin pending the completion of the property acquisition process and finalisation of the structure’s design.

Minister of National Security Dr Horace Chang on Wednesday confirmed that a 30-acre property located in Port Maria, just below lands occupied by the St Mary infirmary and health centre, has been earmarked for major development, including the construction of a new police station.

Chang, who visited the designated site for the construction of a new state-of-the-art police station in Port Maria, was accompanied by Police Commissioner Major General Antony Anderson, Mayor of Port Maria Richard Creary, and Central St Mary Member of Parliament Dr Morais Guy. Chang said that the land identified is ideal and that additional development will take place after the police station is completed.

According to Chang, funding is already in place to build the police station, which he said will be treated as priority given the many challenges facing the police at the existing station location that is oftentimes inundated during heavy rainfall. The presence of raw sewage is another issue confronting cops at the current location.

“The development fits into our concept of [developing] municipal services centres across the island,” Chang commented.

He added, “This property is ideal for the kind of redevelopment and to reposition it as still a part of the urban centre, [with] obvious new municipal services and general government services in a new location, without the flooding problem. [But] the immediate problem is that we need the police station to provide our officers [with] an appropriate place to work from. The property here is about 30 acres and we can look at a proper physical layout … physical plan and then start building what is to be done immediately.”

Meantime, Creary said that the St Mary Municipal Corporation will provide the necessary assistance and guidance to ensure that the construction takes place in a timely manner.