Contracts Awarded for Renovation of 14 Police Stations

Another 14 police stations across the island are being renovated at a cost of $195 million as the Government continues to improve the working conditions of members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF).

They are Annotto Bay Police Station in St. Mary; Mavis Bank, Irish Town, Gordon Town, and August Town police stations in St. Andrew; Tivoli Gardens, Kingston Central, Allman Town, Admiral Town, and Darling Street police stations in Kingston; Maggoty and Pedro Plains police stations in St. Elizabeth; Clarks Town Police Station in Trelawny; and Chapelton Police Station in Clarendon.

Eight contracts have been awarded to undertake the improvements, which have already started. Works include roof repairs, electrical and plumbing works, infrastructural repairs, termite treatment, refurbishing of bathrooms, improving drainage systems and replacing perimeter fencing.

The signing ceremony took place on Wednesday (September 11) at the Ministry of National Security’s Oxford Road offices in Kingston.

Portfolio Minister, Hon. Dr. Horace Chang, in his remarks, said by “providing police officers with updated, fit-for-purpose facilities, we are strengthening their capacity to appropriately represent their office while effectively carrying out their duties in securing Jamaican lives and livelihoods”.

“In order to optimise station performance, it is imperative that, among other things, the facilities of the police stations be appropriately designed to ensure efficient operational processes,” he added.

The improvements fall under the Ministry’s Project Rebuild, Overhaul, Construct (ROC), which seeks to transform 186 police facilities across the island. Works have been completed on an initial five stations.

The 14 police stations for which the contracts were signed are among 25 that are in the process of being rehabilitated, with six close to completion. Another 16 stations are undergoing the procurement process.

In the meantime, Dr. Chang appealed to the contractors to produce quality work, and informed that the Government is in the process of procuring a maintenance system.

“We are looking at ensuring that we have a proper maintenance programme, so that the officer responsible can monitor what is happening, and work can be done in real time and the stations are not allowed to be rundown,” he noted.

In his remarks, Commissioner of Police, Major General Antony Anderson, said the undertaking is part of a wider buildout of police capability and capacity within communities.

“This is going to lead to better policing services… and I have no doubt that when my own officers are in these… facilities, that we will actually be in a position to deliver better service… for members of the public who are coming into our facilities,” he said.

Project ROC aims to convert all police stations into modern citizen-friendly workspaces, provide officers with a comfortable environment while creating the ambience for citizens to willingly and comfortably engage the police.

Under the project, the Government will be spending more than $5 billion to improve the condition of the facilities of the JCF.

SOURCE: JIS