Chang: New Granville Police Station back on track

WESTERN BUREAU:

National Security and Peace Minister Dr Horace Chang has indicated that the plan to build a new police station in Granville, St James, is now back on track.

According to Chang, additional property has been acquired for the building of the police station, and the Government is now moving towards the design and construction phases.

“We have to acquire new property, which is now complete, and then we have to go about design, and we are designing a better station. It will actually be a kind of zone headquarters, so you have to look at what is required to be facilitating in the space,” Chang said, who was speaking at a recent event in Montego Bay.

“So, we got more space. I think that is now settled – the land is across the road – and we should be able to go to contract in the next financial year,” said Chang.

The update comes five years after the original Granville Police Station was destroyed by fire in May 2021, leaving the sometimes volatile community without customary security cover.

Following the fire, which left the police station in total ruin, police personnel who were stationed there were relocated to a much smaller police post in the Meadows of Irwin community, which is about 10 minutes away.

Before its destruction, the Granville Police Station served about 7,000 residents spanning Granville and the neighbouring communities of Pitfour and Retirement.

IMPROVING POLICE INFRASTRUCTURE

Chang, who is also the deputy prime minister, said the new facility would form part of a wider programme to improve police infrastructure and working conditions across western Jamaica.

He noted that other police facilities are also coming on stream nearby.

“We have Amity Hall [Police Station] down the road, which should be starting soon, and more critically, we’ll be building the Special Operations West in Montego Hills. We are out to contract, and that’s a massive investment,” he said.

According to Chang, the upgraded Montego Hills facility would provide additional police capacity.

“What that means, we will have a station in Montego Hills with an adequate number of police officers to ensure that we can continue to maintain peace and good order,” he said, noting that the Government is seeking to reduce its reliance on rented facilities for public operations.

“Currently, we have to rent space all over. Some of the small hotels, they do good business, and that’s fine, but they are not the right facility,” he said, while outlining that the cost of rental accommodation had become substantial.

“I think at one stage, we were spending $36 million a month. That can mortgage billions of dollars. That’s a fact,” he said.

Chang also noted that the investment in police infrastructure was critical to protecting Montego Bay’s economic growth and maintaining public safety.

“The investment in Montego Bay is designed to prevent that,” he said.

albert.ferguson@gleanerjm.com