New Brickdam station may cost billions – Benn
Reconstruction of the Brickdam Police Station is being discussed at Cabinet and while a cost has not yet been determined, Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn has indicated that it could possibly run into billions of dollars.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event yesterday, Benn said Cabinet had a preliminary review of the figures discussed so far on Thursday.
“We have looked at some numbers. As I said, it is a work in progress. We are refining the numbers. We have had a preliminary look yesterday. Some ideas came up and we are working those numbers…with the issues we have at hand and with the opportunities we have had,” he explained.
According to Benn, once approved, the police station will be rebuilt into a modern, fire-proof facility.
“To ultimately rebuild a station that is modern, that is fire-proof of course, that has the right environment and ergonomics for a city of Georgetown… it would come up to quite a few, maybe billions of dollars,” Benn said.
More than 80 per cent of the Brickdam Police Station was destroyed in a fire last Saturday.
During a press conference last Saturday, Commissioner of Police (ag) Nigel Hoppie said that the fire started around 11.06 am in the upper flat of an eastern building in the compound.
A Guyana Fire Service (GFS) investigation has since concluded that the fire was an act of arson.
The police have stated that a prisoner, Clarence Greene, who was in the lock-up at the time of the fire, has confessed to starting it out of frustration.
During a video interview, which was shown to the media, Greene told investigators that one of the prisoners provided him with the piece of wire. He said he tore off a piece of sponge from a mattress in the cell he was in, hooked it on the wire and lit same with a lighter.
Greene then allegedly pushed the sponge on the wire through a ventilation hole to a section of the station which contained some documents. The sponge then reportedly came into contact with the documents, causing the fire.
Greene was charged on Friday with arson.
The fire started in a section of the police station which housed the fraud department. The building was an old wooden structure which was located close to the lock-up area.
Greene was on the second floor of the building where the lock-ups are housed.
Greene was arrested last Saturday morning in relation to an armed robbery.
The Brickdam Police Station, which is the headquarters for Region 4A, is being temporarily housed at the St. Stanislaus College.
About 600 police officers, including the Commander, have been displaced as a result for the fire.
A large number of documents were also destroyed in the fire.
Benn said reconstruction of the documents has since commenced. This process, Benn said, is likely to take a few months.