HMC leases building to JCF for $1,000 per annum for Hopewell police post
THE Hanover Municipal Corporation (HMC) has decided to forgo an annual revenue of $251,000 for a property it owns in Hopewell to facilitate the establishment of a well-needed police post in that coastal town.
The current tenants, the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ), pays $252,000 per annum for a section of the building it utilises. However, with Hopewell fast becoming a crime hot spot and the nearest police station located approximately three and a half miles away in Sandy Bay, the HMC has decided to allow the police the use of property for a peppercorn lease of $1,000 per year for 50 years.
“We intend to lose a whole lot of money. Is it that we can afford to lose these monies?” questioned Mayor Sheridan Samuels, before putting the matter to a vote during a recent sitting of the HMC regular monthly general meeting. All six councillors present supported the motion, “in the interest of the people.”
Besides, the mayor, who is also in support of the police occupation of the building, moved a supported motion to give the EOJ a notice of extension to vacate the section of the building they occupy by the end of this month.
For over four years, there has been a push for the establishment of a post in the town. Following a search, the police were set on acquiring a section of the building to be used as a post.
Similarly to the officer in charge of the Hanover Police Division, Superintendent Sharon Beeput, Commissioner of Police Major General Antony Anderson, during a tour of Hanover in June, stated that the property and its location were ideal.
However, the property will have to undergo an upgrade before the police can occupy it.
“We (the police) have to repair it. The Electoral Office is moving out because the roof and everything is coming down,” disclosed Superintendent Beeput during the meeting.
Besides, Superintendent Beeput said the intent is to upgrade from a post to a station in the future.
“Since the commissioner’s visit, we would have applied for a police post, but on his visit… I was saying to him that that side is included, so it could be upgraded from a police post to a police station,” stated Superintendent Beeput.
The Hopewell post, when established, will serve some 21 communities which are currently included in the 51 communities that the Sandy Bay Police Station serves.