Stakeholders welcome $2.7bn investment in Westmoreland police headquarters
BUSINESS AND civic leaders in Westmoreland have welcomed the initiative to construct a new headquarters for the Westmoreland Police Division.
The state-of-the-art police facility will be built at a cost of $2.7 billion over the next two and a half years in the community of Llandilo, at what was the Llandilo Cultural Culture, just about two kilometres from the town centre of Savanna-la-Mar.
“A facility like this was long overdue. The dilapidated building that represents the police station and court facilities in Savanna-la-Mar have long outlived their usefulness,” said Lieutenant Colonel Hartley Perrin, custos of Westmoreland.
He argued that operating within the 21st century required upgrading facilities to render proper service.
“Until and unless there are surroundings that lead to that kind of feeling of importance and a place where they can secure their documents and feel excited about going to work, then we are not going forward,” he told The Gleaner following yesterday’s groundbreaking ceremony for the nearly $3-billion facility.
Perrin said that he is looking forward to the facility because. “I am quite certain that it will also attract the right persons within the context of the police force, not just in Westmoreland but the entire island,” he stated.
CHANG CONFIDENT IN ENGINEERS
Speaking at the groundbreaking event, Dr Horace Chang, minister of national security, has expressed confidence in the owners of M&M Construction, the contractors who will be carrying out work on the building.
“I know as an engineer he won his bids fairly. He invests his money in his company, he has his staff in place and I am very pleased to know that he is the one who got this contract,” Chang said of Donald Mullings, the managing director of M&M Construction.
“I make no apology for it. I know he is a contractor who will deliver on time and within budget and still treat the people of the community with the respect that they are due,” the national security minister declared.
He described Mullings as a true Jamaican who must be respected, while expressing confidence that during the construction phase the people of Westmoreland will benefit by way of employment.
Further, the minister revealed that the procurement procedure was tedious, lasting over five years.
Chang said the initial process was corrupted, which alerted the intervention of the Integrity Commission.
“The time it took to implement this was definitely unacceptable. The police officers not only stayed in stressful conditions, but the people of Westmoreland had to put up with the condition,” Chang said.
“It was a necessary initiative because you just couldn’t continue where you are,” he said addressing the police. “So we’re building this to give you a nice station to operate from,” he added.
Moses Chybar, president of the Westmoreland Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said this new facility will lead to increased efficiency.
“This new police station will certainly boost the morale of the force and help to improve efficiency and effectiveness now that they will have a bigger and better space to be more organised,” Chybar told The Gleaner.
“This is something that the people of Westmoreland welcome. We are excited about it because it has been in the pipeline for a long time,” he said.
Community activist, Bishop Oneil Russell, had a mixed response to the relocation of the main operations of the Westmoreland police from Savanna-la-Mar to Llandilo.
“Moving to Llandilo spells disaster for these communities in the capital of Westmoreland. On one hand, it is a good initiative, but on the other hand, it leaves us naked,” said Russell when contacted for a response.
Russell, who is also a justice of the peace and president of the Cooke Street Benevolent Society, said that building this new facility is a wonderful idea given the condition of the current facility that the police are operating from.
“Savanna-la-Mar has all of the major communities that are at war against each other and the response time could further impact the ability of the police to serve the needs of the people,” added Russell.
Elaine Allen-Bradley, president of the Negril Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the new police headquarters will enable additional police officers in that resort space.
“It is of great significance and once we can have the police force properly equipped with working space and manpower, this facility is a welcome asset to West more land ,” Allen-Bradley said.