A rotting section of the wooden building is held up by concrete blocks. -Carlington Wilmot photoLeonardo Blair, Staff Reporter
DISASTERS WAITING to happen. That's how the police are describing many of the stations in which they have to work.
Some of the stations are so old they are literally crumbling.
According to Sergeant David White, president of the Police Federation some 25 of these police stations could be closed by the Ministry of Health because of the public health danger that they pose.
"Many of them are like garbage dumps, but even with that threat of possible closure, very little is being done about them because 'Government has no money'," he told The Sunday Gleaner in an interview last week.
Peter Knight, director of Environmental Health in the Ministry of Health was unable however to confirm the threat of closure of over 25 police stations. "I have no means of verifying it. We have four regional health authorities and as far as I am aware I can't verify 25 notices for 25 stations. I have seen something here about one police station. I know of some concerns about one police station which we have in writing."
NOT UP TO STANDARD
But Medical Officer of Health in St. Ann, Dr. Patrick Wheatle, explained to The Sunday Gleaner said most of the police stations in St. Ann showed that sanitation and the state of the buildings were not up to standard. A report was recently sent to the Ministry of Health and action will be taken on the reports to have the situation improved.
"We have done day to day inspections and we have sent reports to the Ministry (of Health). We have done re-inspection of the police stations and the stations have not shown much improvements," said Dr. Wheatle.
Last week The Sunday Gleaner visited a number of stations in Portland and the facilities and the buildings were falling apart in many areas.
The Buff Bay Police station in the heart of Portland was among the worst visited. Termite-infested wall boards, missing perimeter walls, leaking roofs, a broken down kitchen and teetering doors to the visitors bathrooms were evidence of neglect.
The building which was designated to house the inspector of the station now serves as a squatter-like barrack for policemen travelling long distances from their homes.
"The building is termite-infested. We have rats, the people from the Public Health Authority have made countless visits. Even now it is a poor excuse for a station," said Constable Shaun Brown at the station. "We still have to use the slop bucket. They (prisoners) shower, sleep, eat and defecate in the same area. When it's cold it's very cold. When it's hot it's very hot."
He said among the stations needing serious repair work were the Manchioneal Police Station in Portland, the Port Royal station in East Kingston, Ocho Rios in St. Ann and the Falmouth Police Station in Trelawny from which three prisoners escaped last week. Mayor of Falmouth, Jonathan Bartley, blamed the poor condition of the building for the jailbreak.
Sergeant White said that during the past year the stations have been written to by the respective public health authorities expressing concern over the state of the buildings. However, not much has been done to improve them.
At the Manchioneal Police Station in Portland, police there have been waiting for years to see some repairs done to their wooden base but the condition of the building has continued to deteriorate.
"I came here in December but I know this station has been in a deplorable condition for a long time, " said Sergeant John Jones. "The windows are broken. It leaks. I was here about five years ago and this station has deteriorated. What we need most is a barrack because right now everybody is just bundled up in one place. About two years ago they repaired the courtroom downstairs and nothing was done to the police station which is upstairs," he explained.
In the Buff Bay community many residents say they are very concerned about the condition of the station and it is shameful the way the police are being treated.
"I have had many fights with the (former and present security) Ministers. Just promises. When it was Mr. Knight he said it would have been dealt with. Now it is Mr. Phillips and it is the same thing," said Justice of the Peace, Beryl Phillips, who is president of the Buff Bay Consultative Committee.
She explained that as a show of support, to initiate improvements for the station, Rhone Shirley, president of the Windsor Castle Citizens Association has pledged to donate some 1,000 blocks to the Buff Bay Police to help them get a proper building once and for all.
