By Erica James-King, Staff Reporter WESTERN BUREAU:
THE TRELAWNY Parish Council is laying down the law with regards to how it believes the Security Ministry should proceed with its construction plans for the new Falmouth police headquarters, which has been on the cards for almost three years.
The Council is demanding that the Ministry of National Security, which has overall responsibility for the project, furnishes it with the plan (or diagram) for the proposed new building prior to the commencement of construction. The new building is to be sited on lands owned by the Parish Council in Falmouth.
"The Ministry of National Security needs to present the plan to us for approval," said Falmouth's Mayor, Councillor Jonathan Bartley.
TAKING TOO LONG
"They are taking too long to submit the plan, and unless the plan is submitted and approved, we cannot give the go ahead for the construction."
Late last year, the Trelawny Parish Council requested that the Security Ministry provide it with a diagram of the section of the land and the boundaries for the land on which they intend to erect the building. The request was honoured last month and the plan perused by councillors during January's monthly meeting of that Council.
As the Council awaits the plans from the Security Ministry, Mayor Bartley is bemoaning the derelict state of the existing police station, which he said is unfit for human occupation.
"The present police station is in a deplorable condition for far too long," said Mayor Bartley. "With all this investment that is to flow into Trelawny with the completion of the North Coast Highway, it is important that we have proper security measures in place and an important part of that is the need for a police station."
As far back as October 2001, the then Security Minister K.D. Knight broke ground for the construction of the new Falmouth Police Station.
However, to date, that construction effort is yet to become a reality.
DILAPIDATED CONDITIONS
In an interview with The Gleaner last week, Superintendent Jasmin Tomlinson-Brown, the head of the Trelawny Police Division, acknowledged that the dilapidated conditions at the police station were adversely affecting the morale of those stationed there. She added that no word was forthcoming from the Security Ministry as to when construction will start on the new police station.
Last year, the police department relocated the living quarters of the Falmouth Police Station to the nearby Rock District, as the run-down condition there was unhygienic and the building a safety hazard for those working there.
When contacted for a comment earlier this week, Donovan Nelson, Communication Adviser in the Security Ministry, said a funding problem was delaying the construction of the new facility. He was not able to give a timeline as to when construction would start.
