- Ian Allen/Staff Photographer
Police Commissioner Francis Forbes (centre) smiles proudly yesterday, as he accepts a cheque for $50 million from Michael Lee-Chin (left), chairman of the National Commercial Bank (NCB). The money will be used to construct a community policing and service facility in the inner-city community of Grants Pen, north-east St. Andrew, as part of recommendations from the United States-based Police Executive and Research Forum (PERF). At right is Becky Stockhausen, executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce of Jamaica.
THE CONSTRUCTION of a community policing and services facility in Grants Pen, north-east St. Andrew, received a major boost yesterday with the donation of $50 million by the National Commercial Bank (NCB).
The cheque was handed over by Michael Lee-Chin, chairman of NCB, at a ceremony in the inner-city community.
FIRST OF SEVERAL
Yesterday's donation was the first of several anticipated from various private sector companies. They have undertaken to fund the construction of the facility, which was born out of recommendations from the United States-based Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) report of 2001. The facility is to be constructed on the grounds of the Edna Manley Health Centre on Grants Pen Road.
According to a statement from the American Chamber of Commerce of Jamaica (AMCHAM), which is spearheading the fund-raising efforts, the primary goal of building the facility "is to restore the trust which has been lost between law enforcement and the citizens, which is imperative to the solving and reduction of crime, while providing a pilot for communities islandwide."
Construction work on the so-called model police station is expected to start in May this year.
