By Erica James-King, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
CHAIRMAN OF the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Senator Bruce Golding is questioning the Government's sincerity in announcing that it has made provisions in this year's budget for the construction of the new Falmouth Police Station in Trelawny, when allocations in the budget paint a different picture.
Senator Golding charges that with only $16 million set aside for the construction and rehabilitation of police stations in this year's budget, he is at a loss to know where the money will come from to erect the new Falmouth police facility. "Allocation for all new construction and repairs of police stations in the budget is only $16 million. So evidently it is not on the programme for this year, since $250 million is required for constructing the new station," said Senator Golding in an interview with The Gleaner.
Recently, Information Minister Burchell Whiteman, who made the announcement that the value of building the new station was $250 million, stated that provisions were made in the 2004 budget for the new facility, which would accommodate up to 100 persons initially, with capacity for expansion to 150.
However, the chairman of the JLP feels that with nearly 70 per cent of the Government's planned expenditure for this fiscal year going towards servicing debt, precious little will be left for capital projects like the construction of the new Falmouth police station.
He has warned, "If there is no provision for construction this financial year, there is going to be a major disaster at the Falmouth Police Station. The place is unsafe for policemen and insecure for prisoners."
The new Falmouth Police Station has been on the cards for three years. In October 2001, the then Security Minister KD Knight broke ground for the construction of the new complex. Just this Sunday, 18-year-old Orlando Hodges of Deeside in Trelawny, who escaped from the station lock-up on February 17, was killed in a shoot-out with the police. Hodges was among three prisoners who escaped by removing a portion of the ceiling of the derelict jail.
In the meantime, The Trelawny Parish Council and the Trelawny Chamber of Commerce are cautiously optimistic about Government's recent announcement that money is being allocated in this year's budget for the construction of the Falmouth Police Station.
"While we welcome this latest announcement, we have grown weary of Government's announcements and no action over the last three years, when it comes to providing Falmouth with a badly needed police station," said Mayor of Falmouth, Councillor Jonathan Bartley. "We will refrain from jumping for joy until we see construction in progress."
DILAPIDATED STATE
Deriding the dilapidated state of the existing building and the dehumanising conditions under which the Falmouth police have had to work, Mayor Bartley says a new police station is in Trelawny's plans to expand its tourist offerings.
"New hotels will be coming on-stream shortly in the parish and also with the parish's bid for a national sports complex, security infrastructure must be given priority attention," Bartley said. Dennis Seivwright, president of the Trelawny Chamber of Commerce, has underlined 'his relief' at hearing that despite Government's cash crunch, money has been allocated for the construction of the police station.
"Each parish capital needs a proper police station with adequate facilities and Falmouth has been languishing too long without one," said Mr. Seivwright. "I hope we don't have to wait a few more years to see it become a reality."
The Chamber president is proposing that Government considers putting the Inland Revenue Department in Falmouth in the same building with the police station, as a means of rationalising services to the public.
