Police Stations in Portland to be Upgraded

A number of police stations in Portland are to be refurbished or upgraded during the current financial year as part of the process of modernising the infrastructure of the police force and improving its ability and effectiveness in crime fighting.
Making this disclosure after a tour of police stations in Eastern Portland on Wednesday (April 14), Minister of National Security, Dr. Peter Phillips, said the stations were included in a programme through which 40 such facilities islandwide would either be refurbished or upgraded during this financial year.
He noted that the stations in Portland included those at Manchioneal, Castle, Port Antonio, Buff Bay and Hope Bay, adding that the total cost of implementing the programme in the parish was estimated at $20 million.
Minister Phillips said the work to be carried out on the Port Antonio police station will not only involve the improvement of the building, but also the enlargement of the facility, to enable the police to meet the demands of the town.
Pointing out that the programme was being implemented as part of efforts to improve the crime fighting ability of the police force, Dr. Phillips said other initiatives being implemented to increase the force’s effectiveness included the introduction of increased training programmes for its members, and the recruitment of additional members in order to ensure the provision of an adequate police presence in the communities across the country.
Observing that Portland was a low crime area, which should be protected and kept that way, the National Security Minister emphasised that problems relating to security and the maintenance of law and order should be the concern of all law abiding and decent citizens and not just that of the police.
Informing that the programme to improve police stations had already begun in St. Thomas, he said residents of some communities in Portland had given the commitment to contribute to the improvement work to be carried out on the stations in their areas.
Turning to the Haitian refugee situation in the country, Dr. Phillips thanked the police in Portland and the residents of the parish for the service and the hospitality they have extended to the Haitians.
He said no application had so far been made to his ministry for asylum by any of the refugees and went on to state that as soon as the government was assured that normality was returned to Haiti, those refugees who had not applied for asylum would be repatriated.