Mount Salem Police Station To Be Completed In Three Weeks

Managing Director of the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), Omar Sweeney, says that the Mount Salem Police Station in St. James is slated for completion within the next three weeks.

“It is 80 per cent complete… we are on budget and, certainly, we are on time with the construction, so far. It has really gone quite smoothly and I think all responsible parties have carried out their duties to the fullest,” he told JIS News.

“So barring any unforeseen circumstances, I am looking forward [to] the first week of April to see what it looks like… the new facility here in Mount Salem,” he added.

The new Mount Salem Police Station is being built by JSIF at a cost of $43.5 million, with funding from the European Union (EU).

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, officially broke ground for the project on November 27 of last year.

The facility is being constructed under the build phase of the Zone of Special Operations (ZOSO), now in place in the community, as well as the thrust by the Ministry of National Security to rehabilitate police stations across the island.

The new police station will benefit some 9,050 residents in Mount Salem as well as persons in surrounding communities.

Mount Salem was declared the first ZOSO on the island on September 1, 2017, in response to an upsurge in crime.

Mr. Sweeney noted that the police station will have private interview rooms, which will provide “more privacy for persons who want to make reports; it will have a more customer service type environment and still provide a comfortable work environment for the policemen and [police]women that work here”.

The station will also have other amenities such as an armory, waiting areas, public restrooms as well as parking.

Mr. Sweeney, who also serves as Deputy Chairman of the ZOSO Social Intervention Committee, told JIS News that the main purpose of the facility is to build a stronger relationship between the police and the community of Mt. Salem.

“So while this police station is not nested within the Zone of Special Operations, it is a resource for the Mt. Salem community to come to. So the same way we look at the school [and] at the community centre, we look at the police station as a resource or asset for the community to have, and so it will stand there on the main road as something that persons can look forward to,” Mr. Sweeney outlined.

He added that one of the benefits of the ZOSO is that it is building a stronger relationship with the police and the residents there.

“So I think, all in all, we should have a good facility here when it is done,” Mr. Sweeney said.