Money Allocated for Work on Police Divisional Headquarters in Westmoreland and St. Catherine North

The Government has budgeted close to $2 billion to carry out key infrastructural works in the upcoming fiscal year to improve several facilities for members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF).

Of the total, $882 million has been earmarked for the new police divisional headquarters to be constructed in Westmoreland; $50 million to continue works on the Forensic Pathology Autopsy Suite, and $990 million for the construction of the St. Catherine North Police Divisional Headquarters.

Details of the provisions are outlined in the 2024/25 Estimates of Expenditure, tabled in the House of Representatives by Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, recently.

For the upcoming fiscal year, it is anticipated that 20 per cent of the construction activities on the new police divisional headquarters in Westmoreland will be completed.

The project is slated to end in March 2027.

Furthermore, it is anticipated that 25 per cent of the construction activities on the St. Catherine North Police Divisional Headquarters will be completed in the 2024/25 fiscal year.

The project aims to increase the capacity and comfort of police officers assigned to the St. Catherine North Division and forms part of the Government’s efforts to provide improved facilities for members of the JCF.

The project is slated to end in March 2027.

Meanwhile, the money for the Forensic Pathology Autopsy Suite will be used to facilitate the project close-out and observe the defects period.

The construction of a government-owned Forensic Pathology Autopsy Suite will increase the forensic capacity of the JCF and reduce the backlog of criminal and other cases.

The project started in April 2021 and will end in February 2025, following several extensions.

Implemented by the Ministry of National Security, the projects are being financed from the Consolidated Fund.