Housing Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal says Government expects to open a new police station every month for the next eight months. He made the comment at the handing-over ceremony for the new Arima Police Station—the first of the new state-of-the art police stations—on Tuesday. The other stations currently under construction and scheduled to be completed by next April are in Piarco, Cumuto, Brasso, Maloney, La Brea, Moruga and Oropouche.
Moonilal said the eight stations were part of the first phase of an initiative to modernise facilities used by law enforcement agencies and nine other police stations, as well as 13 new fire stations, will be built during the second phase of the project. The stations are being built under the supervision of the Urban Development Corporation of T&T (Udecott), which falls under Moonilal’s ministry.
The new Arima station took a little over two years to build at a cost of $48 million. It was constructed on the site of the old Arima station which was over 100 years old. The new station includes separate holding cells for juvenile offenders, a gym, a modern identification parade room, a lecture theatre and area for counselling. “It was on time and on budget,” Udecott chairman Jearlean John told the media after the launch.
Despite John’s claims, checks revealed that at the sod-turning event for the project on August 24, 2011, it was announced the project would cost approximately $35 million and would be completed in 15 months. Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, delivering the feature address, said the construction of the stations was testament to her Government’s commitment to fighting crime.
She highlighted several anti-crime initiatives being implemented, including the establishment of a new National Security Council command centre, which she said would enable and assist in the quick deployment of law enforcement personnel during emergencies. She said the Government had shifted its focus to preventative anti-crime initiatives, such as community-based policing, which she said would improve the public’s trust in the Police Service.
“In delivering the objective of the community policing, we would be able to facilitate the restoration of trust, a greater connect between the public and the police,” Persad-Bissessar said. She also said there would be greater engagement of the municipal police, who she noted were recently given a $1,000-a-month allowance which was previously only granted to other arms of the protective services.
Acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams thanked the Government for completing the project and said the new stations would help raise the morale of his officers and provide quality service to citizens. “The public can look forward to a Police Service committed to serving this nation to the best of its ability and which will fulfil the demands and expectations of the citizens of the land,” Williams said.
Arima Mayor George Hadeed yesterday apologised to his burgesses for not being at the opening ceremony, saying n a press release that he was neither invited nor informed of the event.