$20-million fire razes Granville Police Station
Published:Thursday | May 20, 2021 | 12:13 AMHopeton Bucknor/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
A massive fire almost totally destroyed the Granville Police Station in St James on Tuesday night, resulting in the authorities having to prematurely roll out a plan to construct a new state-of-the-art facility at the same location.
Montego Bay businessman Mark Kerr-Jarrett, who owns the land on which the police station is located and who only recently donated an adjoining parcel of land to facilitate the complete renovation of the now-destroyed facility, said something good is poised to come out of the destructive blaze.
“There have been conversations in the past about expanding it, but when Barnett Limited sold the land to Gore for the housing development, we insisted that this section here behind the fence be cut off and added to these premises so that a proper, full-scale, multiservice facility could be built for the police officers so that they could operate out of an adequate and modern facility,” said Kerr-Jarrett, who heads Barnett Limited.
Superintendent Dolphin Doeman, who heads the St James Fire Department, said an emergency call was received about 12:16 a.m. that the police station was on fire, and two units from the Freeport Fire Station and an ambulance from the Ironshore Station were promptly dispatched.
When the fire was finally brought under control, the building was completely burnt out, except for the CIB office and an office used by the sergeant.
Superintendent Vernon Ellis, the commander of the St James police, who visited the burnt-out police station yesterday, told The Gleaner that plans are being formulated to ensure that the Granville community remains properly policed.
“Even though we won’t be at this location, our patrols and other services will still be active in the Granville area, so citizens can rest assured that they still have the effective presence of the police, and they will still receive that quality service,” said Ellis.
St James West Central Member of Parliament Marlene Malahoo Forte also visited the site and was pleased that no injuries had been reported and that the officers were able to secure the guns and ammunition at the location.
“The citizens can rest assured that although the station is down, the policing services are not,” said Malahoo Forte. “From the reports made, we were able to save the guns and ammunition, which is very important as we would not want them to be destroyed or fall into the wrong hands.”
Kerr-Jarrett, who has all but become legendary for his support of the Granville community over the years, says he will be seeking to meet with National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang to see how they can collaborate in rebuilding the police station as early as possible.