Ferry Police Station to get facelift, Toll Authority donates $10 million
Published:Friday | December 17, 2021 | 7:17 AMAsha Wilks/Gleaner Writer
Toll Authority of Jamaica (TAJ) has donated $10 million to help renovate the Ferry Police Station’s interior and external structures, which are in dire need of repair.
In a handover ceremony on Tuesday, the TAJ committed to give funds according to a memorandum of understanding signed by both parties. The funds will be disbursed in four tranches.
The project is expected to be completed after six months.
Works to be completed include roof repairs; electrical modification; upgrade to existing office and work areas, along with restrooms; improvement of the waiting area; and an overall facelift to the building.
The project was to commence two years prior but had been delayed due to unforeseen circumstances. Lerone Laing, chief executive officer at the TAJ, said he is pleased to report that “very important strategic objective [will be] achieved”.
The Ferry Police Station has responsibility for conducting patrol and traffic-enforcement activities along the East-West Highway and the North-South Highway, as well as the Caymanas Special Economic Zone to Mammee Bay in St Ann.
The project is of strategic importance for the TAJ, said Laing, to enhance the comfort of the police who assist in the monitoring and safety of the toll roads.
“Therefore, this partnership is critical in achieving our mandate at the Toll Authority, and that is why we are here ... in support of the JCF, because we believe that in order for [the police] to do their jobs effectively ... they must be comfortable,” he added.
A STATE OF DISREPAIR
Delroy Simpson, chief technical director at the Ministry of National Security, reported that more than 70 per cent of the island’s police facilities were in an advanced state of disrepair.
However, through the collaboration of the JCF property management division, the National Housing Trust, and the Jamaica Social Investment Fund, 100 of those facilities have been renovated or newly constructed. Among those is the Olympic Gardens Police Station.
“We are pleased to be partnering with the Toll Authority of Jamaica [as] partnership brings results,” said Simpson.
Transport Minister Robert Montague, in his address, commended the project’s establishment as, he says, the Ferry station is one of the most historic ones that the JCF has. While the occasion was a celebratory one, Montague stated that he is saddened by the number of deaths that occur on the country’s roads.
Reporting some 444 deaths since the start of the year – with 153 fatalities occurring during curfew periods - Montague urged the police to tackle the indiscipline on the roads.
Sixty per cent of fatalities are accounted for by vulnerable users – pillion riders and motorcyclists – many of whom did not wear helmets.
Twenty per cent of fatalities have been caused by private motor vehicle operators.
“We need to cut that, because 444 families will sit down to a Christmas meal with an important member of the family not sitting with them,” he added.