THE Seelall Persaud Fitness Centre, located in the compound of the Felix Austin Police College at Eve Leary, was officially declared open yesterday.
Doing the honours of cutting the ceremonial ribbon to mark the occasion was a pupil of Green Acres Primary School with the help of Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan and Commisioner of Police, Seelall Persaud, after whom the facility was named.
The spanking new facility, built to the tune of $21.2M, comes fully equipped with $6M worth of equipment and male and female saunas, and will be open, free of charge, to all members of the Guyana Police Force (GPF), as well as all retired police officers.

Minister Ramjattan described the naming of the facility after the Commissioner of Police as a fitting gesture, as many of the GPF’s very own personnel were in favour of it, having continuously lauded the way Persaud has been carrying out his duties.
He said the facility will play a great role in ensuring that the lawmen and women upkeep the level of fitness crucial to their carrying out their duties.
“It is important for us to understand that law enforcement, being an indispensable institution, to ensure law and order, requires certain facilities of the personnel that populate it,” the minister said.

“And the administration of the day does make that special effort to ensure that these facilities are provided,” he added.
Commissioner Persaud explained that the erection of the gym was part of several initiatives that the Police Force has embarked upon aimed at building morale among GPF personnel.
“The Force management team having considered that morale in the Force was extremely low, decided on a range of initiatives to rebuild morale in the Force,” he said, adding:
“Some of the welfare initiatives would have included initiatives targeting both members of the Force and their families.

“The objective of the fitness centre is to improve the health and well-being of the persons that use it.”
Persaud went on to applaud the efforts of Assistant Commissioner, Nigel Hoppie, whom he described as the driving force behind the project.
Giving an overview of the project, Hoppie said the facility was constructed by Navin and Sons Constructions and was completed in under a year, with construction beginning and ending in 2015.

The facility will be administrated by Assistant Commissioner, Paul Williams, while the management staff includes acclaimed Guyanese athlete, Winston George and another powerlifter.
Taking to the podium, Williams said he hopes that in the future, each division of the Police Force would become equipped with a similar facility.