‘E’ Division ranks can now better serve the communities of Region 10 in a $117M spanking new two-storey, police station, located at Mackenzie, Linden, which will also serve as the headquarters of ‘E’ Division (Upper Demerara-Upper Berbice).

The modern facility is community-based and will give the citizens of the region a better opportunity to file reports, especially sensitive reports where the need for confidentiality is high. The new building is part of the Guyana Police Force’s (GPF) remodelling programme and has a special room for domestic violence cases which will accommodate children, a witness protection room, a case management room that will be fully automated, a public management room, a listening room, rooms with one-way glass for suspect identification and training room for ranks. The building will also be powered by solar energy.

Commissioning the building was Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan, who handed over the ceremonial keys to Senior Superintendent, Linden Lord, who was also newly appointed to the ‘E’ Division.

In his feature address, Minister Ramjattan said the building serves to provide service and protection to residents, since the ranks will be better able to serve them in the new, spacious, modern and comfortable facility. He expressed gratitude to the International Development Bank (IDB) for funding such a project which shows institutional strengthening.

“The modern design adopted for the rehabilitation of the rebuilding of the 12 police stations, support the notion of putting victims and witnesses first, we have to prioritise, because they are the people who ought to be the beneficiaries of a good police station” Ramjattan said.

IMPROVED ENVIRONMENT
The degraded conditions result in degraded performances and therefore, he said, “that is why we want to improve, upgrade, ameliorate all police stations in the country and we are on that journey, we want to also provide a confidential environment for those who want to make their statements to the police about the crimes they have seen… we need that kind of confidential environment.”

“When the Guyana Police Force recommended this station for rehabilitation, the intention was to remodel and improve, not rebuild a completely new station; however, the dilapidated state of the building was noted and the decision was to rebuild a band new police station and today we have it there.”

Ramjattan noted that the government is investing $1.18B for the refurbishing of stations countrywide. “Government will continue to mobilise more resources so that the police can provide to the people of Guyana with the resources that they deserve. Some of the police stations that were rehabilitated in 2018 were Parfaite Harmonie, New Amsterdam, Lethem and Mathew’s Ridge police stations. Our goal is to strengthen police capability, so that the police have enough resources to carry out their functions which are stability, security, rooting out corruption and transforming the Police Force as an institution, to one that is efficient, disciplined and professional so that it can help in the maintenance and updating of the duties that they perform.”

Ramjattan is urging the ranks that will be utilising the building to do so with professionalism, honesty and integrity and to pay particular attention to the maintenance of it. Commissioner of Police, Leslie James, said the Police Force is very appreciative of the strides taken by the government in ensuring the improvement of standards within the force and ensuring the safety of the citizenry.

Giving an overview of the Citizen Security Sector Reform Programme was Dr. Clement Henry who said that the overall aim is to strengthen capacity with the force and the community at large. The programme has three components which are: improving community resilience in responding to crime, strengthening capacity by offering entrepreneurial training and the rehabilitation and the reintegration of the Guyana Prison Service.

CONTINUED SUPPORT
IDB Country Manager, Sophie Makonnen noted that the IDB will continue to support institutional capacity building, improved governance and citizen security through the effective prevention of crime and violence. The IDB will fund the rehabilitation of 18 police stations with $380M. Twelve of these have been completed. These include Kwakwani, Annai, Aishalton, La Grange, Cane Grove, Suddie, Mabaruma and Port Kaituma.

The physical appearance of a police station is important, Makonnen said, since it affects the sense of security of community members. She is also pleased that the new police stations will, more effectively, tackle gender-based violence since these victims can now report their cases in confidentiality. Female officers will also be accommodated at the new stations.

Also present at the commissioning ceremony were other senior ranks of the Guyana Police Force including Deputy Commissioner, Maxine Graham, outgoing Commander, Anthony Vanderhyden, former commander who oversaw the commencement of the project, Fazil Karimbaksh. Regional Chairman, Renis Morian and Deputy Mayor, Wainwright Bethune, were also present.