MINISTER of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan, on Sunday, told residents of Belle West, West Bank Demerara, that, although government has made no budgetary allocation for the construction of a police station or outpost in that area, the issue will be examined.
His comments came after a number of calls were made for a physical presence of the lawmen in the community, given the frequency of burglaries and other crimes.

In laying down major infrastructures and facilities in communities, governments usually look at the occupancy level of those communities. The question was asked at the meeting on Sunday about the occupancy level in the area Belle West Phase 1 and 2 schemes and residents provided an estimated count of just over eighteen hundred persons. While Phase 1 of the community has been in existence for a while now, over the last five years, there have been increased construction and relocation by persons from other communities to Phase 2 location of the scheme. Many of these persons are those who would have been allocated house lots.

It was on Sunday that the minister heard of a number of concerns the residents have been having when dealing with the police at the Wales Station located further up on the West Bank Demerara. The residents pointed to a plot of vacant land in the community which they said could be used to construct a station. They have also pointed to the need for a bridge to one of the communities as the existing one cannot accommodate two vehicles passing at a time and that in itself causes conflict between motorists. The government has a number of capital projects on-going with respect to the security sector, especially the police force, where a number of buildings are being renovated and others are awaiting official commissioning and handing over to the force. Two such facilities are at Parfaite Harmonie located on the West Bank Demerara and the Central Police Station located at New Amsterdam. Both police stations are said to have building defects which need to be remedied before the buildings are handed over to the police force.