HOME Affairs Minister Robeson Benn has said that a modern 11-storey police station complex will be constructed at Brickdam, Georgetown.

Minister Benn made this disclosure during brief remarks at the Thanksgiving and Awards Ceremony for Regional Police Division ‘4’ A on Friday.

On October 2, 2021, fire flattened the complex which used to house the Brickdam Police Station.

Minister Benn recalled that shortly after the fire, himself and other stakeholders, along with the engineers, sat down and committed to rebuilding the Brickdam Police Station.

“Our discussions suggested, and with the layout that we have available here, we should be able to build a new seven-storey facility… but I have to speak about the position of a younger and perhaps more vigorous man than myself, His Excellency Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali, who in a discussion with me said, ‘Of course, we will build bigger and better’, and so the task we have is to build an 11-storey building on this footprint for the new Brickdam Police Station,” Minister Benn declared.

He added: “That is what we will design, that is our intention, that is our mandate,” to loud applause from the audience.

He continued: “I want to thank Commander Simeon McBean, his officers and all those who ensured that after the conflagration on October 2, which resulted in the loss of probably the oldest police installation in this country… that even though there was a lot of stress and anxiety following the conflagration, the commander and his team maintained a positive policing posture in the largest and perhaps most difficult policing division in the country.”

Minister Benn noted that in spite of the COVID pandemic and the fact that many ranks suffered personal losses (belongings, etc) in the fire, the commander and his team did an “excellent job” in keeping the crime rate down.

According to him, this resilience as a people is an indication that “we can do better when we are challenged.”

“We want to increase the peace in Guyana,” the minister said, and extended best wishes to everyone for the holiday season.