KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister of National Security, Robert Montague, says that members of the police force will have to take bi-annual tests in the future to ensure that they are physically fit.

“Policemen and women must now be physically fit, as fitness will be a part the bi-annual medical that will be done,” he told the House of Representatives Wednesday, as he spoke in the annual Sectoral Debate.

“We will be investing in the Medical Service Branch, so that the JCF, and not the individual member, pays for this medical,” he explained.

He said that, in addition, gyms will be established at the Area level, for a start, to ensure that members will be able improve their lifestyle, and reduce work-related stress and lifestyle diseases.

There have been comments, recently, in the press that policemen and women on operation and required to move through communities and hilly terrain on foot, should be subjected to an annual physical test, and be required to pass the test in order to continue performing their duties.

Balford Henry