CONSTRUCTION of the new Falmouth police station is scheduled to begin within the next five to six weeks, in accordance with the Ministry of National Security and Justice’s programme to improve the conditions under which police officers work.

According to senior public relations officer in the Ministry of National Security and Justice, Shirley Byfield, preparatory work is now under way, and once construction begins, she said, the new station should be completed within six to eight months.

Funding will be provided by the government, but it was not immediately clear how much the project will cost. It will be built adjacent to the parish library along Rodney Street in Falmouth, a short distance away from the current station house.

The town’s police officers have long complained about the dilapidated state of the present facility, which is riddled with rotting floorboards and leaking roofs.

“The conditions are deplorable,” said Superintendent in charge of Trelawny, Jasmine Tomlinson-Brown. “The guardroom leaks, the flooring in the upstairs of the barracks room is broken, and the roof there leaks. Nothing works,” Tomlinson-Brown complained.

These less than desirable working conditions have sapped the moral of the 75 police officers at the station, and Tomlinson-Brown heralded the plans for a new station as “good news”.

“I’m elated (at the prospect of the new station) ’cause (now) you have to be motivating the men and women at the station to work because of the (poor) conditions. So hearing we are getting a new station and (actually) getting one is good news for us,” she added.

The new building, which is expected to be able to accommodate between 70 to 100 officers on completion, will also offer boarding room for officers who live outside the parish.

Meanwhile, construction of the new Ulster Spring police station got under way in the parish recently. Tomlinson-Brown also disclosed that there were plans to relocate the Duncans police station to the post office along the main road in that area.

There are approximately 15 police officers attached to the Ulster Spring police station, while there are 12 attached to the station at Duncans.