A contract for the construction of the police convalescent home will be signed tomorrow at the site on High Street, Black River, St Elizabeth.

The multi-million-dollar contract has been awarded to GARAN-TEE Construction Ltd, whose CEO Wayne Brodie and the national security minister, Dr Peter Phillips will sign the contract.

In January this year, NCB chairman Michael Lee Chin donated $15 million towards the building of the home, which will accommodate up to 40 police officers severely injured in the line of duty, to recuperate in a tranquil environment where special health care will be provided.

Cabinet last month gave approval for the spending of $23.7 million on the construction of the home.

Phillips had told journalists in January that construction of the home, said to be the first of its kind in the region, would begin not later than May and was expected to be completed by yearend.

It was not clear, however, what was the reason for the delay in the signing of the contract.

Sited on a two acre-plot at the former police divisional headquarters at High Street, Black River, the home will feature an office, two dormitories, a medical complex, including a physical therapy room and a common area. It will also include a laboratory, service area and swimming pool and have full-time medical staff.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Jamaica Police Federation – the organisation which represents rank-and-file cops – told the Observer that over the past five years an estimated 40 police personnel have been injured in the line of duty. The injuries, he said, ranged from loss of limbs to paralysis.

The injured cops, he added, usually require a two -month recuperation period after release from hospital.

Noting that the centre will be conveniently located, the federation spokesman said the executive believed the location was adequate. “It is just about two minutes drive from the Black River Hospital, at which our police officers based at the home will be receiving a high level of continuing health care, which will encourage recovery to full health and a return to work (where possible) as quickly as possible.”