MONTEGO BAY, St James

Mayor of Montego Bay Charles Sinclair has written to the Ministry of National Security expressing dissatisfaction at the area where detectives are conducting interviews at the Freeport Police Station in this resort city.

“The circumstances at the CIB Department are not accommodating and I have written to the minister of national security to look into that matter,” Sinclair told reporters last week.

According to the mayor, the section which the detectives use is in a state of disrepair and is grossly inappropriate.

He stressed that with the increase in the crime rate in the Montego Bay area, detectives must work in a comfortable environment, in order for them to perform their job effectively. “You can’t do interviews in the same location in which you have persons who are passing and looking at witnesses, and we are expecting to have a favourable response from the ministry,” said Sinclair, who is also an attorney.

He was speaking at the Freeport Police Station at a brief handing-over ceremony of a fridge valued at $24,000 to the detention area of the facility.

Sinclair said he was moved to donate the refrigerator following a recent visit to the facility, at which time it was discovered that the existing refrigerator at the detention area was malfunctioning.

Commanding Officer for the parish Superintendent Maurice Robinson expressed gratitude for the gift, noting that it “shows an appreciation of the challenges faced by the Montego Bay police”.