Tourism Minister Dr Wykeham McNeill has commended members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) for their outstanding work on the renovation of the Negril Police Station.

Fifty people from the Negril area were employed on the project which was supervised by Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Leon Rose of the Project Management Unit of the JCF.

The station, which was officially handed over during a ceremony last week, was budgeted to cost $50 million. The project which was funded by the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) was completed at roughly 20 per cent less, McNeill told the

Jamaica Observer West.

“I was very pleased because we had budgeted $50 million for the police station and they came in under $40 million, which was tremendous,” Dr McNeill said.

According to Dr McNeill, Minister of National Security Peter Bunting has since expressed that based on the efficient work done in Negril, the same team will be utilised to undertake projects on police stations in Portland.

However, Elaine Allen Bradley, a board member of the Negril Chamber of Commerce and a resident in Negril, said that while she is happy for the work done at the Negril Police Station, she is not fully satisfied with the standard of work.

“I’m glad they did the police station, and the only thing that I could see that is first-class about it from my perspective, is the windows. The windows are excellent and the way they have done the reception hall and all that. But I don’t think it was done to a high standard. I had expected a better standard. I think $40 million could have done it to first-class, and I don’t think it was a first-class standard,” she argued.

The function was also attended by Security Minister Peter Bunting who congratulated the tourism ministry, TEF and the JCF for the work done.

The minister also gave a report on the progress being made in the fight against crime, pointing to a 31 per cent reduction in homicides for the month of January in comparison to last year. He said other categories of violent crime are down between 25 and 50 per cent for the same period.

The project at the Negril Police Station involved repairs to several sections of the facility as well as painting of the administrative offices, holding cells and the police living quarters. The fencing of the property, construction of a lecture theatre, and an ID parade room were also undertaken.

The initiative by the Ministry of Tourism and Entertainment through the Tourism Enhancement Fund, forms part of an ongoing programme to assist the JCF in boosting its crime-fighting efforts in tourist resort areas across the island.

In recent years, the TEF has donated a large number of motor vehicles and motorcycles to the JCF, and has also assisted with the repair of the JCF marine patrol boats.