PORT MARIA, St Mary — Work will begin early next year on the long-overdue Port Maria Police Station, minister without portfolio in the Ministry of National Security Matthew Samuda has promised. Ground was broken twice for the project over the last three years but work has never actually got underway.

“Based on where we are with the process, and having confirmed with the senior team at the Ministry of National Security and at NHT (National Housing Trust) we expect within the next six to nine months to physically break ground. That is my firm commitment,” Samuda said. “I have noted the fair concerns as it relates to Port Maria [Police] Station. We have had ground breakings before and I don’t think that anyone should stand comfortably with the fact that having had a ground-breaking ceremony, we haven’t had the ground breaking that the parish really needs.”

Samuda was speaking during Friday’s handover of a police post at the Ian Flemming International Airport.

In March 2018, then Minister of National Security Robert Montague first broke ground for the Port Maria facility. At that time, it was announced that construction would have begun two months later. Then in February last year, current National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang broke ground for the same project, which the Government said is slated for completion in 2023. At that time the State-owned Jamaica Information Service said the station was to be a “multimillion four-storey facility” built by the National Housing Trust (NHT).

On Friday, Samuda sought to explain why the project had been hit by protracted delays.

“The fact is, that station is the headquarters for area two and the significant needs that area two has requires particular square footage. In the initial design for the project it was intended to have gone vertical. After the engineers went in and soil testing was done it was realised that we couldn’t go vertical but horizontally,” he said.

He added that the ministry then had to seek legal authorisation to proceed, based on these changes. “There was a process that we had to go through to get some land adjoining that facility and that took some time to be complete. Having gone through that, and sticking to the governance process, we are now going through with the new designs and doing all necessary checks to ensure everything is indeed in place,” Samuda revealed.

Head of the St Mary Police Division Superintendent Bobette Morgan-Simpson welcomed the news. The new facility, she said, will make officers feel more appreciated.

“It is quite difficult for our officers to work from the space that is now there, with no air condition and other challenges that we face. But they are still trying their best and I know the new facility will make them feel better to do their policing,” she said.

Samuda says the ministry’s aim to ultimately provide infrastructure that meets the needs of all users.

“We want to ensure that this building is everything that the JCF requires and send the signal to the police and residents of St Mary that we will put in infrastructure that is sustainable and fit for purpose,” he said.