In a community where residents experiences on and off gun violence, the opening of a new police station at the corner of Franklyn Avenue and Wellington Street was a welcome gift.

The official opening ceremony for the police station took place on Wednesday and residents were not shy in sharing their joy.

One woman, Maureen, told the Jamaica Observer that it gives her a very good feeling to know that the police have bigger and more comfortable facilities from which to serve the more than 15,000 people in Franklyn Town and surrounding communities.

“Because a di violence weh did a gwaan round here, mi feel very good bout this. The violence was going on bad around here. We glad it open and we love how it pretty,“ said Maureen.

Another resident, Sophia, who was among a group of community members observing the official opening, said the new building was a pleasing sight.

According to Sophia, the building has far more space including four rooms for barracks and she is anticipating more policemen and women will be stationed in the community to lessen the mayhem usually caused by gunmen.

“The upliftment is nice. We will have more officers in the community; so hopefully, we will have less crime. The crime situation is much better than last year. It was really bad last year. This year is much better. We have a little relaxation right now and we can come out of our houses. The only thing is that we have a few bike man weh come through and do some unnecessary stuff like rob people’s phones,” Sophia said.

Omar Sweeney, managing director of the Jamaica Social Investment Fund, a key stakeholder in the initiative executed under the Poverty Reduction Programme with funding from the European Union, said the completion of this project, marked the seventh such project done in Kingston, St Catherine, St James and Clarendon at an overall cost of over $300 million.

“We are very pleased. While it took a while in the coming, the projects were implemented effectively and efficiently. As was said, we ended the project from 2021 despite challenges. We have done two police stations in Kingston, two in St James, two in Clarendon and one in St Catherine,” said Sweeney.

He told the Observer that he has instructed the residents of the community, who are affiliated with the police youth club, to make an application for funding to build another section at the location to house the Franklyn Town Police Youth Club.

“We have already started the discussions regarding some of the priorities and to my understanding they are looking for a space here for the youth club. I have instructed them to get that proposal in to me so I can get to include it in the programme,” said Sweeney.

That was good news for Charmaine Daniels (People’s National Party Councillor, Allman Town Division).

Daniels and others, who were instrumental in the stages before construction started, complained on Tuesday that they were being left out of the project and were upset that no provision was made for a resource room for community members to have meetings.

“We heard that we can apply for something in the space. We will apply for a structure where the youth club and the community can have meetings. A lot of us who are adults now were groomed in the youth club. There is so much memories of the Franklyn Town Youth Club. At the end of the day, partnership is the way to go in any successful project,”said Daniels.

The improvements to the Franklyn Town Police Station was carried out under project Rebuild, Overhaul and Construct (ROC) and forms part of efforts to improve the working conditions for the men and women of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) as well as boost the customer experience of persons who visit the facilities.

Under ROC, more than 200 police facilities are being converted into modern, citizen-friendly workspaces, to provide members of the JCF with a comfortable environment conducive for work, while creating an ambience for citizens to willingly and comfortably engage the police.