DIAS, Hanover — The Ministry of National Security is still searching for additional land to house a new police station in this western town.

The new station is to replace the present facility in Kingsvale, which is in poor condition and shows visible signs of deterioration.

Family-owned land was donated to the community more than two decades ago for the construction of a school and the police station. However, it was later determined that more land was needed to start the project.

“That started sometime back when Mr [Percival James] Patterson was prime minister. Part of the land is family-owned, and it was given to the community,” Minister of National Security Dr Horace Chang told the Jamaica Observer recently.

“There is a need for an infant school and the police station, which is really inconvenient and in bad shape. So, we’re going to acquire some additional land… and we’ll have the infant school built on the family land and the police station on an adjoining property,” added Chang.

Patterson’s mother, Ina James, an educator, and his father, Henry Patterson, a farmer, are both from Hanover.

Chang led a team from the national security ministry and the Ministry of Education on a site visit recently.

Chang said the project is currently heading for procurement, and the hope is that construction for both the school and the police station will start within the next financial year.

Plans for the new station were first divulged in June 2022 by the then commanding officer for the Hanover Police Division, Superintendent Sharon Beeput, during a Hanover Municipal Corporation monthly general meeting.

The new station is expected to serve approximately 30 communities.

Back then, Superintendent Beeput stated that the Dias facility “is going to be a bigger one. It is a state-of-the-art, two-storey station with parking, a community centre, etc. I can’t explain all of that now, but that will be there”.

The Kingsvale station once had a juvenile cell attached, but that section of the facility was closed a few years ago. It is not clear if the proposed new station will have such a facility.