THE Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC) struggled to get answers from the national security ministry on Wednesday regarding the approval for construction of Green Acres Police Station in St Catherine in a flood-prone area.

Technocrats waffled around questions on the issue, which Permanent Secretary Courtney Williams advised that the Government will be trying to fix by next year.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Warren Clarke said the area had “always been one of challenge”, and that the flooding problem had been assessed before construction on the $65-million building.

“Admittedly, we tried to avoid it, because we knew we had problems. However, we were assured by experts that the area could be adequately drained. We took their advice and when we continued we heard that some other design was necessary. However, there was some adjustment to the prescription, which caused the engineers to redesign the solution,” he explained, pointing out that the station is 90 per cent complete.

Pressed by members Fitz Jackson and PAAC Chairman Mikael Phillips to identify the entity which advised construction at that location, Clarke said, “They’re local… what has happened is an issue of process… the situation is that advice was sought, advice was gained.”

However, Phillips, inquiring whether it was a private or public entity that had decided on the location of the station, said, “A lot of work would have to be done prior to building there, and I’m hoping that the approval of the contract to build there would have been one from a reputable [entity], and if so, it ought to be known because, as it is now, the ministry will have to find more money to ensure that proper drainage [is put in place] and hope that drainage will take care of the problem. If it is the same firm that is going to advise you on the drainage which advised you to relocate the police station there, I would be very concerned.”

Jackson, then insisted, “This isn’t a private project being undertaken. This is a central government-executed project. There are established procedures for doing these things. A contract would have been entered into by the ministry with a contractor to execute this project. What I’m picking up is that there is a mystery around who did what. It can’t be a ghost that made a change in the prescription.”

Director of corporate services for the Jamaica Constabulary Force DeVaughn Colquhoun explained that a number of entities had been involved in the planning process and that the “change in prescription” was actually an update to the project plan. He gave an undertaking to present the requisite documentation to the committee.

The police station, which was flooded by heavy rain in October, remains unoccupied.

“We will be engaging contractors, specifically a drainage project. The station itself is not really where you have the waterlogging, it’s a matter of taking away the water. That project is being looked at and we’re seeking to move quickly with that. It’s quite likely that we should be able to undertake some spending in this year into next year to try to address that problem,” the permanent secretary advised.