Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Security, the Hon. Dr. Horace Chang, says the new Anchovy Police Station will help to strengthen community safety for the residents it serves.
The Minister, who delivered the main address at the official opening ceremony on Tuesday, August 5, dedicated the state-of-the-art facility as critical to enhancing public safety and to the deepening of trust between law enforcement and the citizens of St. James.
The long-awaited station represents a major investment in national security infrastructure and community-centred policing.
The new facility is fully equipped to support modern policing standards and replaces the decades-old structure that had fallen into disrepair.
Delivering the keynote address, Dr. Chang highlighted the importance of the project, stating that the National Housing Trust (NHT)-funded construction of the new Anchovy Police Station under the Ministry’s Project Rebuild, Overhaul and Construct (ROC) initiative, will serve the people well.
The facility was constructed at a cost of approximately $100 million.
“Today marks a significant milestone not only for Anchovy but for the surrounding communities. This facility stands as a symbol of the government’s commitment to provide our officers with the resources they need and ensure citizens feel protected and respected,” Minister Chang said.
The fit-for-purpose station features a reception area, living quarters, a kitchen, modern bathrooms, a water harvesting system and other amenities. It marks the tenth police station opened by Minister Chang, with another NHT-funded police station located at Little London in Westmoreland on the fringe of being ready for opening.
“In addition, we have two special ones that we will complete in another twelve months and I will be there to open them,” the Minister said.
He was speaking of the nearly $5 billion St. Catherine Divisional Headquarters and the Westmoreland Divisional Headquarters which are at various stages of construction.
Minister Chang reasoned that the two “special facilities symbolise more dramatically the change in the thinking of the country’s leaders and how we treat the police and the kind of police force that the country will have and needs to have to ensure we can deal with the criminal activity”.
Deputy Commissioner of Police, Richard Stewart, asserted that the investment in rebuilding the Anchovy Police Station could not have been more timely and expressed gratitude for the new police station as it now affords assigned police personnel a more respectable place from which to serve.
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