( L - R ) Vaz and Rhodd
Garwin Davis and Gareth Davis, Gleaner Writers
Declaring themselves as critical in the fight against the influx of guns coming into the country from neighbouring Haiti, police officers in Portland say they are convinced the Government is not serious about fighting crime.
On a clandestine tour of several police stations in the parish last week, The Gleaner was shown what one senior officer described as "conditions that demonstrate how serious we truly are about bringing crime under control".
"Both the Buff Bay and Hope Bay police stations have been ordered closed by the Public Health Department due to deplorable and unacceptable working conditions," the officer, who requested anonymity, said. "What you now find is that several houses are rented to accommodate police personnel in both areas, so as just to say we have a presence on the ground."
Two-bedroom substitute
A view of the Hope Bay Police Station in Portland. - file
The news team was then shown a two-bedroom house in Hope Bay, which officers say have been their home now for over three years. "There are 17 police officers here; three females and 14 males," one officer noted. "There is only one bathroom which we all have to share. Sometimes, persons have to go outside to urinate as the bathroom might be in use at the time."
Other officers were also quick to point out the inconvenience of not having the use of the courthouse in the parish capital of Port Antonio, saying prisoners were now being transported to the Buff Bay Courthouse - 20 miles away.
"This we could live with if not for the fact that there is a severe shortage of service vehicles," one officer said. "What we now find is that many of us have to now be using our own personal vehicles to carry out this and other functions."
The Port Antonio Courthouse has not been in use for a little over a year. A new courthouse is under construction in Bryans Bay - a tiny district less than two miles outside of Port Antonio.
Of the 11 police stations in Portland, there are 12 functioning service vehicles, nine of which, officers say, are over 12 years old. Three police stations - Castle, Orange Bay, and Marine - are without service vehicles.
ThePort Antonio Police Station has three vehicles in addition to two old SUVs for the Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB). The Portland Motorised Division has 15 police personnel with nine motorcycles, six of which, officers say, are reliable while the other three "is a case of ride at your own risk.
"For the main police station, and which has multiple divisions, this is as pathetic as you can get," said Daryl Vaz, Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) caretaker for West Portland.
"We are talking about a parish that has the problem of guns being traded for drugs where Haitian nationals and their Jamaican counterparts are involved in dangerous criminal activities. We are also talking about the problem at the Ken Jones Aerodrome where it is alleged that criminals are having a field day. Isn't it strange then that the Portland police are being treated with such scant regard?"
Mr. Vaz also blasted Minister of National Security Dr. Peter Phillips and the State Minister of National Security and Member of Parliament for East Portland, Dr. Donald Rhodd, saying it was disgraceful the manner in which the police in the parish have been treated.
Contacted, Dr. Rhodd said he has no idea when the police stations in Hope Bay or Buff Bay will be restored, adding "they are not in my constituency and I am not the person who has direct responsibility for them.
"Mr. Wilston Taylor in the Ministry of National Security is the person who could give you that information," Dr. Rhodd said. He added that the new courthouse should be completed by year-end. "With good weather and proper monitoring, it should be on schedule," he said.
