Police E Division headquarters being rebuilt into modern facility

At Mackenzie

By Utamu Belle

The Mackenzie Police Station at Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) is presently being reconstructed into a more modern policing facility.
This was made possible through an Inter- American Development Bank (IDB) loan to the Government, to completely rebuild the Police Station referred to as E Division (Linden-Kwakwani) headquarters. Demolition work on the former structure commenced about two weeks ago and the debris has since been removed. The project is now at the foundation stage.

According to E Division Commander Fazil Karimbaksh, the project is expected to take up to five months to be completed. He said a larger two-storey facility is being constructed measuring 135 feet by 45 feet.
“So, within the next five to six months, we should be relocated in a spanking new, modern Police facility in E Division …It will be a modern Police Station with all modern amenities”, the Commander beamed.
While he could not provide the exact financial figure at the time, Karimbaksh said approximately $80 million was allocated towards the project. The Police Commander further stated that the modern facility, when completed, would bring about an ease in the state of affairs at the station, since the previous one was inadequate in terms of space. He pointed out that as a result, various departments were not established at the Police Station. Karimbaksh noted, however, that this issue was expected to be solved when the new building came on stream.
“It will greatly assist us, because the previous building – we were cramped for space and a lot of our departments we had to decentralise them to other stations. We’re very appreciative of this new building that’s going to come on stream and it will house all our departments, so the people of Region 10 in particular will have better service and we will be operating at our full capacity in terms of our departments. It will be more comfortable too,” Karimbaksh said.
Presently, the Police Division is operating out of makeshift offices within the compound, in an effort to facilitate the reconstruction process.