Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn yesterday announced that a modern 11-storey structure will be constructed as the new Brickdam police station.
“…The task we have is to build an 11-storey building on this footprint for the new Brickdam Police Station. That is what we will design, that is our intention, that is our mandate,” a statement from the Guyana Police Force (GPF) quoted Benn saying.
According to the statement, Benn made the disclosure during his remarks at the Region 4A annual thanksgiving and awards ceremony. The media was not invited to the event.
The statement said that Benn explained that after the fire gutted the Brickdam police station, a discussion was held with stakeholders and engineers on rebuilding the complex. The initial proposal, Benn said, was to construct a seven-storey building. However, he said during a discussion President Irfaan Ali proposed that they build “bigger and better”.
The fire, which occurred on October 2, destroyed more than 80 per cent of the Brickdam police station.
Days after, Benn had told the media at the sidelines of an event that reconstruction of the Brickdam Police Station was being discussed at Cabinet.
During a press conference Commissioner of Police (ag) Nigel Hoppie had said that the fire started around 11.06 am in the upper flat of an eastern building in the compound.
A Guyana Fire Service (GFS) investigation concluded that the fire was an act of arson.
The police have stated that a prisoner, Clarence Greene, who was in the lock-up at the time of the fire, has confessed to starting it out of frustration. He was charged with arson and remanded to prison.
The fire started in a section of the police station which housed the fraud department. The building was an old wooden structure which was located close to the lock-up area.
The Brickdam Police Station is the headquarters for Region 4A.
