Lisa Hanna, the member of parliament for South East St Ann, has called on the Government to complete works on the Moneague police station in St Ann, which was earmarked as a ‘child friendly’ facility for children who come in contact with the law.
“Our children are still being held with adults in some instances, which is in contravention with our own laws and UN (United Nations) conventions. I’m urging the GOJ to speed (up) the opening and use of this facility,” Hanna said in a social media post.
The Moneague facility was one of four started when Hanna was Minister of Youth and Culture between 2011 and 2016.
“One of the biggest travesties in this country was when we housed children with adults at some police stations. In 2014 the Ministry of Youth and Culture saw it prudent to equip at least one police station per parish as ‘child friendly’ where children who came in conflict with the law could be housed,”
Hanna said.
“We built four facilities across JA (Jamaica) as the start. Three were opened with one left unopened at the Moneague police station in St. Ann, requiring minor finishing touches. It’s been six years and the facility continues to wither away,”
she said.
The Bridgeport Police Station in St Catherine, Barrett Town in St James, and Nain in St Elizabeth were completed as part of the ‘child friendly’ project.
However, in 2019, Deputy Commissioner of Police Clifford Blake said that despite the efforts, the facilities were
“still non-functional or dysfunctional.”
He said that
“They were designed like regular cells with concrete beds, poor ventilation, so they were never prepared for children”.
Meanwhile, Hanna’s call for the Moneague police station to be made a
“top priority for this year”
comes as the Government embarks on a massive plan to retrofit and rebuild police stations across the island.
Under what is dubbed Project Rebuild, Overhaul and Construct (Project ROC), the Government is spending $5 billion to improve the physical infrastructure, mobility, intelligence and technology of the Jamaica Constabulary Force.
She said children in conflict with the law in the parish are currently housed in Alexandria, which she said “was built as an adult prison”.
“… As a result, adults are taken to Claremont and Runaway Bay lockups, which creates added pressure. We, therefore, need to accelerate plans to open Moneague.”
