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Representatives of the Police and Food
for the Poor exchange pleasantries and get ready to take a test run in the
refurbished 32-foot
Contender Police Boat after the official hand-over of the vessel to the Marine
Police Division by Food For the Poor(FFP) on Friday, December 28. From left
(front row): Assistant Superintendent Oral Foster, Superintendent Terrence
Sanko, Head of the Marine Police Division; Assistant Commissioner
of Police Wray Palmer; and Nakhle Hado, Fishing Technical Manager, FFP. In the
background (from left): Sergeant Dennyville Lyons and Boat
Captain Nicholas Harrison. The boat will play a
critical role in the search and rescue, and crime fighting efforts of the Marine
Division. The vessel will also benefit the Food For The
Poor (FFP) Fishing Villages, especially with regard to the recovery of stolen
boats, search and rescue of missing fishermen.
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The refurbished boat will redound to the benefit of the Food For The Poor (FFP) Fishing Villages. The charity has 17 fishing villages across the island as part of its FFP Fishing Villages Project, to empower the poor to be independent and self-sufficient. FFP equips the Fishing Villages with boats, gear sheds, engines and other necessary fishing paraphernalia.
Andrew Mahfood, Chairman, FFP Jamaica, explained that the repairs to the police boat were prompted by the vested interest which his organization has in the sustainability of the Fishing Villages: "The primary reason to refurbish the vessel is to ensure our villages get help when we need help. Our Fishing Villages depend on the police to be able to recover our boats if stolen and in an emergency we will require the services of the Marine Police if our fishermen go missing." The refurbished boat brings to 16, the number of boats which the Marine Police Division now has at its disposal.
Nakhle Hado, Fishing Technical Manager, FFP, today made the presentation of the refurbished boat to Assistant Commissioner of Police Wary Palmer and Superintendent Terrence Sanko, Head of the Marine Police Division, at the Newport East Headquarters of the Marine Police. Mr. Hado pointed out that FFP saw that the boat which was being used by the Marine Police in St. Thomas was defective and in dire need of repairs and offered to undertake the refurbishing.
"I recognised the urgent need and offered to assist them," Mr. Hado disclosed. "We tried to finish the repairs as quickly as possible. It took us at FFP some eight weeks to undertake the refurbishing." Mr. Hado pointed out that it costs FFP over $400,000 to effect the repairs. The improvement included body repair and spray painting of the boat, installation of a bimini top as a roofing for the boat, and replacement of all gauges which included two tachometers, two voltmeters, a main control switch as well as three gas gauges. There were also replacement of fuel leads, gas valves and filters, and rewiring of the console and all instruments.
The FFP Fishing Technical Manager reiterated that his charity is delighted to refurbish the boat which will assist the Marine Police with strengthening its search and rescue and enforcement initiatives.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Wray Palmer expressed gratitude to Food For The Poor, on behalf of the JCF. "On behalf of the JCF, we thank Food For The Poor for assisting us and collaborating with us. We are quite grateful for the help," declared ACP Palmer. He indicated that the boat will operate out of the Bowden Marina in St. Thomas and will serve the Marine Police monitoring the south east coast of Jamaica, particularly the St. Thomas coastal waters.
"It will benefit us significantly. This addition to our fleet will increase the police presence in our maritime space, as well as our drug intervention and interdiction capabilities," stated ACP Palmer. He pointed out that the new canopy on the boat will be important in shielding the Marine Police on duty, from the elements of the weather.
The boat has the capacity to comfortably transport four to eight crew members. In search and rescue efforts, it can carry up to 20 persons.
During today's hand-over ceremony, ACP Palmer, Nakhle Hado, Superintendent Sanko and other representatives of the Marine Police, and members of the media were taken on a test ride of the refurbished boat.
About Food For The Poor
Food For The Poor (FFP)-Jamaica is the largest charity organization in the country. Food For The Poor Inc., located in Florida, USA, was named by The Chronicle of Philanthropy as the largest international relief and development organization in the United States. It is an interdenominational Christian agency that does much more than feed the millions of hungry poor in 17 countries of the Caribbean and Latin America. FFP provides emergency relief assistance, clean water, medicines, educational materials, homes, support for orphans and the aged, skills training and micro-enterprise development assistance, with more than 96% of all donations going directly to programmes that help the poor. For more information visit our Web site at www.foodforthepoorja.com
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Contact:
Nakhle Hado, Food For The Poor, T: 434-9922
Erica James-King, PROComm, T: 564-5277
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